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"Made in Japan" - Lessons for India
Finally, I have finished reading Sony's founder and former chairman, Akio Morita's autobiography "Made in Japan". Having read it across five months, it is difficult to sum up the book, yet I can't do without a vote of recommendation for this elegant book which holds a lot of words of wisdom. The book traces the growth of Sony Corporation from its origins as Tokyo Tsushin Kogyo from the ruins of World War II to the leading, pioneering electronics giant it is today. It required men of vision like Morita and Masaru Ibuka to start a company dedicated to producing quality electronic systems, while Japan was still devastated by the Word War. While Americans were still to realize the importance of the discovery of the transistor, Sony successfully revolutionized consumer electronics using the Americans own technology.
Morita spends quite a lot of pages talking about his business philosophy and the Japanese way of business. Especially, he is quite sceptical about the short-term goals with which American companies are run, the culture of litigation and the hire and fire policies in the U.S. His contrast of the U.S. way with Japanese business outlook made me think that we in India too need to develop practices that harness our strengths, address our cultural sensibilities rather than aping Western management practices. Today there is a lot of outcry over outsourcing to India in the U.S. However, it is not the first time the Americans are doing that. Morita minces no words for the U.S administrations attempts to curb exports from Japan to the U.S, pointing out the inefficiencies of the U.S. industry, which had started relying too much on other nations' productive capacity. Can we say the same thing about the Americans relying a lot on the brainpower borrowed from across the globe?
It is nice to read about different cultures and this book offers gllimpses of Japanese lives in the pre-World War II era. I don't know if this book is a translation, but I just loved the very simple usage of English and the plainspeak Morita indulges in.
2 comments:
hire-and-fire policies are the lifeblood, along with breakneck innovation, of the dynamic American economy. It releases any constrain on employers and gives them an opportunity to scour the globe for the best talent. True, frivolous litigation are a problem, so are a bloated budget deficit and trade protectionism catering to special interests. No doubt, America has many problems, but its economy is still growing faster than EU and Japan (though, reports say this year Japan may grow faster, but barely). Plus, the book was written in 1986 (I haven't read it), when Japan was still in good economic shape, but it was caught in a recession through the 1990s, while in the post-Cold war era US has only emerged stronger - economically and militarily. 'Cultural sensibilities' are important, but where they are an obstacle to economic growth- as they are in many places- they should bow out. One could argue modern Japan is very much a product of 'American-style' practices - the ultimate result of Japan's Meiji Restoration in the 19th century. Japanese diligence is no doubt legendary, but without the Western hunt for markets, initially British, and then the notoriously tradition-busting Americans with their utter disregard for societal norms of stratified societies, globalization (many times accompanied by colonialism) and its resulting fruits may never have touched Japan, India or China. It seems to me that the book is one of those commentaries that seek to justify their country's progress as something that was inherently destined due to their culture, and not due to the amoral economic principles, of which the West happens to be the foremost proponent. In an earlier age, India, and especially China, were superior civilizations compared to the West, and yet it was not until 1970s and 1990s, when China and India, respectively, shed their inward looking economic tendencies, that they began to get respect.
and when it comes to 'brainpower' America still produces around 50% of world's R&D, followed by Japan and Germany. Again, things change quickly these days, but I am not sure if in science - both academic and industrial - a true challenger has emerged for US. I agree, China's growing and EU can be a contender anytime (given Europe's storied history in science) but so far US seems to be doing ok!
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