What's Killing Japanese Electronics?

choi

(1) Ricgard Katz, What's Killing Japanese Electronics?  The country's once-mighty industry has the wrong corporate model for the future. Wall Street Journal, Mar 23, 2012 (op-ed).
http://online.wsj.com/article/SB ... 97102672086074.html

Two consecutive paragraphs:

"Skills and mindsets that enabled Japan to create one revolutionary product after another in the audio-video era have failed in the digital era. Whether it's PCs, smartphones or software, Japanese firms no longer lead the way.

"Part of the reason lies in the nature of the corporate system in Japan. Daniel Kahneman, a psychologist who won the Nobel Prize in economics, explains why some firms spend money keeping bad programs on life support, leaving insufficient capital for new ones. Firms in all countries often act like losing gamblers, Mr. Kahneman argues, who won't leave the table until they have made up their losses. And the executive in charge gets to delay the loss from showing up until he has moved on.

Note:
(a) Daniel Kahneman
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Daniel_Kahneman
(1934- ; Israeli-American; Nobel Memorial Prize in Economic Sciences (2002))
(b) The article says, "In the US, emerging technologies are usually championed by new firms that have no financial or emotional stake in the old technology." Accurate. But one size does not fit all. What about Samsung, which creates new division or subsidiary within the conglomerate (indeed the concept of conglomerate is anathema in US).


(2) On Mar 21, 2012 Financial Times carries an insert.

Titled "Boldness in Business; Facing the future; Seven success stories are honoured in this year's awards," the insert commemorated the fourth annual FT Boldness in Business awards, jointly sponsored by ArcelorMittal and FT. One award recipient is Samsung.

Christian Oliver, Fast Follower Leads the Way; Early adoption of technology s the secret of the South Korean electronics giant's success.  
http://www.ft.com/cms/s/0/7b6222 ... d-00144feab49a.html
("Last year, Samsung is estimated to have posted more net profit than the top 45 Japanese consumer electronics and technology companies combined")

The first two paragraphs:

"In 1963, Kang Jin-ku, a South Korean broadcasting engineer, visited RCA and Ampex, two US electronics powerhouses, on a business trip to acquire technology that was unavailable in his then-poor homeland.

"As Kang admits in his autobiography, everything was too expensive for a poor Korean. The plant of Ampex, the Californian manufacturer, exported twice as much by value as the whole of South Korea put together, which at the time just shipped scrap, wigs and dried fish. The situation seemed hopeless.