SourcesofMachine-toolIndustryLeadershipinthe1990s.PDFVIP

ECONOMIC GROWTH CENTER YALE UNIVERSITY P.O. Box 208269 New Haven, CT 06520-8269 CENTER DISCUSSION PAPER NO. 837 SOURCES OF MACHINE-TOOL INDUSTRY LEADERSHIP IN THE 1990s: OVERLOOKED INTRAFIRM FACTORS Hiroyuki Chuma Hitotsubashi University October 2001 Note: Center Discussion Papers are preliminary materials circulated to stimulate discussions and critical comments. This paper can be downloaded without charge from the Social Science Research Network electronic library at: /abstract=289220 An index to papers in the Economic Growth Center Discussion Paper Series is located at: /~egcenter/research.htm Sources of Machine-tool Industry Leadership in the 1990s: Overlooked Intrafirm Factors Hiroyuki Chuma Institute of Innovation Research Hitotsubashi University Naka 2-1, Kunitachi, Tokyo, 186-8603 chuma@iir.hit-u.ac.jp Abstract Through the use of extensive field research and an original international questionnaire, the main sources of the leapfrogging development of the Japanese machine-tool industry in the past 19 years were investigated. Past studies have emphasized the strategic RD alliance with superlative computerized numerical control (CNC) makers, the extensive use of outsourcing from excellent precision parts’ suppliers, and the extraordinary devel