Engineered in Japan

Engineered in Japan PDF Author: Jeffrey K. Liker
Publisher: Oxford University Press, USA
ISBN: 0195095553
Category : Research, Industrial
Languages : en
Pages : 421

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Book Description
Engineered in Japan presents a unique and comprehensive examination of technology management in the most successful Japanese companies: unique in that all chapters go beyond superficial descriptions of stylized practices to look in depth at particular issues, often contradicting or qualifying the conventional wisdom; comprehensive in that it covers the entire technology life cycle from basic R&D, to development engineering, to manufacturing processes, to learning from the Japanese. Each chapter is based on original research by noted scholars in the field, and identifies technology management practices that have become a major source of competitive advantage for highly successful Japanese companies. Engineered in Japan documents the best practices from such companies as Toyota, Hitachi, Toshiba, and Nippondenso, and discusses how these technology management practices can be usefully adopted in other cultural contexts. Going beyond past observations, the authors all delve below the surface of Japanese management approaches. They look more closely than has been done before at how particular methods are applied, and they identify some new practices that have not yet been highlighted in books on Japanese methods. Presenting recent data that contradict some conventional thinking about U.S.-Japanese differences, they look at old techniques from a new perspective. "U.S. managers can perhaps learn more from the process of creation in Japan and the organizational structures that support innovation," say the editors in their introduction, "than from the particular approaches, tools, and technologies created." A running theme throughout the book is that Japanese managers and engineers tend to think in terms of systems, focusing not just on the parts but on the connections between them. Engineered in Japan is must reading for technology managers and engineers, along with anyone interested in Japanese business, engineering, and management.

Engineered in Japan

Engineered in Japan PDF Author: Jeffrey K. Liker
Publisher: Oxford University Press, USA
ISBN: 0195095553
Category : Research, Industrial
Languages : en
Pages : 421

Get Book

Book Description
Engineered in Japan presents a unique and comprehensive examination of technology management in the most successful Japanese companies: unique in that all chapters go beyond superficial descriptions of stylized practices to look in depth at particular issues, often contradicting or qualifying the conventional wisdom; comprehensive in that it covers the entire technology life cycle from basic R&D, to development engineering, to manufacturing processes, to learning from the Japanese. Each chapter is based on original research by noted scholars in the field, and identifies technology management practices that have become a major source of competitive advantage for highly successful Japanese companies. Engineered in Japan documents the best practices from such companies as Toyota, Hitachi, Toshiba, and Nippondenso, and discusses how these technology management practices can be usefully adopted in other cultural contexts. Going beyond past observations, the authors all delve below the surface of Japanese management approaches. They look more closely than has been done before at how particular methods are applied, and they identify some new practices that have not yet been highlighted in books on Japanese methods. Presenting recent data that contradict some conventional thinking about U.S.-Japanese differences, they look at old techniques from a new perspective. "U.S. managers can perhaps learn more from the process of creation in Japan and the organizational structures that support innovation," say the editors in their introduction, "than from the particular approaches, tools, and technologies created." A running theme throughout the book is that Japanese managers and engineers tend to think in terms of systems, focusing not just on the parts but on the connections between them. Engineered in Japan is must reading for technology managers and engineers, along with anyone interested in Japanese business, engineering, and management.

Engineering Tasks for the New Century

Engineering Tasks for the New Century PDF Author: National Research Council
Publisher: National Academies Press
ISBN: 0309184479
Category : Technology & Engineering
Languages : en
Pages : 95

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Book Description
The U.S.-Japan bilateral task force was tasked with addressing the following questions: (1) How do Japan and the United States educate and train engineers, and what are the major similarities, differences, and trends? (2) What are the superior practices that have been developed by each country, especially approaches that could be adopted by the other country? (3) Are there areas in which expanded U.S.-Japan cooperation could help to improve engineering education in the two countries and around the world? The joint task force was organized by the Committee on Advanced Technology and the International Environment (Committee 149) of the Japan Society for the Promotion of Science (JSPS), and the Committee on Japan (COJ) of the National Research Council (NRC). Committee 149's work was supported by member dues, and the COJ's work was supported by the United States-Japan Foundation and the National Academy of Engineering. The joint task force was chaired by Mildred Dresselhaus of the Massachusetts Institute of Technology, and Sogo Okamura of Tokyo Denki University. Japan and the United States are two of the leading nations in the world in engineering education and practice. Their systems for training and educating engineers display marked contrasts, resulting from the very different economic and cultural environments in which they have developed. The joint task force used a "lifelong learning" approach in examining the two countries' systems, exploring differences and similarities in K-12 education of future engineers, undergraduate and graduate education, as well as continuing education of working professionals. The panel also explored two important issues that will affect engineering education in both countries in the future: the need to educate and train "global engineers" who can work effectively in international contexts, and the potential for information technology to transform engineering education in the future.

Engineered in Japan

Engineered in Japan PDF Author:
Publisher:
ISBN: 9780197702857
Category : Research, Industrial
Languages : en
Pages : 0

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Book Description


Japan's Engineering Ethics and Western Culture

Japan's Engineering Ethics and Western Culture PDF Author: Natsume Kenichi
Publisher: Rowman & Littlefield
ISBN: 1793612900
Category : History
Languages : en
Pages : 243

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Book Description
This book examines the broad historical process of introducing engineering ethics in Japan from the late nineteenth century to the twentieth century. The author discusses this process from a comprehensive perspective, including not only engineering education but also various issues in science, technology, and society studies.

Engineering in Japan

Engineering in Japan PDF Author: Robert S. Cutler
Publisher:
ISBN:
Category : Business & Economics
Languages : en
Pages : 136

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Book Description


Engineering Geological Advances in Japan for the New Millennium

Engineering Geological Advances in Japan for the New Millennium PDF Author: Y. Kanaori
Publisher: Elsevier
ISBN: 9780080530925
Category : Science
Languages : en
Pages : 360

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Book Description
The geology of the Japanese Islands is enormously complicated because of the active tectonism that has taken place on the boundary between the Pacific and Eurasian plates. Geological formations there are intricately deformed and displaced by many active faults. Hence, in planning for and siting large construction projects, such as nuclear power stations, underground power stations, and the underground facility for High-Level Radioactive Waste (HLW), more detailed investigations are necessary than in more stable parts of the world. Only then can assessments be made as to the long-term stability, hydrological characteristics and mechanical characteristics of geological conditions. This book offers recent research studies in engineering geology in Japan. It contains 27 papers of scope and importance sufficient to allow engineering geologists throughout the world to understand more of the present state of research and study in Japan. The title also includes a number of current topics in which Japanese engineering geologists have participated: the planning for and siting of large construction, such as nuclear power stations, underground power stations, and the underground facility for High-Level Radioactive Waste (HLW); the construction project of highways and nuclear power stations and new energy developments such as those for geothermal energy; the countermeasures for natural hazards caused by earthquakes, landslides, and slope, and stone deterioration; and alteration because of weathering at and near the Earth's surface.

Management of Software Engineering Innovation in Japan

Management of Software Engineering Innovation in Japan PDF Author: Yasuo Kadono
Publisher: Springer
ISBN: 4431556125
Category : Business & Economics
Languages : en
Pages : 173

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Book Description
This book assesses the achievements of the software engineering discipline as represented by IT vendors in Japan in order to deepen understanding of the mechanisms of how software engineering capabilities relate to IT vendors’ business performance and business environment from the perspective of innovation and engineering management. Based on the concepts of service science and science for society, the volume suggests how to improve the sophistication of services between the demand side, i.e., IT user companies, and the supply side, i.e., IT vendors, simultaneously. The author and his colleagues developed a structural model including innovational paths, such as service innovation, product innovation and process innovation, and a measurement model including the seven software engineering capabilities: deliverables, project management, quality assurance, process improvement, research and development, human resource development and customer contact. Then they designed research on software engineering excellence and administered it with the Japanese Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry and Information-Technology Promotion Agency. Through statistical analyses of the results, they found that human resource development and R&D are significant fundamental conditions to improve the quality of the deliverables and that IT firms with high levels of deliverables, derived from high levels of human resource development, quality assurance, project management and process improvement, tend to sustain high profitability. In addition, they developed a measurement model based on Porter’s five forces and Barney’s resource-based view. A regression tree analysis suggested that manufacturer spin-off vendors tend to expand business with well-resourced R&D, whereas user spin-off vendors tend to depend heavily on parent company demand.

Notes from Toyota-land

Notes from Toyota-land PDF Author: Darius Mehri
Publisher: Cornell University Press
ISBN: 1501728792
Category : Biography & Autobiography
Languages : en
Pages : 252

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Book Description
In 1996, Darius Mehri traveled to Japan to work as a computer simulation engineer within the Toyota production system. Once there, he found a corporate experience far different from what he had expected. Notes from Toyota-land, based on a diary that Mehri kept during his three years at an upper-level Toyota group company, provides a unique insider's perspective on daily work life in Japan and charts his transformation from a wide-eyed engineer eager to be part of the "Japanese Miracle" to a social critic, troubled by Japanese corporate practices. Mehri documents the sophisticated "culture of rules" and organizational structure that combine to create a profound control over workers. The work group is cynically used to encourage employees to work harder and harder, he found, and his other discoveries confirmed his doubts about the working conditions under the Japanese Miracle. For example, he learned that male employees treated their female counterparts as short-term employees, cheap labor, and potential wives. Mehri also describes a surprisingly unhealthy work environment, a high rate of injuries due to inadequate training, fast line speeds, crowded factories, racism, and lack of team support. And in conversations with his colleagues, he uncovered a culture of intimidation, subservience, and vexed relationships with many aspects of their work and surroundings. As both an engaging memoir of cross-cultural misunderstanding and a primer on Japanese business and industrial practices, Notes from Toyota-land will be a revelation to everyone who believes that Japanese business practices are an ideal against which to measure success.

Engineering War and Peace in Modern Japan, 1868–1964

Engineering War and Peace in Modern Japan, 1868–1964 PDF Author: Takashi Nishiyama
Publisher: JHU Press
ISBN: 1421412675
Category : Technology & Engineering
Languages : en
Pages : 281

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Book Description
The role of engineering communities in taking Japan from a defeated war machine into a peacetime technology leader. Naval, aeronautic, and mechanical engineers played a powerful part in the military buildup of Japan in the early and mid-twentieth century. They belonged to a militaristic regime and embraced the importance of their role in it. Takashi Nishiyama examines the impact of war and peace on technological transformation during the twentieth century. He is the first to study the paradoxical and transformative power of Japan’s defeat in World War II through the lens of engineering. Nishiyama asks: How did authorities select and prepare young men to be engineers? How did Japan develop curricula adequate to the task (and from whom did the country borrow)? Under what conditions? What did the engineers think of the planes they built to support Kamikaze suicide missions? But his study ultimately concerns the remarkable transition these trained engineers made after total defeat in 1945. How could the engineers of war machines so quickly turn to peaceful construction projects such as designing the equipment necessary to manufacture consumer products? Most important, they developed new high-speed rail services, including the Shinkansen Bullet Train. What does this change tell us not only about Japan at war and then in peacetime but also about the malleability of engineering cultures? Nishiyama aims to counterbalance prevalent Eurocentric/Americentric views in the history of technology. Engineering War and Peace in Modern Japan, 1868–1964 sets the historical experience of one country’s technological transformation in a larger international framework by studying sources in six different languages: Chinese, English, French, German, Japanese, and Spanish. The result is a fascinating read for those interested in technology, East Asia, and international studies. Nishiyama's work offers lessons to policymakers interested in how a country can recover successfully after defeat.

Working in Japan

Working in Japan PDF Author: Hiroshi Honda
Publisher: American Society of Mechanical Engineers
ISBN:
Category : Business & Economics
Languages : en
Pages : 336

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Book Description
Updated and expanded from the highly successful first edition, this book contains a wealth of essential information for all engineering professionals and scientists undertaking employment assignments in Japan. Get practical answers to all of your questions about Japanese employment practices, the workplace, cross-national recognition of academic and professional credentials, doing business with the Japanese, working for Japanese companies, foreign companies in Japan, and Japanese national institutes and universities as a fellowship recipient, and more. You'll receive frank firsthand advice from the unique perspectives of 17 authors--engineering professionals and scientists with different backgrounds and nationalities. And,"Working in Japan" is packed with even more valuable details, including insights and strategies for dealing with cultural differences--as well as lists of resources and references.