The microbes get to work

Article Abstract:

Smaller companies are similar to microbes in that they revive dead resources after breaking them down. This process has been slow to take off in Japan, but it is beginning. Management buyouts are a useful way of recycling resources, but Japanese companies tend to prefer trade sales to selling to their managers. Customers and suppliers tend to be preferred buyers in order to foster links. Foreign companies are becoming interested in smaller firms. There is no strong independent small business sector in Japan, so foreign companies can perform a useful role.

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In search of the new Japanese dream

Article Abstract:

Business start-ups are becoming more common in Japan, and mutual funds geared to high-tech companies are becoming more popular, despite savers' traditional caution. Few new companies have floated on the stockmarket, and many of those that plan to do so are internet companies. Big companies still predominate, and Japan has been slow to change, partly as the result of an educational system discouraging initiative, and due to state control. Lifetime employment is being undermined, which has prompted changes in attitudes.

Economic aspects, Internet, Venture capital

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Forced to be free

Article Abstract:

Smaller firms in Japan have been especially badly hit by recession, and links between smaller and larger firms are weakening. Larger companies have tended to use near-exclusive suppliers in which they acquire minority stakes, but these relationships have been hit by a drop in demand. Consolidation is hampered by cross-stockholding, and larger firms are less able to source parts abroad since they have an interest in maintaining the values of stakes in suppliers.

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