Table of Contents

Abbreviations
Tables and Figures
Acknowledgements
1: Overview
I. The History of Subcontracting in Japan
2: The Origins of Dualism and the Rise of Subcontracting in Japanese Manufacturing Industries, 1900-1945
3: The Emergence of Postwar Subcontracting, 1945-1960
4: The Transformation of Japanese Subcontracting, 1960-1990
II. The Contemporary Practice of Subcontracting
5: Asset Specificity Revisited
6: Bargaining or Problem Solving?
7: Sources of Flexibility
8: Conclusion
Appendix A
Appendix B
Appendix C
Appendix D
Bibliography
Index

Reviews

"One of the most interesting parts of Nishiguchi's descriptions is his contrast of Japanese-style managers' attitudes toward suppliers with the attitudes of American and British managers whose firms have not adopted these practices...No amount of asset flexibility can substitute for a system of flexible employees such as is described in Strategic Industrial Sourcing. Management scholars fail to see the true contours of the Japanese business landscape
if the reality of these business arrangements is ignored."--Academy of Management Review
"Based on eight years of research and over 1,000 interviews, Nishiguchi's book provides a detailed and well-balanced account of why subcontracting persists in Japan more than in other countries and how it has contributed to Japan's economic success story."--Contemporary Sociology
"Constitutes a definitive study of Japanese subcontracting, supported by numerous tables and figures, and extending in coverage to Europe and the US....One of the important contributions of the book is its proof of cross-cultural applicability of the Japanese system. This work also contains rich and captivating anecdotal evidence. Highly recommended."--Choice
"I have always thought that in the long run the Japanese system of subcontracting is beneficial to all parties... I am grateful that Dr. Nishiguchi, through his painstaking research, breaks down myths about the Japanese subcontracting system."--Fujio Cho, President, Toyota Motor Manufacturing U.S.A.
"The coordination of the supply chain has always been the secret weapon of the best Japanese firms. In this remarkable volume Toshihiro Nishiguchi finally explains how they do it. Any Western manager who fails to read, indeed to study this book, is passing up an extraordinary opportunity to improve industrial performance. "--James P. Womack, Coauthor of The Machine that Changed the World
"One of the most interesting parts of Nishiguchi's descriptions is his contrast of Japanese-style managers' attitudes toward suppliers with the attitudes of American and British managers whose firms have not adopted these practices...No amount of asset flexibility can substitute for a system of flexible employees such as is described in Strategic Industrial Sourcing. Management scholars fail to see the true contours of the Japanese business landscape
if the reality of these business arrangements is ignored."--Academy of Management Review
"Based on eight years of research and over 1,000 interviews, Nishiguchi's book provides a detailed and well-balanced account of why subcontracting persists in Japan more than in other countries and how it has contributed to Japan's economic success story."--Contemporary Sociology
"Constitutes a definitive study of Japanese subcontracting, supported by numerous tables and figures, and extending in coverage to Europe and the US....One of the important contributions of the book is its proof of cross-cultural applicability of the Japanese system. This work also contains rich and captivating anecdotal evidence. Highly recommended."--Choice
"I have always thought that in the long run the Japanese system of subcontracting is beneficial to all parties... I am grateful that Dr. Nishiguchi, through his painstaking research, breaks down myths about the Japanese subcontracting system."--Fujio Cho, President, Toyota Motor Manufacturing U.S.A.
"The coordination of the supply chain has always been the secret weapon of the best Japanese firms. In this remarkable volume Toshihiro Nishiguchi finally explains how they do it. Any Western manager who fails to read, indeed to study this book, is passing up an extraordinary opportunity to improve industrial performance. "--James P. Womack, Coauthor of The Machine that Changed the World
"Japanese subcontractors play a critical role in manufacturing as well as product development... Nishiguchi's book does an excellent job of bringing together history and contemporary reality, and is a superb contribution to the literature on Japanese management."--Michael A. Cusumano, Massachusetts Institute of Technology
"Nishiguchi's work on suppliers in Japan is both provocative and compelling. It sets the standard against which others will be measured."--Kim B. Clark, Harvard University
"Dispels our self-protective myths about Japanese subcontracting: it is a vital part of their competitive success, and contributes more to worker and community welfare than our fixation on price competition."--Charles Perrow, Yale University
"It is impossible to understand Japanese manufacturing without understanding the Japanese system of subcontracting; and, in the absence of years of personal experience, it is impossible to have anything like a detailed grasp of the evolution, operation, and diversity of that system without reading Strategic Industrial Sourcing. Toshihiro Nishiguchi has written both the most empirically detailed study of Japanese subcontracting and the theoretically
most sophisticated treatment of the debates concerning its interpretation. This is an authoritative work."--Charles F. Sabel, Massachusetts Institute of Technology