Japanese Business Down Under by David W. Edgington

Author:David W. Edgington [Edgington, David W.]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Tags: Social Science, Regional Studies
ISBN: 9780429768927
Google: 9GwPEAAAQBAJ
Publisher: Routledge
Published: 2018-10-31T03:43:42+00:00

Conclusion

Figure 4.1 summarized the influences at work at different times between 1957 and 1985 and showed how locational and behavioural outcomes reflect interactions between Japanese requirements, corporate strategies, and local constraints. These appear more complex than those relating to sōgō shōsha activities discussed in the previous chapter. However, this is not surprising as the net result varied not only between resource-oriented and local market-oriented manufacturing investments, but also between different industrial sectors.

Japanese manufacturers exhibited quite different patterns of investment in Australia when compared to manufacturers from the UK and USA. Japanese companies were distinguished from other TNCs with regard to timing, patterns of entry, and industrial distribution: because of their long-term commitment, their part in the Australian market evolved along a complex path; and they were more likely to engage in distribution activities rather than production operations, medium-size assembly activities rather than full manufacturing, and joint ventures.

Case-studies of their Australian representative offices, sales subsidiaries, and manufacturing operations illustrated the complex interplay between Japanese requirements and characteristics, and local opportunities and constraints. In the instance of representative offices and sales subsidiaries, local market considerations appeared to outweigh any Japanese social or business imperatives in determining locational outcomes. This result can be contrasted with the situation of the sōgō shōsha, where corporate objectives appeared to be at least as important as local market opportunities in determining their spatial consequences in Australia.

In contrast to the initial entry of the sōgō shōsha, Federal-government intervention was decisive in the initial establishment of Japanese manufacturing through tariffs, car-industry plans, and Telecom Australia purchasing policy; and, together with Japanese corporate objectives concerning raw-materials processing, was significant in shaping their sectoral distribution. Government intrusion in a direct sense, however, played an insignificant role in spatial outcomes (except for Sanyo’s assembly plant at Wodonga). Factors such as Japanese corporate motivations, the existing distribution of component suppliers, joint-venture partners, and government regulations concerning local content, determined the locations for Japanese investment in the car industry (which favoured Melbourne) and colour-TV industry (which favoured Sydney). An evaluation of the net geographic distribution of all Japanese-controlled manufacturing employment will be made in Chapter 6.

Finally, much in line with the analysis of sōgō shōsha activities, the primary reason for manufacturing has been defensive: the preservation of Japanese markets in the face of actual or potential trade barriers. In the absence of government intervention, most Japanese firms were able to compete in the Australian market by exporting from Japan. Where local manufacturing plants had been set up, Japanese corporations brought with them a distinctive technology which led to a very high level of imports and a low level of interaction with the domestic economy. The local subsidiary was in effect an extension of the parent company’s export drive from Japan.

An important issue concerns the extent to which import substitution by Japanese companies saves foreign exchange and creates local jobs and growth impulses. Due to their strategic importance as a major employer and their dominance of the industry, Japanese car production plants have received a high degree of attention.

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