Can Japanese Sogo-soshas become common in Europe and USA with the system and its current situation?

Résumé du document

According to Reuters, a Japanese company has come up with a new way to track down grandmas, grandpas and anyone else who forgets where he or she is supposed to be. The company will use a satellite-based global positioning system and cellular technology.
The device has been developed by a firm led by the Mitsui & Co. trading house, which works like this; a transmitter is attached to a person's body or clothing. And when that person goes missing, a request is sent to find the wanderer. The transmitter shines the person's “coordinates” to a local server, and his or her location appears on a computerized map. Mitsui & Co. says it will test the device in Tokyo and Kikuchi City this year, and will then launch it. A spokesperson told Reuters, “We are definitely expecting a market to develop for the system.” Sure, they'll start with grandmas. But where will it end? This anecdote introduces us to the Japanese culture and their priorities. You may find this funny, or shocking but the problem is real and is unfortunately not a joke. How do you find the consideration of Human-being in this “anecdote”? Does it perfectly show us the clash of cultures with Western countries?
Nowadays, Japan faces a new crisis, even the specialists observed amelioration during the first semester of 1999, the recession is the most important since the World War. And its origins are due to a financial crisis which causes a vicious circle. The system is now reformed and the roots of Japan began to change. Throughout the essay, we will answer the following question: can Japanese Sogo-soshas become common in Europe and USA with the system and its current situation? That is why three main parts will be developed to understand the Japanese system – and especially the role of Sogo-sosha -, the crisis and the culture. We will first analyze the system in which evolutes the famous Sogo-soshas and the Keiretsus. Then some links between the different parts of a typical Japanese firm and the national institutions will be established. However, we will speak about the policies applied in Japan. What did firms and governments to obtain so much profitability?
In the second part, we will describe the industrialization of Japan with its history since Meiji. And we will observe figures to explain the success or the economic crisis and how it happens?
And in the last part, we will study some cases of Sogo-sosha based overseas with their “local” Management and the comparison of values, culture and priorities with Western countries.

Extraits

[...] The Japanese trade unions aim for shared prosperity, with security of employment and the stability of the business being the main prerogatives. In the Japanese systems, employees are actively encouraged in the decision making process. From making suggestions on the “shop floor” they improve efficiency and productivity, through to involvement in the business decision making process. The employee involvement process ties in with single status ethics to reduce conflicts between workers and management which can lead to industrial unrest. In the Japanese system, large organisations often recruit a core workforce (generally graduates) which is considered to be the long term permanent staff. [...]

[...] The project has been lead in cooperation with the British Government help and created more than 3,000 jobs. Japanese companies investing in UK knows lot profitability, but it was not using the traditional organisation of Japan. They adapt their way of producing and were at the beginning thinking of a short term settlement. It was just question of selling products to arrive to their objectives, and then to leave the country (E.g. Toyota in Valenciennes, Citroen in Wuhan). Their establishments were in a project of reducing costs with the products and they were helped by subventions because they always need to produce. [...]

[...] In Japan, they distribute what they import and they ship and store what they buy. That's why it's logical that you can access Japanese market if you integrate a shosha. And what seems really incredible, profit is not the first goal of a shosha. But since a decade, some groups decided not to have an intermediate in their own business and set up the shosha. (E.g. Toyota which adapts the Western markets) The shosha plays an extremely important financial role in Japanese business by providing credits for small to medium sized companies. [...]

[...] A strong economy was seen as a necessity for national survival. Japan entered the twentieth century under the guidance of a modernizing elite committed to building a strong national economy both to preserve the independence of the state avid also to extend its power and influence on the Pacific area. Nevertheless, Japanese industrialization was clearly not a home-grown product. Although economic progress had been visible under the Tokugawa regime along capitalist lines, it can hardly be claimed that Japan would have embarked upon industrialization without borrowing the technology and organization of the West. [...]

[...] Can Japanese Sogo-soshas become common in Europe and USA with the system and its current situation? Introduction I-The Japanese system What are a Sogo-sosha and a Keiretsu? Japanese relationship; The Main Banks What are the negative and positive aspects of the “First Trade Nation?” II-Japanese history, Ere Meiji, krach, History of Industrialization Some figures Explanations, what can we conclude concerning the crisis? III-Example of International Sogo-sosha International companies Differences between companies in Japan and in other countries (management, adaptation) Conclusion Summarize Can the Sogo-soshas become common in Europe and in USA? [...]