Global Companies, Local Innovations: Why the Engineering Aspects of Innovation Making Require Co-location

180 Pages·2012·1.383 MB·English

by  Yasuyuki Motoyama

Global Companies, loCal innovations
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Global Companies,
local innovations
Why the engineering aspects of innovation making
Require Co-location
YasuYuki motoYama
Kauffman Foundation, USA
© Yasuyuki motoyama 2012
all rights reserved. no part of this publication may be reproduced, stored in a retrieval
system or transmitted in any form or by any means, electronic, mechanical, photocopying,
recording or otherwise without the prior permission of the publisher.
Yasuyuki motoyama has asserted his right under the Copyright, Designs and patents act,
1988, to be identified as the author of this work.
published by
ashgate publishing limited ashgate publishing Company
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British Library Cataloguing in Publication Data
motoyama, Yasuyuki.
Global companies, local innovations : why the engineering aspects of innovation making
require co-location. – (ashgate economic geography series)
1. international business enterprises–location. 2. industrial location–effect of labor
market on. 3. product design. 4. new products–international cooperation. 5. toyota
Jidosha Hanbai kabushiki kaisha. 6. soni kabushiki kaisha. 7. kyanon kabushiki
kaisha.
i. title ii. series
338.8’81-dc23
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
motoyama, Yasuyuki.
Global companies, local innovations : why the engineering aspects of innovation making
require co-location / by Yasuyuki motoyama.
p. cm. – (ashgate economic geography series)
includes index.
isbn 978-1-4094-2146-7 (hardback : alk. paper) – isbn 978-1-4094-2147-4 (ebook) 1.
international business enterprises. 2. industries–effect of technological innovations on.
3. Commercial geography. i. title.
HD2756.m68 2012
338’.064–dc23
2012012007
isbn 9781409421467 (hbk)
isbn 9781409421474 (ebk)
V
Contents
List of Figures vii
List of Tables ix
List of Abbreviations xi
Acknowledgments xiii
Preface xv
1 Introduction 1
In Search of Answers 2
Plan of the Book 4
2 In Search of Answers to Being Global and Local 7
2.1 Which Aspect of Globalization Are We Talking About? What is
Globalization? 7
2.2 How Could Other Theories Answer the Questions? 14
2.3 Why Japanese Firms? Why Not Japanese Firms? 18
2.4 The Plan of Research 21
3 Sony’s Vaio 505: A Portable and Good-Looking Market Niche 23
3.1 The Sony Corporation 23
3.2 Sony’s R&D System 27
3.3 Sony in the PC Industry 28
3.4 Development of the Sony Vaio 505 30
3.5 Summary 42
4 Toyota’s Prius: Call for Next Century Induced Hybrid Technology 45
4.1 The Toyota Corporation 45
4.2 Toyota’s R&D System 48
4.3 Overview of the Toyota Hybrid System 51
4.4 Development of the Prius 51
4.5 Summary 74
vi Global Companies, Local Innovations
5 Canon’s Bubble Jet Printer BJ-10v: The 13-Year Journey from Basic
Research to Product 79
5.1 The Canon Corporation 79
5.2 Canon’s R&D System 82
5.3 Overview of Printer Technology 85
5.4 Development of the Bubble Jet Printer: BJ-10v 87
5.5 Summary 102
6 Innovation and Geography 105
6.1 The Geography of Product Development 105
6.2 Reasons for Co-location 106
6.3 Further Discussions and Implications 110
6.4 A Final Remark 120
List of Interviewees 121
References 123
Index 145
List of Figures
2.1 Trade as a percentage of GDP 9
2.2 Net immigration contribution to population growth => Ratio of legal
immigrants to population 12
3.1 Sony’s Vaio 505 32
3.2 Map of Vaio 505 development 34
3.3 Backside of Vaio 505 37
4.1 Product development organization of Toyota 50
4.2 Map of Prius development 1 58
4.3 Map of Prius development 2 68
4.4 Induced changes in Prius battery development 75
5.1 Types of printing technologies 86
5.2 Process of Bubble Jet printing 86
5.3 Map of BJ development 1: 1977‒81 89
5.4 BJ-80 in 1985: The first Bubble Jet printer, but still with a traditional
printer style 94
5.5 BJ-10v: compact and portable 97
5.6 The changing shape of an ink droplet, estimated by simulation method 99
5.7 Map of Bubble Jet development 2: 2004 101
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List of Tables
2.1 Trade as a percentage of GDP from 1913 to 2005 10
3.1 Sales, share, and growth of Sony’s business 24
3.2 Sales of major Japanese electronics firms by regions 26
3.3 Sony corporate laboratories 27
3.4 Sony’s overseas R&D laboratories 28
4.1 Sales by major automobile firms by region 47
4.2 Toyota production sites in North America 48
4.3 Factories to produce the Prius 69
5.1 Consolidated sales of Canon products 81
5.2 Sales and geographical distribution of major printer companies 82
5.3 Number of patents granted in the U.S. by organization 83
5.4 R&D-related organizations at Canon 84
5.5 Canon’s overseas R&D centers 85
5.6 Seven problems faced and the technological fields used to solve them 102
6.1 Summary of development phases 117