Why do some country's hi-tech firms innovate better than others? Why did hi-tech firms from the United States outperform such Japanese companies in the 1990s? Through a wealth of empirical evidence, the book compares the development trajectory of manufacturing technology and information technology both between Japanese companies and between companies based in the US, Europe, Australia, India and China. This book shows that institutional systems such as culture, tradition, consumers and local business practices play key roles in how companies develop technology. These factors also influence the very characteristics of the products that the hi-tech firms produce. With a number of case studies the author demonstrates how the most successful and innovative companies recognize these roles and incorporate them into their practices.

Résumé
This book summarizes highlights of the investigation of An Elucidation of the Role of Institutional Systems in Characterizing Technology Development Trajectories A Global Comparative Analysis of Manufacturing Technology and Information Te- nology in the Enhancement of Business Practice supported by Grant-in-Aid for Scienti?c Research (S) by Japan's Ministry of Education, Culture, Sports, Science and Technology/Japan Society for Science Policy over the period 20022006. Background and objectives of the investigation are summarized as follows: (a) Japan ranks far below the level of the USA with respect to the development and utilization of information technology (IT) in the information society that emerged in the 1990s. (b) This can be attributed toa vicious cycle between Japan's non-elastic institutions, insuf?cient utilization of the potential bene?ts of IT, and economic stagnation. (c) The source of such a vicious cycle can be derived from the fundamental d- ferences of the characterizing process of technology between manufacturing technology (MT) and IT during their diffusion processes. This investigation - tempted to elucidate this mechanism. Noteworthy ?ndings obtained include: (a) MT has been developed largely by the supply side and its functionality is - tablished during the stage of its supply to the market. In contrast, IT is strongly driven by the demand side and its functionality is created through diffusion in a self-propagating way. This contrast can be clearly observed in the dramatic advancement of Japan's mobile phone industry in the late 1990s.

Contenu
Formation of IT Features through Interaction with Institutional Systems: Empirical Evidence of Unique Epidemic Behavior.- Institutional Elasticity as a Significant Driver of IT Functionality Development.- A Substitution Orbit Model of Competitive Innovations.- Impacts of Functionality Development on Dynamism between Learning and Diffusion of Technology.- Diffusion, Substitution and Competition Dynamism Inside the ICT Market: A Case of Japan.- The Co-evolution Process of Technological Innovation: An Empirical Study of Mobile Phone Vendors and Telecommunication Service Operators in Japan.- Technopreneurial Trajectory Leading to Bipolarization of Entrepreneurial Contour in Japanâ™s Leading Firm.- Technological Diversification Strategic Trajectory Leading to an Effective Utilization of Potential Resources in Innovation: A Case of Canon.- Japanâ™s Coevolutionary Dynamism between Innovation and Institutional Systems: Hybrid Management Fusing East and West.- Conclusion.