Industrial Subcontracting in the Uk and Japan

by Thoburn, John T.; Takashima, Makoto

• ISBN13: 9781856283472
• ISBN10: 185628347X
• Format: Hardcover
• Copyright: 1992-09-01
• Publisher: Avebury

Summary

This book investigates the possibility that increased use of subcontracting could improve the international competitiveness of British industry, drawing on lessons from Japan. Based on interviews in Britain and Japan with over 40 companies, it concentrates on subcontracting in mechanical engineering, electronics, and the motor industry. Pressures such as intensified international competition, increased market volatility, and accelerated technical change have forced British firms into reorganization. The increased use of subcontracting involved in this has partly been the result of changes in the fundamental transactions-cost-economics determinants of subcontracting behaviour; but also, underutilized and already-existing subcontracting opportunities have been taken up in order to reduce costs, and this has required a rethinking of companies' methods of supply chain management. Subcontracting in Japan has involved highly efficient supply chain management and appears to have stimulated cooperative innovation.

Table of Contents

Introduction

Subcontracting in the United Kingdom and Japan

The industries and firms

The engineering companies

The motor industry companies

The electronics companies

The Japanese subcontracting relationship

Conclusions

References

Table of Contents provided by Publisher. All Rights Reserved.