Title: Through technology leverage and risk avoidance

Authors: Yoshio Sugasawa, Takeshi Shinomiya

Addresses: Japan Economical University, 24-5, Sakuragaoka, Shibuya-Ku, Tokyo 150-0031, Japan. ' Business Development Department, Core Technology Centre, NIKON Corporation, 6-3, Nishi-ohi 1-chome, Shinagawa-ku, Tokyo140-8601, Japan

Abstract: Companies make concerted efforts to survive in a radically changing global society with the advent of a highly-networked and information-rich society that is featured by intense market competition. Manufacturing industries in particular have a tendency to rely on technological development strengths as a means of survival in a highly globalised and competitive environment. In this process, technological differentiation among competitors is essential to stay ahead of other competing firms through the use of technological development strengths that either propelled them to win, lose or just survive in this competitive environment. Creating and sustaining technological and developmental capabilities require considerable investment in both time and money. In recent times, there has been an escalation of costs of research, development, manufacturing technology and manufacturing facilities. In this paper, the internal and external environment for research and development capability improvement in the Japanese manufacturing industries in the early 2000s are analysed to ascertain the factors of changes that influence research and technological capability.

Keywords: technology; leverage; risk avoidance; techno-leverage; competitive technical intelligence; global financing; technical innovation; development periods; life cycle times; market competition; manufacturing industry; technological development; competitiveness; technological differentiation; competitors; costs; R&D; research and development; manufacturing facilities; external environments; internal environments; Japan; economies of time; learning; change.

DOI: 10.1504/IJLC.2010.038767

International Journal of Learning and Change, 2010 Vol.4 No.4, pp.317 - 334

Published online: 02 Mar 2011 *

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