Hybrid Factories in East Asia in 1992–93 and After

This chapter is designed to look into the status of application of the Japanese system in East Asian countries in comparison with the situation in the United States and Europe. In doing so, East Asia is divided into Korea and Taiwan, the two newly industrializing economies (NIEs) with the more advanced state of industrialization, and the three members of the Association of Southeast Asian Nations (ASEAN), who have experienced remarkable economic development in recent years1 for analysis. Though Singapore may well be grouped together with Korea and Taiwan for several reasons, this analysis puts it in the ASEAN group given the geographical and historical conditions as well as locational grouping in our research. This chapter is based on the results of the 1992–93 research, meaning the data are relatively old. However, have been carrying out follow-up research on Japanese plants in the region, and information on this indicates little change in the way these plants are managed, though some in the region now have different strategic importance and some have been closed down amid structural change in the global economy including the remarkable development of the Chinese economy. So, as long as the state of hybridization of operating plants in the region is concerned, the data from the 1992–93 research can still be considered fundamentally not out of date.