To work on product strategy, it is necessary to divide products into 'civilization' and
'culture' typology (There are also hybrid products sharing characteristics of both
types). Moreover, individual products need to be characterized as representing either
'physical' or 'spiritual' features. See Exhibit 3.
For civilization products such as cars and home electric appliances, the product’s
competitive advantages can be evaluated objectively by technology-determining
function and performance. Therefore, the global development of this product type
concentrates on standardization that makes few changes to the 'physical' side of
Japan-born products, and on the adaptation to local cultures through effective
communication, thereby modifying the product’s 'spiritual' features to meet local
psychological/emotional needs and wants. As the civilization values of 'physical'
features, such as function, performance, usability and price, are hardly affected by
cultural differences, they are culture-free and their global transfer is based on a
trade-off relationship with cost. Until recently, Japanese companies excelled at