The remainder of this paper discusses findings from interviews from within the industry. Onsite visits and conversations were conducted in 2003 and 2005 with 41 representatives working in and related to Japan’s metalworking machinery sector. The interviews took place largely within the Tokyo metropolitan region and in Aichi Prefecture, the location of many metalworking firms and manufacturing giants such as
Toyota (see Figure 1). This group included metalworking machinery firms; component makers; affiliated trade groups, and manufacturing organizations. The trade groups work closely with machinery producers and are often managed or staffed by current and former workers from within the industry.
The corporate interview is a useful means to examining the evolving operations of business organizations. Schoenberger (1991) illustrated that this method is particularly valuable for looking at group dynamics and likewise, Yeung (1995) demonstrated that in international business studies, the corporate interview yields particular richness in examining the continually changing dynamics of firms and offers a degree of flexibility in firm-level research. Differences in national culture often provide obstacles to conventional survey methods, hindering attempts to ascertain interactions both within and between firms. In general, the interview is seen as an important tool in international business analyses. In terms of this paper, these interviews were largely exploratory and form the basis for a more in-depth study of the industry.
It should be mentioned at the outset that many of the strategies and concepts described in this could apply to Japanese manufacturing at large. This is