The Keiretsu Culture in Japan

The varying social interactions between status groups in Katsu Kokichi’s autobiography, Musui’s Story, convey a shift from the hierarchically strict Heian/Kamakura epochs to the more socially open late Tokugawa period. Throughout the work, Katsu illustrates his various dealings and communications with peasants, merchants, artisans and fellow samurai. While in theory a social hierarchy still presided, Musui’s Story dismisses the notion that social groups remained isolated from each other, as in previous Japanese eras, and instead reveals that people of Japan in the late-Tokugawa-era mingled with one another during their lives, regardless of their social status. Considering the

Japanese Feudalism - a social system founded upon a strict hierarchy with the daimyo at the top, followed by the samurai, then farmers and fishermen, artisans, and finally merchants and shopkeepers.

The principal Japanese institution was the uji, or clan. Each clan controlled their own territory, and was composed of both commoners and aristocrats. It also had its own mythology centered on a divine ancestor. The imperial family, the Yamato clan, gained domination over the other clans, and became the primary focus of Japanese myth. Jimmu-tenno was said to be the founder of the imperial family, although he did have an older brother who was killed in battle during their quest to move east to find the best place to rule and for new territories.

At around 300 B.C.E the Japanese people where set up in small clans named Uji and each clan where unique from each other since they developed independently due to the mountains such as Fuji (Kasulis, 75). Each Uji believed in a a spirit that protected the clan known as a Ujigami which was the predecessor for the modern day kami that many foreign individuals see as

Keiretsu is a Japanese word which, translated literally, means headless combine. It is the name given to a form of corporate structure in which a number of organisations link together, usually by taking small stakes in each other and usually as a result of having a close business relationship, often as suppliers to each other (Hindle, 2008).

Two descends from two different royal family. Both became samurais. In the East ruled the Minamoto family. The West was the home of the Taira. The leader of the Minamoto family was Yoshitomo. The leader of Taira was Kiyomori. As respected men they felt they were better than each other. Each clan stayed on their sides.

For over 250 years, Japan was under a strict military dictatorship, oppressing the social classes of their freedom to explore literature and the arts. However, from the 1670s through 1865 was the Tokugawa period, also known as the Edo period, where Japan was guided to internal peace and economic growth (The Editors of Encyclopædia Britannica). Not only had Japan found stability in the Edo period, creativity flourished from the lower class of artisans and merchants through the exploration of ukiyo-e printmaking. The term, ukiyo-e, is a combination of uki (floating), yo (world), and e (pictures) that originated as a Buddhist term to express impermanence of human life. Ukiyo-e was experimented and developed to become a popular art form that displayed

The automotive industry designs, develops, manufactures, markets and sells motor vehicles, and is one of the world’s most important economic divisions by profits. This analysis focuses on the industry, specifically, manufacturers of automobiles. There are five competitors in the StratSim environment: Firm A, B, C, D, and E. Industry sales in the most recent year were 4.3 million units, with expected growth in the next year. Within this industry, there are seven-vehicle classes: Economy, Family, Luxury, Sports, Minivan, Truck, and Utility. There are two new classes with potential – if properly marketed.

geisha and a Japanese prostitute is the kimono that they wear (The History and Culture of

Samurai is a Teppanyaki steakhouse which means customers gather around a specialized table that includes a built-in grill and observe a chef prepare their meal for them. Another example of material culture is that the restaurant

Increased globalization is the direction that all major multinational corporations are moving towards. Ford had made a good attempt at making a world car that proved to be partially successful in the beginning of sales. The company has learned that locational specialization is an extremely important aspect to selling globally because of the differing personal preferences and legal demands.

Just like the other industries such as apparel, electronics, and consumer goods, the automobile industry has accelerated its foreign direct investment, cross border trade and global production. The automobile industry has increased outsourcing and bundled value chain activities in major supplier chains. As a result, more developed countries that serve as suppliers have increased their involvement in trade and FDI. With these increased supplier capabilities, large national suppliers have become global suppliers and are now controlling multinational operations. This is because of their increased capability of providing good and services to various lead firms all over the world. The automotive industry has a distinct firm structure. This

The United States Automotive industry has been dominated by five major auto manufacturers: GM, Toyota, Ford, Chrysler, and Honda. As globalization increases the domestic automotive market (GM, Ford, Chrysler) suffers from foreign competitors. Although with high entrance barriers the market suffers little to none from new entries. There are several reasons for this the largest being capital. It takes a lot of capital to obtain manufacturing plants, raw materials, as well as to hire and train employees. PASTEL Analysis

The main driving force behind the decision of BMW to turn to globalization was competition from global companies in Germany, the United States and Japan who are major competitors in the luxury segment. The automobile industry is highly globalised with many major manufactures operating all over the world. Automobiles built in one region are sold, with necessary changes, around the world. The main force for global convergence was the virtual disappearance of the national manufactures being squeezed out by the international giants and the standardization of markets across international boundaries. Forced by international regulatory bodies at regional level and fuelled by ever more intensive global communication.

The characteristics of the global motor vehicle industry are a boom in certain places and a bust in others all due to economic conditions in different nations. Four years after tow of Detroit Michigan’s big three went into bankruptcy American car makers are going “full throttle” with sales in August hitting an annual rate that if substantiated can take them back over 16 million and that is a rate that was last hit before the economic crisis and 80% higher than 2009 when GM and Chrysler went into bankruptcy. The opposite is happening in Europe being in its sixth year slump now and with a weak economy, high petroleum prices and an aging