Japanese Supply Chains in Europe. Management and Development

This book is an attempt at broadening the knowledge on the operation of Japanese enterprises in Europe from the point of view of a harmonious cooperation with the surrounding environment and a possibility to transfer Japanese supply chain management methods to countries at different stages of social and economic development. Therefore, Great Britain was selected for comparative study, which used to be the original direction of foreign expansion of Japanese corporations in Europe, and Poland, where Japanese companies started to operate a few years after the transformation of political system in the second half of the 90s in the last century. The authors understand Japanese supply chains as companies cooperating in different areas of operation of a company, among which the role of the leader and the central coordinator of the information, goods and financial means is fulfilled by entities with a predominance of Japanese capital. Additionally, in the entity structure of those supply chains prevail Japanese suppliers of goods and services.

Introduction 6 Chapter I. Japanese supply chain management in the globalised world 9 1.1. A supply chain in terms of process and structural approach 9 1.2. The determinants of supply chain development 11 1.3. The directions for the evolution of international supply chains 14 Chapter II. Coopetition in Japanese supply chains 25 2.1. Fundamental decisions and the improvement of processes in the management of international supply chains 25 2.2. Collaboration and competition of Japanese companies within Keiretsu structures and other economic organizations 29 2.3. Japanese foreign investments in Europe 38 2.4. External conditions of development and functioning of Japanese supply chains in Europe 53 2.4.1. Economic stagnation vs. changes in management and location of Japanese enterprises 53 2.4.2. Cultural conditions in the management of Japanese supply chains in Japan and Great Britain 66 2.4.3 Comparative analysis of the social capital in the researched countries 77 2.4.4. The infrastructural conditions of supply chain management in Poland, Great Britain and Japan 91 2.4.5. The cooperation of Japanese investors with local governments in Poland 115 Chapter III. Functioning and development of Japanese supply chains in Europe - a case studies 124 3.1. European supply chain structural and organizational framework of selected groups Keirestsu 124 3.1.1. Japanese supply chains in the automotive sector 124 3.1.2. Good practices in Japanese automotive supply chains in Europe - the case of Bridgestone Europe 128 3.1.3. Development and disinvestments in Japanese supply chains in the customer electric industry 129 3.2. The share of logistics company in shaping and functioning of Japanese supply chains 133 3.2.1. Toyota Tsusho Corporation 133 3.2.2. Mazda Logistics Europe 139 Chapter IV. Improving structures and processes in supply chains. The results of studies concerning Japanese companies of the automotive sector in Poland 148 4.1. Research description 148 4.2. Processes in Japanese supply chains - research results 148 4.2.1. Research and development 148 4.2.2. Customer logistics service 152 4.2.3. Transport and storage 155 4.2.4. Purchases and inventory management 163 4.2.5. Just–in-Time in production logistics 173 4.2.6. Ecologistics 182 4.3. Concepts, resources and technologies of improvement in Japanese supply chains 185 4.3.1. Social responsibility in Japanese supply chains 185 4.3.2. Project teams in improving Japanese supply chains 194 4.3.3. Kaizen as a concept of improving processes 204 4.3.4. Information and communication technology tools in Japanese supply chains 213 Chapter V. Barriers and stimulants of Japanese supply chains in Europe 220 5.1. The future of Japanese FDI in Europe and the scenarios of supply chains development 220 5.2. The conditions of diffusion of Japanese practices regarding supply chain management in Europe 234 Conclusion 245 Bibliography 247 List of Figures 267 List of Tables 269