This book provides a profound overview of Japanese ways of managing innovation, looking at various relevant levels such as strategy, processes, organization, culture and implementation. Within this framework, contributions by both researchers and practitioners deal with aspects such as the fuzzy front-end of innovation, the role of knowledge in new product development, supplier integration, product architecture, multi-project management and intellectual property rights issues. Case studies serve to illustrate how new product development projects are carried out in Japan and comparisons with practices in Western countries allow for the identifi cation of differences and similarites between management practices in these different cultural regions.

Inhaltsverzeichnis

Part I: Strategic Aspects

Designing the Product Architecture for High Appropriability:
The Case of Canon 3
Kiyonori Sakakibara and Yoichi Matsumoto

Case Study Shimano: Market Creation Through Component Integration 29
Akira Takeishi and Yaichi Aoshima

Invisible Dimensions of Innovation: Strategy for De-commoditization
in the Japanese Electronics Industry 49
Ken Kusunoki

The Customer System and New Product Development:
The Material Supplier's Strategy in Japan 73
Junichi Tomita and Takahiro Fujimoto

Part II: Process Aspects

The Japanese Know-Who Based Model of Innovation Management -
Reducing Risk at High Speed 87
Sigvald J. Harryson

The Domestic Shaping of Japanese Innovations 113
Marian Beise

Exploiting "Interface Capabilities" in Overseas Markets: Lessons from
Japanese Mobile Phone Handset Manufacturers in the US 143
Masanori Yasumoto and Takahiro Fujimoto

"Fuzzy Front End" Practices in Innovating Japanese Companies 167
Cornelius Herstatt, Birgit Verworn, Christoph Stockstrom, Akio Nagahira,
and Osamu Takahashi

Implementing Process Innovation - The Case of the
Toyota Production System 185
Rene Haak

Part III: Organizational Aspects

Reorientation in Product Development for Multi-project Management:
The Toyota Case 207
Kentaro Nobeoka

Suppliers Involvement in New Product Development in the Japanese
Auto Industry - A Case Study from a Product Architecture Perspective 235
Dongsheng Ge and Takahiro Fujimoto

NPD-Process and Planning in Japanese Engineering Companies -
Findings from an Interview Research 249
Cornelius Herstatt, Christoph Stockstrom, and Akio Nagahira

Part IV: Cultural Aspects

Japanese New Product Advantage: A Comparative Examination 269
Cheryl Nakata and Subin Im

Differences in the Internationalization of Industrial R&D in the Triad 289
Guido Reger

Global Innovation and Knowledge Flows in Japanese and European
Corporations 311
Alexander Gerybadze

Reducing Project-Related Uncertainty in the "Fuzzy Front End" of Innovation -
A Comparison of German and Japanese Product Innovation Projects 329
Cornelius Herstatt, Birgit Verworn, and Akio Nagahira

Part V: Implementational Aspects

From Practice: IP Management in Japanese Companies 355
Yonoshin Mori

MoT: From Academia to Management Practice - The MoT Implementation
Case in a Traditional Japanese Company 385
Gaston Trauffler and Hugo Tschirky