Hitoshi Hirakawa – författare

This pioneering work examines Japan's economic activities in Singapore from 1870 to 1965. Drawing upon a wide range of published and unpublished sources, the authors shed new light on issues such as:* prostitution* foreign trade by Kobe's overseas Chinese* fishermen in the inter-war period* Japanese economic activities during the Pacific War* Japanese involvement in Singapore's post-war industrialisation plan* the Lee Kuan Yew regimes policy towards Japan* the 1960s Japanese investment boomThis important work challenges commonly-held views on Japan's economic advance into Southeast Asia in general and Singapore in particular.

This book looks at two-stage industrial cluster theory and new innovation models in view of IT-ization and servitization of products. The formation of industrial clusters such as export processing zones and special economic zones has been the preferred mechanism for developing countries to boost their industrial development and export performance for the last several decades. Existing literature related to Development Economics cited numerous benefits of industrial clusters and several countries have reaped such benefits. The book goes beyond formation of traditional industrial clusters. It promotes the idea of formation of two-stage clusters. The book further stresses on new innovation models. The ideas are promoted based on the empirical evidence of Chinese and Taiwanese firms in consumer electronics and automobile sectors. Finally, the book looks at firm strategies in new business environment which is dominated by servitization of industrial products. It argues for firms to integrate manufacturing and services to a great extent. To substantiate the arguments, empirical evidence comes from India, Taiwan, and Bangladesh. The study further finds evidence, perhaps for the first time that innovation and knowledge acquisition strategies are influenced not only by size of firms but also vary with market preferences.

This book looks at two-stage industrial cluster theory and new innovation models in the context of the IT-ization and servitization of products. The formation of industrial clusters, such as export processing zones and special economic zones, has been the preferred mechanism for developing countries to boost their industrial development and export performance for the past several decades. Existing literature related to development economics cites numerous benefi ts of industrial clusters, and several countries have demonstrably reaped such benefits.The book goes beyond an evaluation of the development of traditional industrial clusters by promoting the idea of the formation of two-stage clusters. Moreover, it takes into consideration new innovation models, with ideas promoted that are based on empirical evidence available through evaluations of Chinese and Taiwanese firms in the consumer electronics and automobile sectors.Finally, the book looks at company strategies in a new business environment dominated by the servitization of industrial products. It proposes that firms integrate manufacturing and services to a greater extent, and, to substantiate these arguments, presents empirical evidence from India, Taiwan, and Bangladesh. Furthermore, the study contends that innovation and knowledge acquisition strategies are infl uenced not only by the size of fi rms but that they also vary with market preferences.

This book aims to shed light on the potentially innovative ICT (information and communication technology) architectures from an East Asian regional perspective. The business environment brought about by the development of ICT intensified global competition and caused dramatic changes in the industrial architecture. Firms that are involved in manufacturing and maintenance of ICT hardware and that offer services for software development are continuously being created, giving rise to the provision of new and diverse services to an increasingly growing East Asian regional market. Such industrial activities are advancing the shift from an old to a new industrial architecture. Some parts of emerging economies have grasped this edge on economic globalization and informatization and have adopted business models that enable them to enter the world economy. Entering this century, China, the Philippines, and Vietnam in East Asia have been rapidly expanding their ICT-BPO (Business Process Outsourcing) businesses as destinations of offshoring of service activities by firms in the advanced economies, following India’s example. Policy makers and firms in those countries are also meeting the challenge of catching up with advanced economies through the development of such industries. It has enabled those economies to exploit new possibilities of further development, which may mean a new stage of manufacturing cum services in an ICT- and knowledge-based economy.