著者

菊池 航

出版者

Business History Society of Japan

雑誌

経営史学 (ISSN:03869113)

巻号頁・発行日

vol.48, no.3, pp.3_3-3_26, 2013 (Released:2016-03-18)

参考文献数

65

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The purpose of this paper is to elucidate one aspect of competition between firms in the post-war Japanese automobile industry, using the development competition surrounding the rotary engine as a case study. This paper examines the evolution of development competition, while focusing on the factors underlying Toyo Kogyo’s success in achieving practical application of the rotary engine, and the reasons why competing firms participated in the development of rotary engines.The late 1960s was a time when Toyota and Nissan increased their shares of the Japanese market, establishing an oligopolistic system dominated by two companies. Toyota increased its market share by outsourcing some assembly and development to itaku firms, and realizing a full-line strategy. Toyo Kogyo, on the other hand, successfully developed the world’s first practical rotary engine in 1967, and executed a differentiation strategy of supplying automobiles equipped with rotary engines. Toyo Kogyo believed that new expressways and road networks would increase demand for rotary engine automobiles with superior acceleration performance. Key factors which enabled Toyo Kogyo to achieve the technical innovation of a practical rotary engine were their outstanding technical capabilities, based on their high rate of in-house production, and the existence of a dealer network which learned the special maintenance techniques needed for rotary engines.For competing firms, the rotary engine was one possible technology for complying with emission regulations. Taking the new emission regulations as an opportunity, GM, Ford, Toyota, and Nissan participated in rotary engine development, which had thus far been led by Toyo Kogyo, thus resulting in broader development competition. This was a competition to find environmental technology, and involved firms from the U.S. as well as Japan. Therefore, when fuel prices rose due to the oil crisis, and practical three-way catalysts meeting emissions standards were developed, the competing companies withdrew from rotary engine development.

著者

菊池 航 キクチ ワタル Wataru Kikuchi

雑誌

立教經濟學研究

巻号頁・発行日

vol.65, no.2, pp.203-220, 2011-10-20

著者

菊池 航

出版者

経営史学会

雑誌

経営史学 (ISSN:03869113)

巻号頁・発行日

vol.47, no.1, pp.1_26-1_48, 2012 (Released:2016-01-27)

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The purpose of this paper is to clarify the features of subcontracting in the automobile industry during the high growth period, using Toyo Kogyo as an example. Toyo Kogyo reallocated its management resources from three-wheeled to four-wheeled vehicles in the era of high growth, and was number three in production of four-wheeled vehicles after 1960.From the late 1950s to the early 1960s, Toyo Kogyo expanded its use of subcontractors. The subcontractors were small firms located in Hiroshima. They had high sales dependence on Toyo Kogyo, and performed processing after receiving drawings and materials from Toyo Kogyo. In the process of expanding its use of subcontractors, Toyo Kogyo developed a department to manage subcontractors, and built an institution for adjusting order quantities to suit the management efforts of subcontractors. In addition, in transactions between Toyo Kogyo and its subcontractors, the ownership of dies and tools reverted to Toyo Kogyo. Toyo Kogyo selected governance mechanisms to promote ex post competition.After 1960, the wage differentials between automobile manufacturers and subcontractors exhibited a sharply declining trend. This reduction in wage differentials was brought about by a relative increase in wages at small subcontractors. One cause of this payment of wages was the realization of efficient management at subcontractors. As indicated by Shinei Kogyo (treated in this paper), there were also subcontractors who booked a higher return on total assets than Toyo Kogyo because they increased total asset turnover by using machines efficiently. Part of the development of the Japanese automobile industry was achieved by the automobile manufacturers developing diverse institutions to inhibit opportunistic behavior, and suppliers deploying efficient management over a broad range.

著者

菊池 航

出版者

RIKKYO UNIVERSITY (立教大学)

巻号頁・発行日

2016-03-31

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経済学