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I know a lot of very innovative and entrepreneurial Japanese people, both within and outside of big companies. Outside of big companies, Japan's risk-averse sys
by jbay808 6y ago
I know a lot of very innovative and entrepreneurial Japanese people, both within and outside of big companies. Outside of big companies, Japan's risk-averse system makes it very difficult for them to pursue ambitious tech projects. They have to fight much harder to get financing and also to work with suppliers that are more used to dealing with corporate partners. So the ones that insist on starting a business often go into lower risk but still rewarding sectors.
Within companies, it really depends. As you point out, Nintendo is a good example of a company that is actually averse to not taking risks, and doesn't get humbled by failure. They insist on reinventing themselves and trying crazy things even when they'd probably do just fine sticking to something easy and proven. Their senior leadership drives that. They're far from the only company like that in Japan, but one of the few in tech.
Japan's big slow companies are good at the kind of innovation that takes decades of slow, continuous refinement and constant long-term funding rather than sudden pivots and breakthroughs. Metallurgy and materials science, chemistry, and precision engineering are fields where those big heirarchies have done well for themselves.
- unabst 6y agoExcept sudden pivots and breakthroughs are what made Sony and Toyota and Nintendo and what still drive them. Mario, the Walkman, the Corolla. More recently, the Switch, PlayStation, and Prius. All breakthroughs with exciting beginnings resulting in massively popular and lucrative products. Nintendo trusts the innovators who insist on innovation. I would love to believe this is the winning formula, and maybe many Japanese companies do, but the problem with that is when the innovators are wrong. How often does a researcher invent exactly what the market needs? So in between hits, the hierarchies must figure ways to feed themselves. And some self destruct through corruption (Toshiba) and internal conflict (Nissan). Some get bailed out (Sharp, JAL). Sony's gaming division has been bailing out their other businesses. In the case of Xperia, the innovation and product is there, but Sony miserably failed at marketing and being competitive in the US core market. Sony marketing is legendary in Japan, but they have never successfully translated that magic to the US. In Japan, the Xperia is killing it. https://onlineshop.smt.docomo.ne.jp/ranking/index.html?color=1 https://onlineshop.smt.docomo.ne.jp/ranking/index.html?color...
- hattori31 6y agoSome of the stuff you list are not that sudden. Switch for example is exactly a product of long time refinement. Nintendo has been trying to make a tv-portable hybrid since the snes years.