japan assessment for it capability. japan’s political makeup – unitary constitutional monarchy...
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Japan
Assessment for IT Capability
Japan’s Political Makeup – Unitary Constitutional Monarchy
Legislature - Parliament House of Representatives
(480) House of Councillors (242)
Executive Prime Minister – elected by
Legislature Cabinet – appointed by Prime
Minister – usually members of Parliament
Judiciary – 5 Levels of Courts Appointed by the Cabinet
Political Parties
Political Parties present in Parliament Liberal Democratic Party Democratic Party of Japan New Clean Government Party Japan Communist Party Socialist Democratic Party Conservative New Party
Government Promotion of IT
METI – Ministry of Economy, Trade, and Industry Creates policies related to:
Electronic Commerce Promotion Personal Information Protection Electronic Government R&D Human Resource Development Information Security
Incentives offered for companies investing in IT research
Low Interest Rates Tax breaks Expert advice
Barriers to IT Diffusion
Low Foreign Investment State Owned Services
Delivery Insurance Financial
Barrier to IT Diffusion – Foreign Investment
Lowest foreign direct investment out of G8 members
Low investment amount attributed to Japan’s historical view that foreign investment is a threat
Government is looking for ways to actively promote investment, realizing its importance
Foreign investment has risen sharply recently, although still low comparatively
Barrier to IT Diffusion – State Owned Services
Privatization is relatively extensive, except for the Japan Post which is state owned Postal Delivery Insurance Services Banking (Savings)
Privatization of Japan Post to begin in 2007 Heavily debated
Restriction of IT Ownership
Restrictions are minimal NTT – National Telephone Company
33% foreign ownership cap Largest Cable TV Company (Juniper) is
majority-owned by a US Firm
Japan’s Copyright Laws
Robust and strict, similar to the U.S. Exceptions:
Teachers can reproduce copyrighted works in the interest of teaching (TV and Audio only)
Free reproduction of news is permitted S/W can be reproduced for personal use
Copy protected CD’s and Digital Private Recording fees (DVD-RW recorders, etc) exist
Educational System
99% of population is literate IT literacy is also widespread
2002 – 57.2 million Internet Users 12 million Internet Hosts
Language
Knowledge of English 30% of elementary students All Junior and High school students 20% of population read English newspapers,
magazines, or watch English TV Written symbols
More than 256 Made up of characters and Syllabaries
Japanese Culture
Hofstede MAS – 91 High degree of gender differentiation
Hofstede UAI – 89 Low tolerance for uncertainty and ambiguity
Hofstede PDI – 50 Doesn’t stress extreme equality or inequality
Hofstede IND – 42 Mid to low individualism – group still more
important than the individual
IT Diffusion Phones
71.15 million land lines (2002) 86.6 million cell phones (2003) 119 per 100 people (2002) 29th in the world
Computers 38.2 per 100 people (2005) 21st in the world
TV 10.5 million cable subscribers Growing 20% a year 3 million satellite subscribers
Internet 57.2 million subscribers 12 million hosts (2002) 44.9 per 100 people 17th in the world (2002)
Electronic Commerce / EDI
Considered an important and relevant topic Issued joint statements on EC with:
United States United Kingdom Australia
METI considers EC a critical initiative
Digital / Fiber Network Infrastructure
High speed networks are readily and cheaply available
IT Strategy Council formed in 2000 by PM Goal was to make Japan the “World’s Leading IT
Nation by 2005” Cornerstone of plan was broadband connections
Today fiber (ultra-broadband) is available to most (16 times faster than connections in US)
Broadband (DSL / Cable) is available to all May 2003 the percentage of Japan households
containing broadband surpassed the U.S.
Native Software Industry
Second largest market in the world for IT products and services
Still imports 40% of all software Lack of industry standard and great number
of characters cause software problems – multi-bits needed for one character
Factory assembly methods have been successfully implemented in software development
Multilingual programmers in great demand
Native Hardware Industry
Robust with mature hardware firms including: Sony Fuji Electronics NEC Fujitsu
Joint Ventures
Keiretsu System – close and stable partnering relationship designed to benefit both companies involved, but considered temporary
Prefer joint ventures as opposed to wholly owned subsidiaries, particularly when barriers to entry are high.
Economy
Third largest economy in purchasing power parity, second on a nominal basis
Stock Market Tokyo Stock Exchange Second largest exchange in monetary value to
the NYSE Currently lists 2,383 companies
GNP Per Capita $42,000 USD
Future Outlook
18th in Information Society Index (2005) 16th in Global Information Technology Report
ranking IT readiness (2005) Currently in a position to leverage IT with
ubiquitous broadband access and a technology-savvy population
Can benefit from a greater amount of foreign investment and privatization of remaining state sponsored industries