Comparison of the Supplier System in China and Japan: Status in the Second Half of the 1990s

Comparison of the Supplier System in China and Japan Status in the Second Half of the 1990sThis chapter demonstrates, based on the findings of the on-site survey, that the supplier system of the motorcycle industry in China in the second half of the 1990s was an isolated type, in contrast to the united-type system that existed in Japan.There are clear differences between the Japanese and Chinese firms.In Japan, makers, sharing risks with suppliers, attempt to cooperate with them to learn ways to upgrade their capabilities.By contrast, in China, amid severe selective pressure, makers seek to upgrade their capability in an isolated manner, predominantly passing the risks on to suppliers.Section I looks at China and Japan, comparing the division of roles between makers and suppliers.Section II discusses how makers make suppliers compete among themselves, and Section III discusses the qualitative characteristics of the transaction relationship between makers and suppliers in the two countries.The analytical framework established in Chapter 1 is mainly dealt with in Section III, but why the framework has to be this way is closely related with the characteristics discussed in Sections I and II. 1 This chapter is primarily based on the findings of the first survey conducted at the end of the 1990s, but also integrates the findings of the second survey from 2001 to 2003 and supplementary survey in 2004.CHAPTER 4 and Yamaha, in what kind of the parts they produced in-house or outsource, but their role in the development process was apparently smaller than that of their Japanese counterparts.Moreover, it is found that Zongshen, another Chinese firm, only had a very narrow scope of technological grip, and thus was a different type of maker from Jialing and Qingqi.