National differences in product development performance: A comparative study of American and Japanese machine tool companies

Past research points to organizational factors in explaining a large product development performance difference between Japanese and American companies (Clark, Chew and Fujimoto, 1987). This dissertation presents some of the first empirical data gathered to test the hypothesis that the observed performance differences are organizationally based. Drawing on the extensive literature contrasting Japanese and American organizations and management, this dissertation first tests for the existence of many of the differences asserted in the literature. Second, drawing on the literature about the organization of work, the dissertation builds a model of how the hypothesized national organizational differences affect product development performance. Finally, the dissertation tests for whether the performance differences can be explained by differences in national modes of organizing. There are three important results of the dissertation: (i) the product development performances difference between Japan and the U.S. exists in the machine tool industry, suggesting that the Japanese advantage is pervasive rather than industry specific, (ii) several of the stereotypical aspects of the Japanese-American organizational contrast do not exist in the machine tool industry, suggesting that our knowledge of Japanese organizations is limited by the previous research\u27s focus on large, well known companies in only a few industrial sectors, and (iii) the national differences in product development performance can be explained in terms of organizational differences in the division of labour and coordination mechanisms. The origins of these differences are discussed and the implications for management practice are outlined