| Research Abstract |
After the breakdown of the Bubble Economy in the early 1990s, the Japanese economy had experienced the big changes in the institutional corporate reforms and the strategic behaviors. In particular, the lifting ban on holding companies held in 1997 seemed to be one of the most symbolic changes. This research project has three themes ; to investigate (1)the new interfirm relations holding companies recently produced, (2)the changes in the border of industries (industrial fusion) the new interfirm relations recently produced, and (3)the new movement of corporate dissolution conducted through various business tie-ups among firms.
First of all, setting up holding companies became much popular since the early 2000s, and especially they are employed as alternative means of direct M & A. In fact, through utilizing holding companies, we saw not only the birth of the several mega-banks but also the many horizontal and conglomerate integration of firms, that brings about very new and exciting situ
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ation in the Japanese economy. On the other hand, we have also seen many cases of internal organization reforms of firms through using holding companies, where former parent companies turned into pure holding companies as new strategic headquarters of the groups as a whole.
Next, it is important to see that these changes mentioned above bring about the fusion of traditional industries by altering the old border of industries. Industrial fusion is now typically progressing in the business fields of financial sector and information technology sector, where new industries were born by the fusion of existed several industries. For instance, in the case of the financial sector, banks, security companies, and insurance companies are merged together into a new industry, and along with these changes, it is interesting to know that even the new financial conglomerate law is forthcoming.
Finally, it is noteworthy to point out the new phenomenon of the so-called corporate dissolution, where firm's organization is breakdown into several business units along with enterprising tie-ups with other rival companies. It is also important to know that under the long and serious stagnation, firms afresh recognize themselves that they are no more than the aggregation of several business units, that is why they recently devote themselves to reorganize their own corporate organization.
In general, one of the core competence of the Japanese economy had long belonged to its own interfirm relations, such as corporate groups, keiretsu transaction, shitauke(Japanese subcontracting system) and so on. As the result of the breakdown of the Bubble Economy, they are now forced to carry out reform old relations, and to design up new one, that will in turn produce the more drastic change of border of existed industry. Less
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