Study On Japan’s International Competitiveness Of Iron And Steel Industry

Since the founding of new China, our iron and steel industry has maderemarkable achievements. In1949, the national steel production accounted for lessthan0.1%of the world, ranked26thin the world. And now, China has been the biggeststeel producing and consuming country of the world. But we must be fully aware thatthere’s a big gap between ours and the world’s advanced, and China’s iron and steelindustry still faces many problems. Therefore, it’s significant to China’s iron and steelindustry how to bridge the gap and solve the problems.Postwar, Japan’s iron and steel industry developed rapidly. Since1950s, it hadspent less than20years that Japan’s iron and steel industry established the leadingposition in the world. Then it has been keeping a high level internationalcompetitiveness.Industry international competitiveness is a new field of economics which wasfunded in the context of globalized economy in1980s. Among the theories of industryinternational competitiveness, the competitive advantage of nations theory byMichael E. Porter who is the Harvard University Professor is wildly accepted. As thetheoretical basis of this study, it is very suitable for genetic analysis on some country’sindustrial international competitiveness.There are10chapters in the thesis.Chapter1is introduction, which concludes the background and reason of thetopic, the research status about the issue, the research methods, the main content ofthe thesis, the main innovation and insufficiencies.Chapter2is the general analysis of industrial international competitiveness. Inthe chapter, author discusses the connotation of industry, and outlines the industrial classification. Here are the reviews of the conception of internationalcompetitiveness and industrial international competitiveness, and the connotationof industrial international competitiveness and the index system of evaluation andanalysis are also discussed. By defining the scope and characteristics of iron and steelindustry, author discusses the factors of international competitiveness of iron and steelindustry, and proposes the analysis framework.Chapter3is the summary of relevant theories. Author reviews the theory ofabsolute advantage and comparative advantage, the factor endowment theory, the newtrade theory. And these theories’ applicability to international competitiveness isbriefly discussed. Then author reviews the theorizing of the Competitive Advantage ofNations, and summaries the Diamond Model which is the core of the theory.Chapter4is the evolution of postwar Japan’s international competitiveness ofiron and steel industry. According to the division of Japanese economy, authorgeneralizes Japan’s international competitiveness of iron and steel industry in theeconomic recovery phase (1945-1955), the rapid economic growth phase (1955-1973),the slow economic growth phase (1973-1989), the stage of the bubble economy(1989-1999), and2000years later.Chapter5is effect of factor conditions on Japan’s international competitivenessof iron and steel industry. In this chapter, how the capital, technology, resource andlabor affect the Japan’s international competitiveness of iron and steel industry arediscussed. The conclusion is that the capital is promotional in the expansion phase,and protective in the other phases; the technology is promotional; the resource affectscomplexly; the labor has dual nature.Chapter6is the effect of demand conditions on Japan’s internationalcompetitiveness of iron and steel industry. In this chapter, the effects of domestic andexternal demand are discussed separately. The conclusion is neither of them or somepart of either can not affect Japan’s international competitiveness of iron and steelindustry in the same way all the time. The effect of requirement need be treated hierarchically in different periods.Chapter7is the effect of related and supporting industries on Japan’sinternational competitiveness of iron and steel industry. In the perspective of industrychain, author analysis the related and supporting industries of Japan’s iron and steelindustry by discussing Japan’s overseas resources development, steel distributionsystem, and raw material and fuel transportation, and give a conclusion that both ofupstream and downstream do support Japan’s iron and steel industry systematically,efficiently and strategically, which is positive impact on Japan’s internationalcompetitiveness of iron and steel industry.Chapter8is the effect of firm on Japan’s international competitiveness of ironand steel industry. In this chapter, business management, relations between enterprisesand big mergers are discussed. Author analysis Japanese steel enterprises’management system, computer applications and enterprise education; observes andstudies structures of different forms of enterprise, industrial sourcing and series ofenterprise; focuses on twice major acquisitions. And conclude that firm factorpromotes Japan’s international competitiveness of iron and steel industry.Chapter9is the effect of chance and government on Japan’s internationalcompetitiveness of iron and steel industry. Both the historical events occurred on thekey nodes of Japan’s iron and steel industry and the government actions are discussedin this chapter. Poter’s regarding that chance and government affect a country’sindustrial international competitiveness is verified. The relations between historicalevents and development of Japan’s iron and steel industry and effects of severalgovernment actions on are found.Chapter10is the experiences of Japan’s international competitiveness of ironand steel industry and the enlightenment. In this chapter, author sketches the status ofChina’s iron and steel industry, and points out the problems; summaries theexperience which are the harmonization of competition, the complete industrial chain,the rational industrial structure, and the innovational management of Japan’s iron and steel industry; puts forward the suggestions which are regulating the market,strengthening the industrial chain development, combineding the joint enterprise andcoordination, and emphasizing management combined with China’s reality.