COMPETITIVE STRATEGIES AND STRATEGIC GROUPS IN THE JAPANESE SEMICONDUCTOR INDUSTRY (INDUSTRIAL ORGANIZATION, ADVANTAGES, INNOVATIONS, JOINED ECONOMIC ACTIVITIES, MANAGEMENT)

This study is about the competitive strategies of the Japanese semiconductor firms in the domestic and international markets. It investigates the persistent, systematic similarities and differences in the competitive strategies across these firms, and attempts to identify the factors giving rise to an asymmetry in the competitive position and market performance across firms in the industry.;A number of specific hypotheses are advanced in this study. These hypotheses include those for the specific structural and behavioral dimensions along which mobility barriers likely arise, and those for the influence of strategy-specific structural and behavioral conditions on the firms' market performance. This study points to the types of semiconductor technologies in the possession of the firm and its leadership in them, the breadth of product line, and the nature and degree of vertical linkage between its semiconductor operation OEM businesses as those structural and behavioral forces delineating the strategies and influencing the market performance.;The first set of hypotheses is tested using discriminant analysis, and the second set of hypotheses and those for the firms' multinational involvement by regression analysis. We find that these empirical tests strongly support our hypotheses. The major implication of this study is the strategic significance of the appropriateness of the firm's activities for creating structural and behavioral conditions that sustain its strategic position against the influences that shape competition in an industry.;The major aim of this study is to develop and test the hypotheses based on the theory of mobility barriers and strategic groups within the context of the Japanese semiconductor industry, and to further our understanding for what structural and behavioral conditions of an industry make different strategies viable, how the mobility barriers and strategic groups form, and how the barriers and firm structure influence the firms' economic performance. Another objective is to extend the theory to the competitive strategies in the firms' multinational involvement, and to develop and test hypotheses for the influences of mobility barriers on the firms' multinational activities.