scholarly journals Making medicine a business in Japan: Shimadzu Co. and the diffusion of radiology (1900–1960)

Gesnerus ◽  
2010 ◽  
Vol 67 (2) ◽  
pp. 241-262
Author(s):  
Pierre-Yves Donzé
Keyword(s):  
Technology Diffusion ◽  
Multinational Enterprises ◽  
New Technology ◽  
Global Market ◽  
Business History ◽  
Communication Policy ◽  
X Ray ◽  
Medical Market ◽  
Independent Firm

This contribution focuses on the role of the firm Shimadzu in the marketing of X-ray machines in Japan during the first part of the 20th century, viewed from a business history perspective. It attempts to further understanding of the process of technology diffusion in medicine. In a global market controlled by American and German multinational enterprises, Japan appears to have been a particular country, where a domestic independent firm, Shimadzu, succeeded in establishing itself as a competitive company. This success is the result of a strategy based on both the internalisation of technological capabilities (recruitment of university graduate engineers, subcontracting of research and development activities) and an original communication policy towards the medical world. Finally, the specific structure of the Japanese medical market, composed of numerous and largely privatised small healthcare centres, facilitated the rapid diffusion of X-ray machines, a new technology which conferred a comparative advantage on its holders.

The Swiss Watch Industry

2018 ◽  
Author(s):  
Pierre-Yves Donzé
Keyword(s):  
Social Sciences ◽  
Technological Innovation ◽  
Product Innovation ◽  
Direct Investment ◽  
Multinational Enterprises ◽  
Brand Management ◽  
Global Market ◽  
Business History ◽  
Manufacturing Costs ◽  
Watch Industry

The Swiss watch industry has enjoyed uncontested domination of the global market for more than two decades. Despite high costs and high wages, Switzerland is the home of most of the largest companies in this industry. Scholars in business history, economics, management studies, and other social sciences focused on four major issues to explain such success. The first is product innovation, which has been viewed as one of the key determinants of competitiveness in the watch industry. Considerable attention has been focused on the development of electronic watches during the 1970s, as well as the emergence of new players in Japan and Hong Kong. Yet the rebirth of mechanical watches during the early 1990s as luxury accessories also can be characterized as a product innovation (in this case, linked to marketing strategy rather than pure technological innovation). Second, brand management has been a key instrument in changing the identity of Swiss watches, repositioning them as a luxury business. Various strategies have been adopted since the early 1990s to add value to brands by using culture as a marketing resource. Third, the evolution of the industry’s structure emphasizes a deep transformation during the 1980s, characterized by a shift from classical industrial districts to multinational enterprises. Concentration in Switzerland, as well as the relocation abroad of some production units through foreign direct investment (FDI) and independent suppliers, have enabled Swiss watch companies to control manufacturing costs and regain competitiveness against Japanese firms.Fourth, studying the institutional framework of the Swiss watch industry helps to explain why this activity was not fully relocated abroad, unlike most sectors in low-tech industries. The cartel that was in force from the 1920s to the early 1960s, and then the Swiss Made law of 1971, are two major institutions that shaped the watch industry.

From focus to ambidexterity: the choice of catch-up strategy for EMNEs

2021 ◽  
Vol ahead-of-print (ahead-of-print) ◽  
Author(s):  
Xinmin Peng ◽  
Keyi Fang ◽  
Martin Lockett
Keyword(s):  
Multinational Enterprises ◽  
Emerging Market ◽  
New Technology ◽  
Global Market ◽  
Chinese Government ◽  
Content Type ◽  
Windows Of Opportunity ◽  
Before And After ◽  
Catch Up ◽  
Nuanced Understanding

PurposeEmerging-market multinational enterprises (EMNEs) can choose focused or ambidextrous strategies to catch up with global market leaders through overseas foreign direct investment (OFDI). The Belt and Road Initiative (BRI), launched by the Chinese government in 2013, had a profound impact on Chinese multinational enterprises’ international behavior. This paper analyses how EMNEs select focused or ambidextrous catch-up strategies before and after the BRI, integrating ambidexterity and catch-up theories to provide a more nuanced understanding of the evolution of EMNE strategy.Design/methodology/approachA case study is well suited for deriving rich descriptions of empirical phenomena for which little theory exists. Because the existing literature has not yet fully explored and conceptually modeled the influence of windows of opportunity on international catch-up strategies, we use qualitative research to explore the mechanisms of strategy evolution in EMNEs.FindingsThe results show that the choice of catch-up strategy is influenced by the nature of windows of opportunity and the firm's accumulated technological capability. Specifically, the opening of institutional windows as a result of the BRI could give significant momentum to the international catch-up process by providing incentives and opportunities for EMNEs to enter more markets and new technology fields. The EMNEs studied underwent a transition from a focused strategy in the catch-up stage to an ambidextrous strategy in the beyond catch-up stage.Originality/valueThese conclusions can not only deepen our understanding of the dynamics of catch-up strategies in the global context but also enrich the research on the ambidexterity of EMNEs, especially in the context of the BRI.

scholarly journals The Policy Approach In Promoting Small And Medium Sized Enterprises In Japan

2012 ◽  
Vol 11 (10) ◽  
pp. 1087 ◽  
Author(s):  
Rika Nakagawa
Keyword(s):  
Foreign Language ◽  
Local Governments ◽  
New Technology ◽  
Global Market ◽  
Know How ◽  
Goods And Services ◽  
Job Opportunities ◽  
Policy Measures ◽  
The Government

The purpose of this paper is threefold: 1) to investigate the role of small and medium sized enterprises (SMEs) in the economy, 2) to classify obstacles for SMEs growth, and 3)to review policy measures in Japan and problems to be solved as soon as possible. This study indicates that SMEs have played a significant role in the economy. SMEs create production linkages among companies in the economy by supplying goods and services. In addition, SMEs have been a main promoter of trade. Moreover, SMEs provide people with various job opportunities, which generate an important source of income. SMEs, however, face many obstacles to sustainable development. One major problem is that SMEs have limited financial resources compared with large enterprises. Due to this financial constraint, it is difficult for SMEs to upgrade production facilities and keep up with new technology. Furthermore, SMEs are suffering from a shortage of skilled labor. This becomes more serious when they try to expand business in the global market. In order for SMEs to compete with rivals in the international market, employees need a wide variety of knowledge and skills, such as foreign business know-how, human resource management, foreign language expertise, etc. Human resources of SMEs are often insufficient to meet their business needs. In Japan, both the central and local governments have implemented various policies to address these challenges. This research found that some policies worked well and supported SMEs, while others did not. The author, however, points out that some studies need to be carefully reconsidered because there is no consistent framework for policy evaluation. This means that the results of the evaluation of SMEs are likely to vary because of the different methodologies used. Thus, this paper recommends the government develop an appropriate system for assessing SME policies.

Digital x-ray mapping of nanometer-size supported bimetallic catalysts

1988 ◽  
Vol 46 ◽  
pp. 530-531
Author(s):  
L. T. Germinario
Keyword(s):  
Background Radiation ◽  
Metal Cluster ◽  
Single Element ◽  
Beam Diameter ◽  
X Rays ◽  
X Ray ◽  
Major Interest ◽  
Induced Changes

Understanding the role of metal cluster composition in determining catalytic selectivity and activity is of major interest in heterogeneous catalysis. The electron microscope is well established as a powerful tool for ultrastructural and compositional characterization of support and catalyst. Because the spatial resolution of x-ray microanalysis is defined by the smallest beam diameter into which the required number of electrons can be focused, the dedicated STEM with FEG is the instrument of choice. The main sources of errors in energy dispersive x-ray analysis (EDS) are: (1) beam-induced changes in specimen composition, (2) specimen drift, (3) instrumental factors which produce background radiation, and (4) basic statistical limitations which result in the detection of a finite number of x-ray photons. Digital beam techniques have been described for supported single-element metal clusters with spatial resolutions of about 10 nm. However, the detection of spurious characteristic x-rays away from catalyst particles produced images requiring several image processing steps.

The role of silicon in forages: A quantitative X-Ray study

1987 ◽  
Vol 45 ◽  
pp. 416-417
Author(s):  
Janet H. Woodward ◽  
D. E. Akin
Keyword(s):  
Sodium Acetate ◽  
Dry Matter ◽  
Acetate Buffer ◽  
Plant Tissues ◽  
Sodium Acetate Buffer ◽  
X Ray ◽  
Dry Matter Digestibility ◽  
Percent Composition

Silicon (Si) is distributed throughout plant tissues, but its role in forages has not been clarified. Although Si has been suggested as an antiquality factor which limits the digestibility of structural carbohydrates, other research indicates that its presence in plants does not affect digestibility. We employed x-ray microanalysis to evaluate Si as an antiquality factor at specific sites of two cultivars of bermuda grass (Cynodon dactvlon (L.) Pers.). “Coastal” and “Tifton-78” were chosen for this study because previous work in our lab has shown that, although these two grasses are similar ultrastructurally, they differ in in vitro dry matter digestibility and in percent composition of Si.Two millimeter leaf sections of Tifton-7 8 (Tift-7 8) and Coastal (CBG) were incubated for 72 hr in 2.5% (w/v) cellulase in 0.05 M sodium acetate buffer, pH 5.0. For controls, sections were incubated in the sodium acetate buffer or were not treated.

Pathophysiological function of the mitochondria as a calcium reservoir: Quantitative x-ray microanalysis

1990 ◽  
Vol 48 (2) ◽  
pp. 164-165
Author(s):  
K. Teraoka ◽  
N. Kaneko ◽  
Y. Horikawa ◽  
T. Uchida ◽  
R. Matsuda ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Bolus Injection ◽  
Contact Method ◽  
X Ray

The aim of this study was to elucidate the role of the mitochondria as a store of calcium(Ca) under the condition of pathophysiological Ca overload induced by a rise in extracellular Ca concentration and the administration of isoproterenol.Eight rats were employed, and hearts were perfused as in the Langendorff method with Krebs-Henseleit solution gassed with 95% O2 and 5% CO2. Tow specimens were perfused with 2mM Ca for 30 min, and 2 were perfused with 5.5 mM Ca for 20 min. 4 specimens were perfused with 2 mM Ca for 5 min, and of these 4, 2 were infused with 10-7 mM/kg/min. isoproterenol for 5 min, and 2 were given a bolus injection of 3 x 10-7 mM isoproterenol. After rapid-cryofixation by the metal-mirror contact method with a Reichert-Jung KF80/MM80, and cryosectioning at -160 to -180° C with a Reichert-Jung Ultracut Fc-4E, ultrathin specimens (100nm) were free-ze-dreid for several hours at 10-5 Torr in the JEOL FD 7000, and mitochondrial Ca was determined by quantitative x-ray micranalysis (JEOL 1200EX, LINK AN 10000S).

Ionic homeostasis and subcellular element compartmentation

1990 ◽  
Vol 48 (2) ◽  
pp. 150-151
Author(s):  
Ann LeFurgey ◽  
Peter Ingram ◽  
J.J. Blum ◽  
M.C. Carney ◽  
L.A. Hawkey ◽  
...  
Keyword(s):  
Leishmania Major ◽  
Ionic Homeostasis ◽  
X Ray ◽  
Functional Studies ◽  
Cell Compartments ◽  
X Ray Imaging ◽  
Resolution Electron ◽  
Multiple Cell ◽  
Role Of Zn

Subcellular compartments commonly identified and analyzed by high resolution electron probe x-ray microanalysis (EPXMA) include mitochondria, cytoplasm and endoplasmic or sarcoplasmic reticulum. These organelles and cell regions are of primary importance in regulation of cell ionic homeostasis. Correlative structural-functional studies, based on the static probe method of EPXMA combined with biochemical and electrophysiological techniques, have focused on the role of these organelles, for example, in maintaining cell calcium homeostasis or in control of excitation-contraction coupling. New methods of real time quantitative x-ray imaging permit simultaneous examination of multiple cell compartments, especially those areas for which both membrane transport properties and element content are less well defined, e.g. nuclei including euchromatin and heterochromatin, lysosomes, mucous granules, storage vacuoles, microvilli. Investigations currently in progress have examined the role of Zn-containing polyphosphate vacuoles in the metabolism of Leishmania major, the distribution of Na, K, S and other elements during anoxia in kidney cell nuclel and lysosomes; the content and distribution of S and Ca in mucous granules of cystic fibrosis (CF) nasal epithelia; the uptake of cationic probes by mltochondria in cultured heart ceils; and the junctional sarcoplasmic retlculum (JSR) in frog skeletal muscle.

Silicon Substitution for Calcium in the Shell of the Fingernail Clam, Musculium Transversum Studied By X-Ray Analysis

1980 ◽  
Vol 38 ◽  
pp. 560-561
Author(s):  
Judith A. Murphy ◽  
Anthony Paparo ◽  
Richard Sparks
Keyword(s):  
Carbonic Anhydrase ◽  
River Water ◽  
Food Chains ◽  
Well Water ◽  
Shell Formation ◽  
X Ray ◽  
Molluscan Shell ◽  
Fingernail Clams

Fingernail clams (Muscu1ium transversum) are dominant bottom-dwelling animals in some waters of the midwest U.S. These organisms are key links in food chains leading from nutrients in water and mud to fish and ducks which are utilized by man. In the mid-1950’s, fingernail clams disappeared from a 100-mile section of the Illinois R., a tributary of the Mississippi R. Some factor(s) in the river and/or sediment currently prevent clams from recolonizing areas where they were formerly abundant. Recently, clams developed shell deformities and died without reproducing. The greatest mortality and highest incidence of shell deformities appeared in test chambers containing the highest proportion of river water to well water. The molluscan shell consists of CaCO3, and the tissue concerned in its secretion is the mantle. The source of the carbonate is probably from metabolic CO2 and the maintenance of ionized Ca concentration in the mantle is controlled by carbonic anhydrase. The Ca is stored in extracellular concentric spherical granules(0.6-5.5μm) which represent a large amount of inertCa in the mantle. The purpose of this investigation was to examine the role of raw river water and well water on shell formation in the fingernail clam.

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