From: Ted_Eugene_Viens@cup.portal.com
Newsgroups: sci.physics.fusion
Subject: Re: Do major Japanese companies make mistakes?
Date: Thu, 17 Dec 92 16:11:44 PST
Organization: The Portal System (TM)
  <1992Dec16.214636.21583@midway.uchicago.edu>

>In article <009652BA.BCF0F0E0.7270@dancer.nscl.msu.edu> blue@nscl01.nscl.msu.e
d
>u writes:
>>Jed, Rothwell keeps assuring us that corporate giants (in Japan) don't
>>make mistakes,...
>
>Let's not make sweeping generalizations here.  On very rare occasions
>they might make some teeny-weeny mistakes.
>
>For example, when Sony lost hundreds of millions of dollars marketing
>Betamax, it did resemble a mistake.
>
>Also, when major securities firms in Japan were caught transferring
>funds from small clients to big clients, some company officials
>admitted that mistakes were made.
>
>And then there was MITI's recently concluded Fifth Generation Computer
>Project, which was supposed to make million-Cray-power computers that
>could think like Homo Sapiens.  Maybe some of the original claims about
>the project were a mistake.
>
>And finally, nearly every stock market player in Japan has taken a bath
>in the past couple of years.  A country's stock index losing half
>of its value is usually evidence of mistakes.
>
>But other than those four minor errors, major Japanese companies never,
>never, ever make mistakes.  Certainly not the Nippon Telephone and
>Telegraph company.  With the Yamaguchi Cold Fusion kit, its
>reputation is really on the line.  If the kit fails to deliver excess
>heat as no one has promised, no Japanese citizen will ever place a
>phone call with NTT again.
>
Gee, Greg.  Thanks for going through this effort to illustrate our large and
very dangerous misunderstanding of Japanese business.
   Sony _earned_ 'hundred of millions of dollars' with Betamax.  They only
failed to earn a few hundred more when VHS swept the US market.  Then they
quickly licensed VHS and sell a wide range of VCRs and blank tape here.  
I am sure that Mr. SONY put you up to trying to fool us with this remark...
   One or two brokers may have even have committed Hari Kari over the 
securities flap.  But few Japanese businessmen thought this a real mistake...
   Much of the Fifth Generation Computer Project was spent importing
breaking technology from around the world until current state of the art
eclipsed the original design statement.  Not too many corporate heads lament
the lack of a showroom product....
   Since in Japan most major corporations sell the vastly controlling share
of their stocks to related corporations, they only pretend to be publically
owned.  The Japanese market could fall to zero tomorrow and the major 
companies and banks would only pretend to be affected.  Of course, the major
banks would immediately call in loans on many small companies and stock-
holders causing them great pain.  But MIDI would tell them of their patriotic
duties and they would pick up and carry on.  The major corporations are now
really cash based not stock based.  We would dumbly be amazed at their
resiliency....
   And if NTT loses face from their CNF kits, and subsequently some unrelated
major contracts, they will with little public protest raise their phone rates
to protect their research and developement funding....
   There may be the perception of mistakes here somewhere...  But I don't
think they can be found in Japan...
Ted...
Newsgroups: sci.physics.fusion