But the Japanification of the New Economy reared its head in worse ways than cozy relationships among venture investors, bankers and entrepreneurs. The market share grab. This wasn't a unique approach. Take share from the competition, even at the expense of profits, and you'll be big and successful. The strategy worked for the Japanese until its own labor costs grew out of control and the rest of the world caught on to its trade tricks.
Vertical integration is tricky.
Japanese firms were famous for owning or being affiliated with their suppliers. That sort of business practice went out of style long ago in the U.S. until Silicon Valley companies revived it on the sly. Cisco Systems , for example, crows about how it outsources the manufacturing process. And yet, that didn't stop the networking giant from being caught with billions in inventory. And it certainly didn't stop its keiretsu suppliers, like PMC-Sierra or Broadcom , from suffering.