Suchergebnisse

"Changes in the dynamics of economic activities since the last decades of the 20th century have yielded major changes in the composition of industries and the division of labor and production across different regions of the world. Despite these shifts in the global economy, some industries have remained competitive even without relocating their operations overseas.

Industries and Global Competition examines how and why the specificities of certain industries and firms determined their choice of location and competitiveness. This volume identifies the major drivers of this process and explains why some firms and industries moved to other parts of world while others did not. Relocation was not the sole determinant of the success or failure of firms and industries. Indeed some were able to reinvent themselves at their original location and build new competitive advantages. The path that each industry or firm took varied. This book argues that the specific characteristics of each industry defined the conditions of competitiveness and provide a wide range of cases as illustrations. "

AbstractThis article rethinks the hegemonic "sex-work" discourses—popular sex-work discourse and radical-feminist discourse—that associate Japanese night work with prostitution and consider young women workers in this industry as victims. These discourses reinforce sex-work oppression–empowerment paradigms, which limit workers' experiences to either oppressive/empowering, good/bad, and positive/negative. This research draws on transnational feminism and a polymorphous approach to the complex nature of sex work. In doing so, this article addresses three aspects of Japanese night work, including young Japanese women's motivation to go into night work, their conceptualization of work they engage in, and shakai-keiken (social experience) that they gain out of doing night work. This article encourages readers to step away from dominant Western discourses and look closely at the nuanced nature of Japanese night work in its own context.

Abstract
This paper examines the roles of information and knowledge sharing, and of communication in businesses during the interwar period and during World War II (WWII). It focuses on F. Hoffmann-La Roche Ltd. (Roche), a Swiss pharmaceutical company. During WWII, the Axis Powers and the Allies imposed a double blockade on Switzerland and Roche's market was divided between the two belligerent camps. Roche coped by mobilizing a unique twinstructure, a provision introduced during the interwar period, by transforming the ownership structure in terms of both ownership and control. While this strategy enabled its expansion in the U.S. market and safeguarded the group against various political risks, it also destabilized the group's unity. As intensive as it may have been, telecommunication across the Atlantic was not sufficient for sharing crucial knowledge and checking the U.S. subsidiary's thirst for independence. To control the situation, the financial director of Roche's Basel headquarters travelled to the United States, breaking the double blockade. Eventually, the on-site, face-to-face communication and a long-distance telephone call contributed to the survival of the company as a unified organization.

Examines Japan's nuclear status & how it impacts national, regional, & international security. Discussion begins by chronicling the historical development of Japan's nonnuclear weapons policy as well as outlining a couple of analyses of Japan's nuclearization. The debate has taken on new vigor since 2001, driven in part by shifts in the regional & international security environment: the North Korean threat, erosion of the international nuclear proliferation regime, US nuclear policy & the perceived usability of new nuclear weapons, & Japanese assertiveness in military operations, which accords with the Bush administration's tendency to stress military power. Pro & con arguments in the nuclearization debate are then presented before considering the probability that Japan might go nuclear. Concluding that Japan is unlikely to go nuclear in the near future, measures that might reduce this possibility in the long term are presented: resolve the North Korean nuclear issue, strengthen the nonproliferation regime, diminish the role of nuclear weapons, modify Japan's security policy, & strengthen Japan's nuclear disarmament policy. Japan must find mechanism's other than military power to back up its security if it is to remain nonnuclear. Adapted from the source document.