Komatsu

             Komatsu Limited, a Japanese organization, was founded in 1921 as a specialized producer of mining equipment. The founder of the organization, Mr. Takcuchi, had two important requirements for management; overseas orientation, and user orientation. He also recognized that exporting was an important factor in becoming a prosperous organization. In 1931, the organization successfully produced a two-ton crawler type of agricultural tractor, which was the first ever in Japan. During the Second World War, Komatsu became a key provider of bulldozers, tanks, howitzers, etc. etc.
             In 1963, the Japanese Ministry of International Trade and Investment (MITI) decided to open the earth-moving equipment (EME) industry to foreign capital investment. The MITI thought is was essential to continue to protect the emerging Japanese auto and electronics industries. As an exchange, the EME industry was to be opened up since the MITI believed that Japan did not hold a long-run competitive advantage in the earth-moving equipment industry (Bartlett, Rangan 1985). This was the gateway Komatsu¡s competitor, Caterpillar, was looking for to obtain access into the Asian market.
             In the early 1960¡s Komatsu entered into licensing agreements with three United States based organizations; Bucyrus-Erie, a leader in excavator technology, International Harvester, who is well-known for their wheel-loader technology, and Cummins Engine who was an industry leader in the production of diesel engines. Komatsu¡s poor quality and the deficient durability of their products in the postwar reconstruction was the driving factor in their decisions to acquire licensing agreements with industry leaders.
             In 1964, Komatsu introduce project A. This program was developed to upgrade the quality of their small and medium sized bulldozers, which was their primary domestic product. Project A will be discussed in more detail later in this paper.
             In 1966, Komatsu launched a qualit...

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Komatsu. (1969, December 31). In MegaEssays.com. Retrieved 10:35, March 29, 2024, from https://www.megaessays.com/viewpaper/21374.html