Chapter 6 Strategic Alliances in the Japanese Car Industry

In Japan a network system called keiretsu exists (Abegglen & Stalk, 1985; Gerlach, 1992; Sheard, 1994). Keiretsu may involve formal and informal relationships with suppliers that have developed over the years or other interfirm links (for example, among manufacturers and supporting financial institutions). In the late 1990s, the Japanese economic system has undergone some changes such as the dissolution of cross-shareholdings and the decline of the main bank system (relationship-based financing) leading to changes in the corporate ownership and the governance system of Japanese companies.