Following the Asian economic crisis in 1997 there have been a number of books in which the authors have tried to assess the reasons behind the crisis or considered the challenges faced by the region and individual Asian countries in achieving a revival. As implied by its title, this edited book focuses specifically on the activities of Japanese and European‐based multinational companies after 1997 and their role in the recent development of Southeast Asia. The editors are, respectively, with the German Institute for Japanese Studies in Tokyo and the National University of Singapore. In common with many texts of this type it is based on the proceedings of a conference. In this case an international conference on “Economic Crisis and Transformation in Southeast Asia: Strategic Responses by European and Japanese Firms”, held in Tokyo in June 1999 and organised by the German Institute for Japanese Studies. All except one of the book’s 13 chapters are based on presentations from this conference.
Following its foreword and preface, the book is organised into five parts, i.e. “Multinational Companies in Southeast Asia and the Global Economy”, “Production”, “Marketing”, “Corporate Finance”, and “Conclusions”. A total of 16 contributors are involved; eight are from Japan, three from Singapore, two from the UK, and one each from the USA, Denmark and Italy. The three papers in Part 1 set the scene. First, Stephen Young provides an overview of the business environment facing multinational corporations at global, regional and local levels and highlights changes over time. In the following chapter Toru Yangihara looks at some key issues relating to the Asian crisis, namely transformation and adaptation from the perspective of long‐term development. Then, Poh Kam Wong and Annette Singh complete this first part by looking at the specific role of foreign multinational companies in the technological development of industries of Singapore.
Parts 2, 3 and 4, which also all comprise three chapters, follow similar formats. There is a general chapter relating to each of the three functional topics of production, marketing, and corporate finance. Then two further chapters, one focusing on Japanese companies and the other on European firms.
In Part 2 Hideki Yoshihara first considers the production strategy options that are open to companies producing in Southeast Asia. Then Jochen Legewie considers the specific case of Japanese firms’ strategic options for building up regional production networks and Corrado Molteni presents a complementary view of European firms’ strategies, focusing on the choice between retrenchment and expansion opportunities.
In Part 3 Tomoaki Sakano, Ari Lewin and Naoko Yamada first contribute a general chapter that presents a framework for understanding changes in marketing practices by multinational companies. Hendrik Meyer‐Ohle and Katsuhiko Hirasawa then look at the marketing strategies of Japanese firms, with particular reference to building regional brands, while Keri Davies complements this with a chapter on the marketing strategies of European firms illustrated with cases in specific Southeast Asian countries.
In Part 4 Dennis Tachiki looks at the options for internal, debt and equity financing for multinational corporations. Then Etsuko Katsu has a chapter on corporate strategies of Japanese firms and Steen Hemmingsen looks at the same subject from the perspective of European firms.
Finally, Part 5 comprises just one chapter written by the editors. They conclude that major differences exist between Japanese and European companies in reaching their goals in Southeast Asia. These can be mainly attributed to geographical and historical factors as well as industrial characteristics that have influenced the strategies of Japanese and European companies in the past. However, they consider that the future role of national identity has to be questioned, as the differences become increasingly less evident and national cultures are replaced by cultures of transnational and globally competing companies.
Unlike many edited books that appear to be miscellaneous collections of chapters thrown together under a loose overall theme, Corporate Strategies for Southeast Asia after the Crisis, is well structured and its content provides a good balance between the general considerations regarding the activities of multinationals in South East Asia and specific functional aspects relating to the operations of Japanese and European firms. All the chapters are authoritatively written, well‐researched and supported by helpful references. The book’s obvious limitation is that it deals only with Southeast Asia and the activities of US firms are not included in its coverage. However, these are not serious omissions, because the rest of Asia was generally less affected by the economic crisis and there are sufficient contrasts between Japanese and European firms to enable general conclusions to be drawn about the differences in strategic approach. Moreover, the book provides important insights into how firms have reacted after the 1997 crisis, which makes it especially attractive to scholars and researchers with an interest in Asian business and economics.
