Turnaround strategies of American and Japanese electronics corporations: How do they differ in formulating plans and achieving results?

• Published in: Journal of high technology management research 2002, Vol.13 (2), p.225-248
• Main Authors: Gowen, Charles R., Tallon, William J.
• Format: Article
• Language: English
• Subjects: Comparative analysis; Electronics industry; Japanese management systems; National culture; Studies; Turnaround management; Turnaround strategy
• ISSN: 1047-8310; 1879-1638
• DOI: 10.1016/S1047-8310(02)00048-2

Greater competitive and economic pressures have made corporate turnaround strategies critical to the survival of many high-technology international business organizations. The traditional differences between American and Japanese firms in the areas of human resources, production, finance, and marketing have recently appeared to converge on some common strategies employed to reverse an adverse corporate situation. American and Japanese high-technology firms are examined in terms of the antecedents, actions, and results of varying levels of turnaround strategy implementation. Survey responses from American and US subsidiaries of Japanese electronics firms illustrate that significant differences exist among levels of strategy implementation in assessing the need for a turnaround strategy, the actions taken to reverse an adverse situation, and the relative success of the actions. In addition to greater capacity utilization, low turnaround plans are generally enacted by redesigning the product or process, but successful high turnaround plans are implemented most often by gain sharing or profit sharing, as well as by eliminating unprofitable products. American firms achieve greater return on investment, operating profit margin, and cash flow, but lower sales growth and less unit labor cost improvement than Japanese corporations. These results are discussed for managerial insights into the strategy formulation process of international high-technology firms for successful competitive advantage.