Small and Medium-Sized Enterprises in Japan’s Economy Today

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Author: Amedeo ISTOCESCU
Published in: Vol.4 / 2003

      The Japanese small-scale enterprise sector has recently undergone an important change. The entrepreneurs / owners who played a major informal role in Japan’s post-war industrialization, which had a low level of education but a strong will to run their businesses, have gradually withdrawn. Their place has been taken by a new generation of educated individuals who are much more open to planning, managerial tools, technology, information, and entrepreneurial networking than their predecessors. However, the vitality required to invigorate this sector will be conditioned to a certain extent by the “inheritance” left by the small traditional Japanese companies.