A1.+INDUSTRY+IN+OSAKA,+JAPAN

The Osaka-Kobe conurbation is one of Japan's major industrial areas. There are many reasons for the industrial growth of Osaka:
 * It is a natural harbour situated within Osaka Bay, an inlet of the Inland Sea and is protected from the worst of the typhoon winds by the island of Shikoku.
 * Osaka is a major inlet and outlet for industry. for example, it imports a huge amount of raw materials that Japan needs.
 * The land around Osaka is very flat which allows potential fro growth of the city.
 * Land in Osaka has been reclaimed for port development, new industries and an international airport.
 * Osaka's large population (over 9 million) provides highly skilled, dedicated workforce and a large, wealthy domestic market.
 * Many banks and large Japanese industries are based here, in Osaka.
 * High-tech industries grown rapidly due to the inventiveness of the Japanese.

Japanese industry is very efficient. It is based on hard work, loyalty and trust. The Japanese like to compare their industrial organization to a pyramid. it is divided into three main areas. there is the bottom of the pyramid where there are small firms( mostly family run) which form around 90% of the all Japanese companies. Above them are medium-sized companies which, together with the small firms, produce 60% of Japan's manufactured goods.At the top of the pyramid are the large corporations which, even here in Geneva everybody knows such as Toyota, Nissan, Sharp, Panasonic and Mitsubishi. the fact that we know them here as well as in Japan means that they are major transnationals.
 * What is meant by Japan's "industrial pyramid"? **

Panasonic is a major tnsnational which places it at the top of our pyramid explained in the previous question. panasonic ahas small and medium-sized firms make the components which it needs for very cheap.Panasonic, just like many other transnational high-tech company uses many robots doing technical jobs. even though this is the case, in panasonic they still emply several hundreds of workers. Panasonic encourages close ties between management and staff, and employees are encouraged to suggest ways of improving both production and working conditions. the Panasonic products such as camcorders, cameras, TVs and videos are exported through the port of Osaka to 160 countries worldwide.
 * How does it work in the case of the Panasonic Corporation? **

( as for my information, i got it from the geography book and rewrote the relevant parts onto this page)



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