German and Japanese responses to the challenges of global competition
Symposium at "Germany in Japan 2005/2006"
In many ways, Japan and Germany are very similar: Both countries recovered rapidly from the horrors of World War II. At the same time, innovative strength and standard-setting technologies helped both to establish themselves as world-class exporters.
Today, they also face similar problems. On international markets, the pressure from new competitors, especially in Eastern Europe, China and India, is increasing. On the home front, German and Japanese companies alike are suffering from sluggish consumption, the pressure of high labor costs and the consequences of major social changes.
Notwithstanding, as the world's second and third-largest economies respectively, the two countries still have tremendous substance to drawn on and tremendous potential ahead of them. In recent years, both have recognized the need for reforms and have begun to take (in some cases painful) action.
To coincide with the »German Year« currently being held in Japan, Roland Berger Strategy Consultants collaborated with the Japanese-German Center Berlin, Nihon Keizai Shimbun (»Nikkei«), Japan's leading business daily, and Handelsblatt, an influential German business daily, to hold an international business symposium in Tokyo on October 14, 2005. The theme that filled the »Nikkei Hall« in the center of Tokyo with an audience of around 600 people was: »How are Germany and Japan responding to the challenges of global competition?« Leading representatives of the German and Japanese business communities engaged in a lively discussion of leadership in global markets, international alliances and, mergers and acquisitions. On one issue, all the participants were in full agreement: In the age of globalization, German and Japanese firms are called on to rise to similar challenges. Both, therefore, can learn from each other.
A summary of the most important statements from the papers presented and discussions held at the symposium is reproduced on the pages that follow.
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Organized by Roland Berger Strategy Consultants in collaboration with the Japanese-German Center Berlin, the Nihon Keizai Shimbun (Nikkei) newspaper and the Handelsblatt newspaper in Tokyo on October 14, 2005
