Exports Books

This book breaks new ground by asking how the Caribbean has been created as an imaginary place, a commoditized image in he minds of the outside world, over the centuries since the islands were first plundered and looted by European adventurers. The paradox is that a part of the world which has been the scene of horrible and brutal genocide, followed by centuries of slavery and colonial exploitation, has developed a public image as an innocent island playground, full of sun & fun.

At times the prose is a bit heavy, and the usual array of thick French theorists are paraded through the streets, like an academic carnival. There is nothing particularly unexpected if you know the literature on the region. I would not recommend this as an introduction to the sociology of the Caribbean, but it should be required reading in any advanced course on the area, and it would be useful to read it along with some books on Hawaii, Bali, Israel and Rome to see how identity and tourism have intersected in different ways along different historical trajectories.

The island nations of the Caribbean Sea share an awkward relationship with the USA, and one that is an extension of the former's relationship with European colonial powers. The primary theme that runs thru this history is consumption; specifically the consumption of goods, people, and the environment of the Caribbean by white outsiders. Starting with the initial encounters of Columbus and the spaniards, and progressing thru the dictates of the United Fruit Company and tour companies, this book examines the economic relationship between the Caribbean and outside powers.

The book is divided into several chapters, and each focuses on one theme of this relationship. One chapter examines the natural goods originating in the Caribbean that have been exploited for foreign consumption, to the point that many Caribbean nations cannot feed themselves with the food they grow. Another chapter looks at how colonial and now Western economic policies have created a social structure that destroyed the local natives, and replaced them with a mix of black slaves and their descendants, creoles, and mulattoes; all living in poverty. All of this benefitted the European and American consumer. Another chapter examines the images of the Caribbean, and how they have been formed and transformed to suit the needs of Westerners, whether they be cruise lines, hotel companies, or fruit companies.

The book itself is not too long, but the text is quite condensed with lots of references. The subject matter is a conglomeration of history, economics, sociology, and geography. The topic is interesting, and the approach is innovative. A warning though, the book assumes the reader has some initial historical knowledge of the Caribbean from the 1500's onwards. Overall, a good read but not great.

20081214 DEPARTED AMAZON WITH OUTRAGE OVER THE MANIPULATION OF VOTES.

I give the author high marks for understanding early on the difference between FREE trade and FAIR trade. While he is an avowed protectionist and much of what he offers must be balanced by more progressive views, the tide is turning as "true costs" become established and we all begin to realize that between exporting solid jobs for the middle class and the earnest blue collar trade specialists, and allowing illegal immigration and the Reagan-led destruction of the trade unions, we have put a stake in the heart of THE fundamental source of national power and prosperity: people.

See also:
The Battle for the Soul of Capitalism
The Soul of Capitalism: Opening Paths to a Moral Economy
Screwed: The Undeclared War Against the Middle Class - And What We Can Do about It (BK Currents (Paperback))
The Global Class War: How America's Bipartisan Elite Lost Our Future - and What It Will Take to Win It Back
Confessions of an Economic Hit Man
No Logo: No Space, No Choice, No Jobs
The Shock Doctrine: The Rise of Disaster Capitalism
The Working Poor: Invisible in America
State of the Unions: How Labor Can Strengthen the Middle Class, Improve Our Economy, and Regain Political Influence
Election 2008: Lipstick on the Pig (Substance of Governance; Legitimate Grievances; Candidates on the Issues; Balanced Budget 101; Call to Arms: Fund We Not Them; Annotated Bibliography)

This is an incomplete and polemical history of U.S. trade policy written from a protectionist point of view. On the plus side, Eckes served as an International Trade Commissioner in the 1980s and has an insider's knowledge of American trade politics; in addition, while preparing the book, he turned up some interesting documents on the role of the State Department in trade remedy cases in the 1950s and '60s. However, he offers no economic analysis, does not present both sides of the trade debate, and sneers at professional economists rather than rebuts the case they make for free trade. (One almost wonders about his impartiality on the ITC). He also barely mentions U.S. policy in the GATT or the WTO. These are fatal lapses in a book on this subject. Not recommended.

RELENTLESS is one of the better books I've read on Japanese marketing techniques and strategy. I highly recommend it for its inside perspective. As a Haas alumni, I noted that both authors, Professors Johansson and Nonaka, attended Berkeley.

Overall, I found this book didn't provide new lessons for me.

I think the reason why I felt unsatisfied is because I've contacted with Japanese culture quite often already; therefore, all those Japanese culture and working philosophy are familiar to me. As now I'm in Taiwan, actually I almost watch Japanese TV program everyday. Many of the programs introduced how Japanese conduct their business - from reviving a dying resturant to developing a winning lunch box for the train, so it's not new.

The subtitle is 'The Japanese way of Marketing'; yet the better subtitle could be 'The Japanese way of Doing business', as the author talk about the total aspects of doing business. Personally I do appreciate the dedication of many Japanese to their work, no matter you're a business man or a cook in a small resturant. The core essence is 'detail matters', 'execution matters'. Still, this is not new to me.

For marketing side, though the author explained 4 P's one by one, I couldn't find something new and I couldn't find something can quickly apply to different culture context, i.e. Taiwan. Then this book looks like a pretty good guide if you're a foreigner and want to do business in Japan. Yet if you want to apply to your own country and context, you need to put lots of effort to adapt it yourself as the author didn't tell you how.

Net, I found this book provided few lessons to me, and didn't provide clear method on how to apply the Japanese way to different culture/context. Yet I still recommend it to the business people who are not familiar with Japanese culture/working philosophy, or if you're going to be assigned to Japan.

Outrage over shifting of American jobs to Mexico (and others). Effective solutions are thin for number of chapters on subject. Roll back NAFTA? Re- write NAFTA?

The book is easy to read and seems to exude a great political, commonsense vision. At times, Lou Dobbs sounds more like a member of the "red team" and not the conservative that he has been popularly famed. His book has some, good, solid points though others are not as strong as there could be challenges in application of such legislations and repercusions. Nonetheless, the book is a good tool of education for all!

Other excellent books for reading: Fluctuating Life

Quest for a Dream: A Life Committed to Progress

Let's Talk Africa and More

How come I don't see anyone without a job? Dont waste your money buying this useless book. Watch a movie in the theaters instead.

Dobbs demonstrates a total waste of a Harvard education. Never says anything difinitive -- just political ranting, same as the TV show.

This subject is getting a lot of ranting from people on the outskirts who know squat. Manufacturing is one thing, but IT is where the real action is. I work in IT outsourcing and I have seen both sides, while so many are talking from 3rd hand knowledge. Number 1 issue is that these imported visa techies are more sinned against then sinning. The imported worker isn't fully paid, gets only a paltry salary, the winner in the game, the true elite, are mddlemen ....It's all the vendor/employers who make the money, and sometimes there are so many layers of them, they don't even make much; and, they are rarely US corporate..... Oddly enough, most of them are immigrants themselves. Some immigrant guy gets a stable of visa guys with desireable skills (e.g., SAP) and vends them to other vendors, perhaps more than to actual US companies (you have to be a "preferred vendor" to get in on the action with the largest US Companies). Who knows what the poor visa guy actually gets, while the large US companies who seek to buy this contingent H1 visa labor don't get much of a bargin either. Yeah, they try to get competition for the sake of lower rates, but they also TRY to squeeze from the top and demand the TOP Tier "preferred" vendors send them with visa techies with such and such skills for a ceiling of $X; however, there are STILL market forces, and these middle level vendor/employers know the rates and sometimes the preferred vedor above them cannot not find or provide someone when any of the layers cannot make at least a minimal amount on the rate. Consequently, the rates creep up, and end up not that far behind the going rate. I have seen some Corporations/Companies have to re-process their original req with higher salaries cause they need someone badly, and eventully they go to the 2nd tier vendors. Ultimately while they may pay slightly less on the contract than for a full time guy, and slightly less than a US guy, it's not that much less, only a little, while the vendor middle-men gets his bucks (and more and more of them pop up every day). These vendor/employers make their bucks either on specific skills (lake SAP, .NET) or on volume, like parasites. Meanwhile US Companies cannot be bothered with hiring entry level. They need someone to "hit the ground running." The imported guys are just beyond entry level, having already got that back home from the same US companies overseas OR from other foreign companies or domestic companies over there. So, yeah, they are up and running faster than an entry level guy. The real tragedy is that our US IT grads have so few entry level jobs available. And the big bonanza, right now (jobs paying over $100k) is in managerial IT. The ones who have a leg up on those are the visa guys who tough it out and survive to get that magic Green Card. Having survived all the levels, they are often the best candidates for these well paid positions, and compete with native born US citizens who survived the tech bust. However, understandably, these GC guys want a competitive salary with their American counterparts. When the best candidates for these jobs are Green Cards, the US grads who never got the entry level job originally, lose out once again. Meanwhile, in places like India, IT is booming, and they badly need midlevel managers, so who will go? How many Americans are ready to uproot and learn Hindi? There is an r2i movement (r2i==return to India).... Probably all those Green Card guys who earned their stripes here, will go back, and again the US IT departments will have to go to another 3rd world country, and start the whole mess all over. Meanwhile, the rest of us low paid flunkies are barely making ends meet, work long hours, and get NO health benefits.

Joseph Reavley, a professor of religion is summoned from a cricket match by his brother, Mathew who carries the horrible news of their parent's death in an automobile accident. NO GRAVES AS YET is a detailed account of the two brothers and their younger sister, Judith who are drawn into World War I, while searching for the murderer of their parents.
Their father had discovered a secret treaty signed by the Kaiser of Germany and was taking it to Mathew when he was killed, now the document is missing. Their family home is searched while the family attends the funeral and they learn the killer will stop at nothing to recover it to present to the King for signing.
Betrayal of the deepest kind assaults the family as they work their way toward a killer and the battlefields of France.
Anne Perry is a master of historical suspense, yet the beginning to the five books series is rather long and drawn out, but worth the read.
Nash Black, author who books are available in Kindle editions.
Writing as a Small BusinessQualifying Laps: A Brewster County Novel

I've read some of Anne Perry's other mysteries Funeral in Blue, A Breach of Promise (William Monk Novels) and enjoyed them, but this one is probably her best work so far.

The author introduces characters that are three dimensional and real, and her description of England on the eve of World War I is both literate and vivid. I had recently enjoyed the novel by Jacquiline Winspear,Maisie Dobbs, and found the period an intriguing one, so when I found this book, I hoped to delve more into the period and its society. Much like Angela Thirkell (Wild Strawberries (Angela Thirkell Barsetshire Series), High Rising , (Enter Sir Robert: A Novel (Angela Thirkell Barsetshire Series)), whose excellent series introduces the readers to the charming people and culture of Barsetshire, England between the two world wars--though sans murder--Ms Perry's book is filled with individuals whose lives will change irreparably with the advent of a war that, as the reader already knows, will descend upon them and change their lives and their way of life forever. Watching it happen is truely an emotional experience.

An excellent book.

"No Graves As Yet", the first in Anne Perry's WWI series, is nicely written. With her excellent descriptions and historical accuracies, she draws the reader in and makes them feel that they are at the scene, witnessing everything that occurs. Although I found this book a little drawn out and stuffy, it was, nonetheless, very good. I can't wait to start the next installment in the series!

I found this entire WWI series from Anne Perry to be very disappointing. The WWI setting was interesting but done much better in many other novels. The plot was somewhat incredible and the actions of characters at times outrageous. By the end of the books I felt I had wasted my time with repeated themes, one dimensional characters, and motives with no foundation. The potential for a meaningful work set during the Great War was completely lost and ended up being simply irritating and shallow.

I agree with all of the assessments of this book. I finally gave up after a few chapters and "scanned" through the rest of the book. Not up to par, Ms. Perry!! Too bad. Keep up the good work on the William Monk novels, but forget about this series. If you want to read about WW1 times, read Charles Todd.

Leonard once told a reviewer with The Strand magazine that he never begins with an outline of his literary creations. First, Leonard selects a setting, then he creates a group of colorful characters, colors in those characters with unique traits, memories, and abilities...and finally, he allows those characters to interact and take the story to the conclusion. Never has this process been more evident than with Up In Honey's Room. The setting is unique. The characters are interesting. The plot? It winds inexorably and sometimes painfully to its conclusion. This book is an opportunity lost: Leonard goes through the motions, but the result is totally unfulfilling.

This is a somewhat strange novel set mostly during the closing days of World War II, and mostly in Detroit. The plot seems to ramble a bit. There are entrepreneurs dealing in black market beef and stolen goods, a couple of escaped POWs looking for a better life outside the prison camp, Germans or other foreign nationals supposedly engaged in espionage, a Federal marshall, the FBI, and Honey. They all get mixed in together, and nothing turns out quite as you might expect. Everyone seems to have their own ideas about what they want.

The novel has some violence, language, and sexual content. It incluses a few jokes as Honey tries to test someone's sense of humor.

Other commentators have mentioned that this is a slow-moving book and, to be fair, it is less action-packed than others that Elmore Leonard has written but it is well worth buying nonetheless. It is a comic novel, more like "Get Shorty" than "Cat Chaser", and is probably best approached through the audiobook format. There the narrator Arliss Howard brings all these character to life with a master-class in regional accents: Arkansas, Oklahoma, Germany, Ukraine, Kentucky, etc. The seven disks in the set made a long trip through the Midwest seem days shorter.

One thing I love about Elmore Leonard books is they are driven not just by plot -- as I find many crime/mysteries are -- but by great characters. Honey is a lot of fun.

Incmprehensible plot. Ridiculous characters. Frivolous, inaccurate history. An absolutely appalling effort. I really hope the author goes back to contemproary Detroit. "Mr. Paradise" was one of many delightful Detroit thrillers with memorable, engaging characters and interesting plots.

The main problem with Love The One You're With - like others in this series - is that it takes itself too seriously. The plot - such as it is - is pure soap.

Mitchell's partner, Raheim, is out of town, and Mitchell is suddenly faced with an onslaught of attractive men vying for his attention. Naturally, they're all super-attractive, big-booty bruthas desperate for Mitchell; they're all either hyper-masculine or hyper-groomed. This might have been funny, had it not been handled with such a lack of modesty by our 'hero' (who is, naturally, attractive and talented in equal measures) and becomes increasingly tedious and unbelievable. Conceit and self-importance are a turn-off for most people, and these suppsoed suitors would turn on the haughty Mr. Crawford as rapidly as the reader does.

It's the unappealing characters who fill the pages that really grate on the nerves. Never before have so many vain, judgemental, bitching queens been assembled. Hardy's work has been called 'the black gay Sex And The City' by some, a libellous slur on that show. At best, Hardy's brand of 'razor sharp wit' is banal carping. At worst, it's a dangerous, unnecessarily vicious attack on those Hardy judges as the enemy in his war on racial harmony.

What are young men of mixed black/white (or any other mix) parentage to make of a book that tells them they are born of a fraud? Or the multitude of men in interracial relationships, who are told they are living a lie? Hardy has set himself up as the ultimate authority on issues of race and sexuality, and from his position on high, has decided what is right and what is wrong. Unfortunately, in his world, everything is black and white. No room is left for those who don't fit his narrow world view. It's wrong for a black man and a white man to love one another, apparently, because the white man is using the black man to live out slave fantasies. Okay, so what if two mixed-race men love one another? Is that permitted in Hardy's world? Or doesn't mixed-race count as black? How black do you have to be, one wonders, if you are only ever one or the other? It seems that Hardy's characters prove their 'blackness' by denigrating Caucasians at every opportunity. Every Caucasian encountered in the book, or referred to, is either an out-and-out racist or worse still a cringe-inducing pseudo liberal (Hardy sees no difference between the two. A liberal is merely a redneck in disguise, or one attempting to salve their guilty conscience).

As an aside, it's worth noting that Hardy considers it wrong for white men to fetishise black men (it's BAD AND WRONG if they find large lips, dark skin or a big booty attractive), yet Hardy has deemed it okay for his middle-class, sanctimonious lead, Mitchell, to fetishise the down-low, straight-out-tha-ghetto lover, Raheim.

Hardy vastly over-estimates his own intellectual stature. Take the scene in which Mitchell interviews a black (gay) republican. Mitchell floors the republican with some cutting questions. I'm sorry, but reality check, Mr. Hardy! Almost any politician would have a slick comeback rehearsed - politicians know how to deal with difficult questions, and those Hardy (I'm sorry, Mitchell) puts aren't rocket science. Has Hardy ever actually spoken to a black republican, or even read any books penned by one? Hardy wishes to establish Mitchell's, and by extension, his own intellectual standing, yet everyone he meets who dares to have a different opinion is a babbling idiot, unable to make any argument once Mitchell opens his mouth. The reader is left with the distinct impression that Hardy is so righteous that he has never listened to anyone who might have a different point of view.

His style of writing itself is peculiar. Desperately trying to be hip and trendy, he comes across as patronising and holier-than-thou. If his target audience is young black men (which it clearly is) then he clearly has a low opinion of them. At times it's rather like reading a lecture by a boring do-gooder. Even his fans have criticised his long, tedious digressions into politics, education, or whichever issue happened to cross his mind on a given day. There's a particularly bad chapter in a supermarket where Mitchell is standing in line, which tries to come across as a Jerry Seinfeld "have you ever noticed how..." moment, and fails miserably.

There are seemingly endless pages of filler. Trying to up the word count from his last effort, the wafer- thin The Day Eazy-E Died, Hardy gives us lengthy catalogues of the songs played in whichever club the characters find themselves in. He describes in minute detail the menu every time a character has a meal. And there are whole chapters of meaningless fluff, in which Mitchell and Raheim have late night, long distance "I miss you" calls. None of this furthers the plot, or character development, and serves only to antagonise. It's another indication of the author being so in awe of his creations, that he expects his readers to be intrigued by every detail of their lives.

The first novel in this series, published a couple of hundred years ago (or at least that's how it feels) was fresh and original, and lacked much (if not all) of the spite and nastiness of its successors. But Hardy has proven himself to be a cynical opportunist, shamelessly flogging this dead horse for all it's worth. Worse still, a sixth (and apparently final) instalment is to follow.

And after 262 pages of righteousness, we're told that it's okay to cheat on your lover, so long as you don't actually kiss the other man. At least it's in keeping with the tone of the rest of the book.

I had read B-Boy Blues years ago. I saw this one in the library and decided it must be as good. It wasn't. When Mitchell got missing and was with Monte and Pooqui never mentioned it, that threw me. Especially since Pooqui was so jealous of Mitchell being around other men. Also when Pooqui got missing and never really stated where he was that was a suprise that Mitchell didn't once think he was in Cali getting his freak on. Some other things didn't add up either. Im not sure if I will read more books by Mr Hardy but the summer aint over yet.

After I read B-Boy Blues, I went out and bought the other 5 books in this series and read them back to back. Hardy's writing is phenomenal. It grips you so you can't put the book down because you fear something will happen in the time you are not reading. Like you are part of the story and it will pass you by if you stop reading. A MUST for anyone interested in this genre.

This novel is horrible. Terribly written, cliched, and shamelessly packed with pointless filler. Don't waste your money on this thing.

The main problem with Love The One You're With - like others in this series - is that it takes itself too seriously. The plot - such as it is - is pure soap. Mitchell's partner, Raheim, is out of town, and Mitchell is suddenly faced with an onslaught of attractive men vying for his attention. Naturally, they're all super-attractive, big-booty bruthas desperate for Mitchell, and either hyper-masculine or hyper-groomed. This could have been funny, but is handled with such a lack of modesty by our 'hero' (who is attractive and talented in equal measures) that it rapidly becomes both tedious and unreal. Such conceit and self-importance are a turn-off to most people, and these suitors would turn on the haughty Mr. Crawford as rapidly as the reader does.
In fact, the unappealing characters who fill the pages particularly grate on the nerves. Never before have a pool of such arrogant, vain, judgemental, bitching queens been assembled. Hardy's work has been called `the black gay Sex And The City' by some, a serious slur on that show. At best, Hardy's brand of `razor sharp wit' is a sort of banal carping. At worst, it's a dangerous, unnecessarily vicious attack on those whom Hardy judges as either traitorous, or the enemy, in his war on integration. What are young men of mixed black/white (or any other mix) parentage to make of a book that tells them they are born of a fraud? Or the multitude of men in interracial relationships, who are told they are immoral? Hardy has set himself up as the ultimate authority on issues of race and sexuality, and from his position on high, has decided what is right and what is wrong. Unfortunately, in his world, everything is black and white. No room is left for men who don't fit his limited view of black or white. It's wrong for a black man and a white man to love one another, apparently, because the white man will always use the black man to live out slave fantasies. Okay, so what if two mixed-race men love one another? Is that allowed in Hardy's world? Or doesn't mixed-race count as black? How black do you have to be, one wonders, if you are only one or the other? It seems that Hardy's characters prove their `blackness' by denigrating Caucasians at every opportunity. It's utterly cringe-inducing that every Caucasian encountered in the book, or referred to, is either an out-and-out racist or worse still, liberal (Hardy sees no difference between the two. A liberal is merely a redneck in disguise, or one attempting to salve their guilty conscience).
As an aside, it's worth noting that Hardy considers it wrong for white men to fetishise black men (it's BAD AND WRONG if they find large lips, dark skin or a big booty attractive), yet Hardy has deemed it okay for his middle-class, sanctimonious lead, Mitchell, to fetishise the down-low, straight-out-tha-ghetto lover, Raheim.
Hardy over-estimates his own intellectual stature. Take the scene in which Mitchell interviews a black (gay) republican. Mitchell floors the republican with some cutting questions. I'm sorry, but reality check, Hardy! Almost any politician would have a slick comeback rehearsed - politicians know how to deal with difficult questions, and those Hardy (I'm sorry, Mitchell) puts aren't rocket science. Has Hardy ever actually spoken to a black republican, or read one of the many books penned by them? Hardy wishes to establish Mitchell's, and by extension, his own intellectual standing, yet everyone he meets who dares to have a different opinion is a babbling idiot, unable to make any argument once Mitchell opens his mouth. The reader is left with the distinct impression that Hardy his so righteous that he has never listened to anyone who might have a different point of view.
His style of writing itself is peculiar. Desperately trying to be hip and trendy, he comes across as patronising and holier-than-thou. If his target audience is young black men (which it clearly is) then he clearly has a low opinion of them. At times it's rather like reading a lecture by a boring do-gooder. Even his fans have criticised his long, tedious digressions into politics, education, or whichever issue happened to cross his mind on that particular day. There's a particularly bad chapter in a supermarket where Mitchell is standing in line, which tries to come across as a Jerry Seinfeld "have you ever noticed how..." moment, and fails miserably.
There are seemingly endless pages of filler. Trying to up the word count from his last effort, the wafer- thin The Day Eazy-E Died, Hardy gives us lengthy catalogues of the songs played in whichever club the characters found themselves in. He describes in minute detail the menu every time a character has a meal. And there are whole chapters of meaningless fluff, in which Mitchell and Raheim have late night, long distance "I miss you" calls. None of this furthers the plot, or character development, and served only to antagonise this reader. It's another indication of the author being so in awe of his creations, that he expects his readers to be intrigued by every detail of their lives.
The first novel in this series, published a couple of hundred years ago, it now feels like, was fresh and original, and lacked much (if not all) of the spite and nastiness of its successors. But Hardy has proven himself to be a cynical opportunist, shamelessly flogging this dead horse for all it's worth. Worse still, a sixth (and apparently final) instalment is to follow.
And after 262 pages of righteousness, we're told that it's okay to cheat on your lover, so long as you don't actually kiss the other man. At least it's in keeping with the tone of the rest of the book.

This book is another attempt to capitalize on a name brand (Porter; Harvard) as opposed to providing a substantive, insightful take on what is happening in Japan and what needs to be done in order to correct certain problems in the Japanese economy. It also gives the false impression that Japan is somehow a pre-mature version of the US. Porter is not a Japan expert and I would be very careful, as an American/foreigner, to not to take books on Japan by foreigners who have never lived their or speak the language too seriously. The book is not about Japan, it is a generalized theoretical black box solution to a much more complex problem in which one needs to understand a lot more than just management theory. Japanese management is much more complex and, unlike in the US where a monkey can be trained to fire people, Japanese managers have many more issues to deal with. People tend to forget the fact that Japanese managers have done a much better job (though moving more slowly) at reducing the negative impact of restructuring. Its more difficult to keep a company going and competitive when its against the law to fire people than if you could fire people on the spot-- US management "expertise" is incredibly over-rated the recent market correction shows the incredible amount of resources that are wasted by corporate America on such things as management consulting. Those foreigners who have written on Japan's economy and financial markets who have the language down (speaking; reading) and have been in-country for an extended period of time as expats can provide a very interesting and highly useful perspective for those looking from the outside in a way most Japanese cannot (and will not). Being a "senior advisor" to a few large Japanese companies does not qualify someone to write on this topic.

I work for a Japanese company that is mentioned in this book and the book is a dead on diagnosis of how Japanese companies are managed. For anyone familiar with the current Japanese economy (which is in a huge depression) there are some major problems with how the Japanese economy operates. There is nothing inherently genius about the solution that Porter offers, which is simply a call for a true free market system in Japan; free of tariffs, trade barriers, cartels, and collusion. However, if you work for a Japanese company I strongly suggest buying this book to understand why your company is managed the way it is.

...

Michael Porter become the celebrity in the field of business strategy with his two books, ¡®Competitive Advantage¡¯, ¡®Competitive Strategy¡¯. Takeuchi and Sakakibara secured their name in organizational learning school with their book, ¡®The Knowledge-Creating Company.¡¯ With this book, ¡®the word, ¡®knowledge creation¡¯ has been widely circulated within business schools.
This book poses the question, ¡®Why does Japan stumble?¡¯ it¡¯s the single most popular subject in Japanese studies. Numerous books come to mind on that issue. The approach this book takes is, nonetheless, unique. While others have tackled it in the view of macroeconomics or political economy, authors of this book take the view of microeconomics, or more precisely business strategy. They argue that more-than-decade-long deflation and liquidity trap are not the fundamental problem, but just symptoms. The underlying problem must be hunted for elsewhere: the eroded competitive advantage of Japanese companies. There has been warning signs since 1980s well before bubble bursting:
1. Since 1980s, no new internationally competitive industry has emerged.
2. The profitability, or capital productivity has long been low. Export share has been achieved and maintained partly by sacrificing returns to capital.
3. Japan¡¯s share of world exports peaked in 1986 (10%). But it has fallen since then to below 8%.
Bubble and subsequent financial meltdown certainly is serious trouble. But above reveals much deeper crisis: the loss of competitiveness.
Michael Porter maintains that firms initially gain competitive advantage by altering the basis of competition. They won not just by recognizing new market, or technologies but by moving aggressively to exploit the,. A firm¡¯s local rivalry in home nation plays a critical role in shaping manager¡¯s perceptions about the opportunities that can be exploited. Firms that survive vigorous local competition are often more efficient and innovative. In the 1970s and 80s, Japan set the world standard for operational effectiveness, that is, for improving quality and lowering cost: TQM, JIT system, lean production, cycle time reduction. Japanese companies pushed the productivity frontier well beyond the capabilities of many Western companies. Japanese companies¡¯ competitive advantage was obtained through cut-throat local competition. But starting in the mid- and late 1980s, the gap between Japanese and Western companies began to narrow through so-called restructuring or reengineering. Now Japan¡¯s source of competitiveness has been eroded away. As a result, international competition has ever more vigorously intensified not in the behalf of Japan. Worse, what drove Japan to be competitive now serve as drag on it. Fierce local rivalry degrade into competitive convergence. It means that all the competitors in an industry compete on the same dimension. As rivals imitate one another¡¯s improvements in quality, cycle time, or supplier partnerships, competition becomes a series of unwinnable races down identical paths. This occurs because Japanese firms believe that by mimicking competitors¡¯ technologies and products, they can avoid being in a weak positioning in the market. Because, as a result of mutual benchmarking, Japanese companies cannot but think of competition only in terms of operational effectiveness for their product lineup converges, the have made it almost impossible to be enduringly successful. The more benchmarking, the more they look alike. To avoid such a stalemate, they try to diversify product lineup. But it inflames only to another round of convergence. This kind of local rivalry has finally led to excess costs to over-differentiation for products as well as their components. Such costs have become too high, thus leading to a considerable waste of resources. When they set the best practices, such a cost could be dissipated at the expense of Western competitor¡¯s market share. But now such an advantage rarely exists, if any. Competitive convergence leads to the lack of focus. The lack of focus results in no obvious competitive advantage for they are over-diversified. Authors recommend to compete on strategy: Operational effectiveness is just one of two ways a company pursues superior performance. The other is through strategy, or competing on the basis of a unique positioning involving a distinctive product of service offering. The essence of strategy is to perform differently from rivals. It¡¯s choosing not to do something. They succumb to the temptation to chase easy growth by adding popular features and taking on product lines or services that do not fit their strategy. Or they target new customers to whom the company offers noting unique. But attempting to compete in several ways at once creates confusion and undermines organizational motivation and focus. Profits fall, so more revenue is seen as the answer. In sum, authors argues that the problem of Japan is more in mind-set than in unchangeable circumstances in Japan.

Michael Porter is Professor of Business Administration at Harvard Business School and a leading authority on competition and strategic management; Hirotaka Takeuchi is Professor and Dean of the new Graduate School of International Corporate Strategy at Hitotsubashi University in Japan; and Mariko Sakakibara is Assistant Professor at the Graduate School of Management at the University of California, Los Angeles.

"This book aims first and foremost to offer a theory that can explain and interpret Japan's postware economic trajectory." This 'theory' follows a mostly academical and economical research method. In Chapter 1 the authors first discuss Japan's economical history, whereby the authors use extensive graphs, figures and tables to prove their point: "Japan's actual competitive performance, then, has been mixed for decades." Expanding on their discussion on the economical history, the authors challenge the Japanese government model. "At the core of the Japanese government model is a particular conception of the process of economic development and the bases of competitiveness. It embodies an implicit aversion to certain forms of competition and an effort to channel competition in various ways." This model goes back to the early post-World War II period, when "the nation was in shambles". There is an 12 developmental policies list which form the building blocks of the Japanese governmental model. The authors discuss the impact of these policies on Japan's successes and failures.

In Chapter 3, the authors discuss Japan's unique management model. "The model stresses attributes such as teamwork, a long time horizon, and dedication to continuous quality improvement, all of which remain important Japanese strengths. But it has also encouraged conformity and a conception of competition that is dangerously incomplete." Again, the authors introduce a list of policies which are typical for the Japanese corporate model. The authors' biggest complaint is that most Japanese companies do not have a strategy, they tend to compete on operational effectiveness. (For more see Porter's 1996-article 'What is Strategy?')

In Chapter 4 the authors try to explain Japanese competitiveness. This model for competitiveness follows the universal model: "vigorous competition in a supportive business environment, free of government direction, is the only path to economic vitality." Most of this chapter is directly taken from Porter's 1990-book 'The Competitive Advantage of Nations', discussing various industries (both successful and unsuccessful).

In Chapter 5, 6, and 7 the authors aim to come up with an answer to move Japan forward. The authors discuss the requirements for both government and companies. "What is needed is nothing short of a new economic strategy, one that builds on the true bases of Japan's past success, recognizes the differences between the country's rebuilding challenges and its present circumstances, and addresses the realities of modern global competition." So can Japan compete? The authors believe it can. "Japan has a history of competing successfully at the highest level and rapidly advancing national productivity, when competition was allowed to proceed unfettered. ... Japan can compete. To do so, however, it will require the systematic changes in both business and government we have described. ... As it has shown in earlier periods of transition, if mind-sets change, Japan has the capacty to move rapidly."

Yes, I do understand the disappointment of some of the other readers. In line with Michael Porter's 'The Competitive Advantage of Nations' (1990) this book is more about governmental issues than the activities within companies as in Porter's bestsellers 'Competitive Strategy' (1980) and 'Competitive Advantage' (1985). In their search for their answer to the title-question (Can Japan Compete?) the authors use an mostly academical and economical approach, which can be daunting to some readers. The book is mostly aimed at Japanese multinationals, economists, and governmental officials, and includes some strong critical comments toward their policies.

The title 'Can Japan Compete' raised my hopes of finding some thought provoking insightful debates in pages to come. However, most of the solution that Porter suggests are basic rules of a capitalist economy.

Porter, again, suggests solutions without keeping in mind the 'contexts'. 50 years after the defeat in war, today, Japan has companies that compete globally, its people living a high standard of living. Compare the rate of this 50 years of development with any other country's development and you find Japan a clear winner. And Porter just writes them off!

Every country has unique siuation (its context) thus, the exsisting economic structure in Japan is the product of its unique situation. Poter wants to turn blind eye to this.

Hello, If you are looking for a paperback version for the hardcover book with the same name, this is not it. Actually the ISBN Number belongs only to the Study Guide to that book. I got it shipped and I am really upset about that.

There are far too many examples of confusing wording in this book so I will focus my rantings for the atrocious chapter structure. Chapter introductions will begin laying out a few main points that will be discussed, the first few points are covered and then it will jump to other somewhat related topics (i.e. Chapter 20 on Financial Crises...give it a closer look).
Pugel unabashedly supports any idea that is pro-business with very little of the book addressing any of the troubling trends we are seeing in the world today as more markets are continually opened.

Dump this book before you open it. Buy a Krugman textbook.

Seasons greetings.

Doesn't get too technical, but explains everything clearly. This book is one of the best economic books that I ever used.

I used this book for my international economics undergraduate course and found it easy to understand; it doesn't use lengthy mathematical formulas but utilizes basic macroeconomic theories. The authors organized this book well; the later chapters build upon the beginning ones. However, it would be best to have taken Intermediate Macroeconomics before using this book because the last few chapters rely heavily on a good understanding of intermediate level material.

I used this book for my international economics undergraduate course and found it easy to understand; it doesn't use lengthy mathematical formulas but utilizes basic macroeconomic theories. The authors organized this book well; the later chapters build upon the beginning ones. However, it would be best to have taken Intermediate Macroeconomics before using this book because the last few chapters rely heavily on a good understanding of intermediate level material.

The book is a compilation of three lectures delivered by Professor Bhagwati at the Stockholm School of Economics. Each of these, true to Prof. Bhagwati's trademark style, is strongly in favor of free trade. In his first lecture, he takes on those economists who have broken ranks with the free traders and presents economics arguments demonstrating why free trade is better. In his second lecture, he takes on the environmentalists and do-gooders of the world and again demonstrates why there is nothing about free trade that is inherently detrimental to the environment or to labor standards across the globe. Finally in his third lecture, he talks about how the dynamics of free trade is actually playing out, frequently in the political market place and how preferential trade agreements (PTAs) which are the rage of the day are actually a bane for free today because while PTAs reduce trade barriers for the member countries, they actually raise the trade barriers for others out of the PTAs and hence instead of a global free trade regime through WTO and GATT, we have a Pandora of PTAs that is an actual mess.
The key insight which I gained from one of the lectures was the following: Every time there is a market failure, what some people would shout is that free trade is no longer the best policy and hence should be disbanded. What Bhagwati and Ramaswami showed in a historical and seminal paper in the field of international trade was that, in case there is a distortion, the solution is not to disband free trade but to embrace policies that correct the distortion and once corrected, revert back to free trade. For instance, if the distortion is domestic, then a domestic tax-cum-subsidy policy targeting it will be appropriate and free trade can then be restored as the suitable first-best trade policy.
The book is somewhat more technical than his more popular book, In Defense of Globalization but that is understandable because this is intended for a different audience and has a different purpose in mind. Venture into it only if you remember some of your economics from ECON 101 and 201 or else you are better sticking with In Defense of Globalization.

This got to be the most egotistical and arrogant book ever writted. The author in about every paragraph, uses words like "I", "me" and when refering to another person and himself, he always puts his name first. Bhagwati loves to name drop, he lists people he has met as if its a popularity contest. Bhagwati's writting will confuse you and annoy you. Throught out the book he loves to advertise the papers and studies he has written, they have no relavence to the topic at hand except maybe to help him sell more books.

Don't let this slim volume lead you to believe this is a book of light reading. The essays it contains are extremely valuable and packed tight with information, insight, and great thinking.

There are also many very valuable footnotes that can lead you to deeper reading on the subject of the current state of thinking on the very important topic of Free Trade.

Dr. Bhagwati is a stalwart of Free Trade and has the intellectual and verbal firepower to stand up for this very important concept and its role in relieving poverty around the world. He isn't a beautiful writer, but he certainly is effective and I am so glad to be able to have his writing and thinking available to me.

This book is a fine addition and should be read by those on both sides of this issue with an open mind. Dr. Bhagwati is one of those important thinkers that will benefit your own thinking even when you disagree with them because it will force you to sharpen your own thinking and force you to build better arguments.

One of the great parts of the first essay is when he takes us through the sequence of thought as arguments were put forward, successfully attacked and new models were built, attacked, and re-built until the present day. He is also very honest about the current weaknesses in present models and possible paths to pursue as a way to solve them. Just very valuable stuff.

Why do so many people rate this as a difficult read? I thought it was a well written book. I learned a few things from it too. For example, it never occurred to me that free trade treaties (bilateral agreements) are not really free trade. Read that book and find out why. I did think that he was a bit biased in favor of a certain third world country a bit. However, I don't think it was intentional on his part.

Bhagwati is an extremely intelligent man. He has a lot of interesting information to share with us. Now, only if he could write better...this book is extremely difficult to read and and to understand. It is NOT recommended for those without excellent understanding of economic trade policy. There are many other better written books.