Management of Technology and Innovation in Japan

The Japanese Know-Who Based Model of Innovation Management 101
nologies. Equipment was not purchased until it had been confirmed for full-scale
manufacturing, which left Canon with the flexibility to try different production
technologies throughout the project.
Leveraging a Global R&D Network for Creativity in Software
Engineering
Some of the interface software engineering activities were pursued in Canon’s
software lab in Shin-Kawasaki, but the larger part took place in the Canon Information
System Research Laboratory in Sydney, Australia, supported by research
centers in Cambridge, UK as well as Stanford and Costa Mesa in the USA. The interaction
with these labs was very intense, as stated by chief engineer Dr. Kanbe:
Some of our engineers go to Australia five–six times a year. This lab strongly supports
our development of software simulation programs and interface electronics.
Our R&D labs in the US and in the UK also give us some support in these fields.
These labs also served the purpose of extensive local networking to tap into the
resources and creativity that was available at these nodes of software development
excellence. Again, rotation of researchers was employed to secure an effective
know-how transfer from the external labs to the Display Business Operations Centre.
Japanese engineers were acting as human know-how shuttles between Japan
and the different overseas teams. They could align external research activities with
the application-oriented needs of the display centre, as well as learn from the overseas
experience and bring the results directly back to the team in Japan.
Transferring R&D Staff into a Marketing Network to Perform Market
Intelligence and Product Planning
As soon as the trial production line started to yield non-defective prototype displays
in 1990, a Planning and Marketing group of approximately five engineers
was formed and dispatched to the Planning and Marketing HQ in Shinjuku, where
they were joined by a few marketing experts – usually with R&D background as
exemplified by Mrs. Akiko Tanaka. When she joined Canon in 1986, her first two
years consisted of testing and measuring the results of extensive trial-and-error activities
of liquid crystal materials. In 1988, she changed field and started to develop
software for the display–computer interface. Then, in 1990, she was dispatched
to the Planning and Marketing HQ in Shinjuku to undertake market
intelligence activities. These activities, which related to her previous development
of interface software, mainly consisted of observing what competing display companies
offered and identifying what computer companies and other potential customers
needed and wanted. In addition, Mrs. Akiko Tanaka monitored those associations
and societies that relate to display technology. Observing the competition
was possible in several ways. Mrs. Akiko Tanaka used computer manufacturers as
a source of information regarding flat panel display competitors. Mrs. Akiko Ta-