Book Value

Japan’s Business Renaissance: How the World’s Greatest Economy Revived, Renewed and Reinvented Itself
By Mark B. Fuller & John C. Beck
McGraw-Hill, $37.95

Part I of this book is titled “Renewal and the Samurai Spirit” -- an apt beginning to a confident take on the global might of Japan. The premise, given today's ever-changing markets, is that corporations need to reinvent themselves or become trading dinosaurs.

Authors Mark Fuller and John Beck share their confidence in Japan's ability through success stories such as Toyota, Nissan and Canon, to name just a few. The duo are convinced that the world's second-largest economy, once past the economic demise of the ’90s, was just a sleeping giant poised for rebirth. "Nearly all economic and social indicators are on the upswing," say Fuller and Beck.

Convincing examples are given to illustrate the country's nimbleness, superior technologies and strategies to manage multinational giants with new agendas. And in a world where fast-anything appears to be coveted, Japanese culture has not forfeited quality for speed.

The 220-page book is a compelling mix of historical, economical and philosophical perspective with an easy-read style. If the authors are correct, the historical discipline and sheer doggedness of this secretive and complex culture will prevail.

-- Diana Cawfield