IN the late 1980s, Japan, at the height of its economic prowess, could do no wrong. Malaysia and even the West were emulating the Japanese way of doing things. Our then prime minister Tun Mahathir Mohamad even instituted the “Look East” policy where Japanese business practices and policies were encouraged.
It is true that Japan under the Liberal Democratic Party (LDP) enjoyed one of the strongest growth rates in the 1960s until the 1980s and the Japanese manufacturing sector introduced revolutionary concepts like “just-in-time” manufacturing that improved productivity and reduced inventory levels. Japanese innovativeness and focus on research and development (R&D) propelled the country into an exporter of high-tech products resulting in Japanese companies dominating the motor and many electronics industries.
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