Japan's Growing Technological Capability Implications for the U.S. Economy (1992) / Chapter Skim
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Implications of Japan's 'Soft Crisis': Forcing New Directions for Japanese Electronics Companies
Implications of Japan's 'Soft Crisis': Forcing New Directions for Japanese Electronics Companies
Pages 136-144
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From page 136... ...
In examining this problem in Japan, we are in some sense looking at a mirror image of the problem that has surfaced in the United States, namely, how most effectively to allocate scarce resources to key areas in order to maintain competitiveness in critical technologies. Japan is currently facing a situation in which there is a growing relative scarcity of engineering talent at all levels as demand outstrips supply.
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From page 137... ...
.2 It is a field related to the design of complex ICs, and therefore it is a field of critical importance to IC firms as design complexity of ICs has increased an importance that will further increase in the future.3 We will then outline various measures taken to address this shortage, and draw some implications for the United States of these actions taken by Japanese firms. PROBLEMS CONFRONTING THE JAPANESE SOFTWARE ENGINEERING INDUSTRY The problems confronting the Japanese software engineering industry can be summarized as follows: · The "soft crisis" is a function of the explosion in the growth of the Japanese software industry in bumping up against a fairly inelastic supply of software engineers.
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From page 138... ...
In order to outline what form these nonconventional means are taking on, we will describe how Japanese firms are dealing with the shortage in the IC CAD field. Description of the "Soft Crisis" The software market in Japan is expected to increase substantially in the next few years.
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From page 139... ...
One striking illustration of the acuteness of this shortage of graduates is in the IC CAD field. It is estimated that the United States has at least a 5 to 1 and perhaps as much as a 10 to 1 advantage in terms of qualified CAD engineering personnel.5 Other strategic areas that are tied to software engineering are experiencing a similar magnitude of shortage.
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From page 140... ...
This is dramatically below the level of 65,000 enrolled science and engineering students in 1989, a decade before. At the same time that the scientific and engineering talent pool is declining, institutional rigidities in the Japanese educational system inhibit the supply of trained recruits for Japanese firs.
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From page 141... ...
As opposed to earlier research labs, these facilities will be more than simply listening posts or showcase facilities. They are specifically intended to expand the 7IC CAD is a technical field where Japanese managers believe they are lagging behind the state of technical developments in the United States (see Figure 3)
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From page 142... ...
~ Current Status 12 1 Future Trend FIGURE 3 Comparison of CAD in Japan relative to the United States. NOTE: 5 point scale (0 = Japan far behind; 5 = Japan far ahead)
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From page 143... ...
Japanese firms will be actively bidding to attract scarce engineering talent in the United States. How successful this thrust will be depends, in part, on the success that Japanese firms have in managing highly skilled engineering talent.
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