The changing personality of U.S.–japanese joint ventures: A value chain mapping paradigm

Abstract

This article maps in the “value chain X time” space the changing personality of joint ventures with Japanese firms. The key findings are that (1) newly created joint ventures between U.S. and Japanese firms have shifted away from Japan-bound, marketing / distribution-specific activities to manufacturing and especially research and development activities; (2) newly created joint ventures tend to be more narrowly focused along the value chain and generally more global in scope; (3) divorce in joint ventures tend to mirror findings under (1) and occur almost invariably in downstream activities; and (4) finally, newly created joint ventures tend to be concentrated in industrial sectors in which Japan has established its world leadership.