California Management Review

Abstract

Ohmae, President of McKinsey & Company of Japan, provides a critical appraisal of Japan's self-image which not only challenges the Japanese to reassess how they see themselves, but also gives American readers a rare insight into the thinking of its major competitor. Japan, Ohmae admonishes, must stop thinking of itself as a resource-poor nation that must protect itself at all costs and should instead focus on the wealth of its human resources. Both Japan and the United States consider themselves to be open trading nations and advocates of free trade, yet they both practice protectionism while accusing the other of keeping its markets closed. What is needed is a new perspective on both sides that will both preserve jobs and a free and competitive international marketplace.

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