Abstract

With the transformation of global capital markets. it has become essential for American managers to consider capital market relationships as a part of their overall corporate strategies. This article explores these strategies from the point of view of America s leading industrial competitor, Japan. Japanese firms have forged special business alliances that link banks, shareholders, and trading partners together into coherent groupings of mutual interest. These alliances have resulted in close investor management relationships quite different from those in the U.S. This in turn has shaped other facets of Japanese business, including its long-term investment strategies and its internal management systems.