Measuring the Entire Degree Centrality in Mazda’s Yokokai Keiretsu: A Parts-Importance Weighted Model

Abstract

As a most important index in calculating network interrelationships, there are many definitions and more than 400 different centrality dimensions, such as degree, and betweenness, among many others, have been developed. All centrality indexes are calculated using the number of connection lines, and its position in a given network. In the automotive industry, interrelationships among partner firms are tied within a typical systemic network known as keiretsu. As it is widely known that different partners play different roles in assembly line, it is crucial to measure the centrality of transaction network in the keiretsu.. Thus, the relative importance of each partner in a connection line in a transaction network should be measured based upon the pivotal nature of each part, which has never been proposed. This paper contributes and advances our knowledge to the literature by proposing a new parts-importance weighted centrality model.