2003 Volume 24 Pages 81-87
In 1990 the Japanese semiconductor industry maintained a strong competitiveness. For example, a list of top five DRAM-makers of the world included three Japanese makers. In 2001, however, there remained only one Japanese maker in the list. In this paper we first surveyed opinions that explained a process Japanese semiconductor makers lost their competitiveness. Next we turned our attention to a relation between the decline process and the role of intermediate organizations. It is an important role of intermediate organizations to let their members share a common story. In Japan, intermediate organizations tend to reinforce homogeneity among their members. Japanese semiconductor makers held a common scenario that ruined them after all. We pointed out here that, under the Japanese patent system, it was an efficient strategy to share a common story, and to promote research and development side by side.
