Advanced Praises for “The Dynamics of Knowledge Regimes: Technology, Culture, and National Competitiveness in the USA and Japan” by Dengjian Jin

In this monumental study...,  the author presents an original systematic approach to explain the differences in technological competitiveness of the USA and Japan… This scholarly pioneering work offers unique insights into the roles of technology, culture and knowledge regimes within the dynamics competitive relationships of the USA and Japan. This work, interesting but at times controversial, stimulated thinking about very complex economic, cultural, and technological issues, and is highly recommended to readers pertaining to many disciplines, from sociology to technology, from political economics to knowledge systems, and from international studies to business administration.

Pier A. Abetti, International Journal of Technology Management, 2002. Vol. 24, Iss. 4.

This is a well-documented, very extensive treatment of an important subject. This book may have important implications for Japan’s future.

Juan Enriquez-Cabot. Research Policy.  2003. Vol. 32, Iss. 6.

Jin’s work offers a comprehensive exposition of the differences between the USA and Japan across several domains: performance, technology, human resource management, governmental influence, philosophical underpinning and knowledge creation. It also deals with the cognitive and affective relationship between employees and employers in both countries… It is… a valuable resource base and essential… read for scholars and managers at a national or transcontinental level in innovation, production and technological development.

Linda Mcgilvary,  R&D Management, 2003, Vol. 33, Iss. 5.

The Dynamics of Knowledge Regimes contributes to the ongoing conversation about the national competitive advantage of the United States and Japan. The key contribution of the book is a model that illustrates how culture and its impact on knowledge creation help Japan and the United States achieve national competitive advantage in different sectors… This is a very interesting book…The book is of interest to researchers interested in the study of knowledge creation and management… Jin has made a contribution to the study of culture, knowledge, and national competitive advantage. The book will be of most interest to researchers and graduate students.

Kyle Mayer, Administrative science Quarterly, June 2003. Vol. 48, Iss. 2.

The book synthesizes a diverse range of literatures and integrates research on knowledge creation with co-evolutionary thought. A distinctive contribution of the book is the concrete demonstration of the role of culture in shaping knowledge creation and innovation…. This is a very fine book. It represents a bold attempt to tackle a complex topic from a multi-disciplinary perspective. The knowledge regime framework offers rich insights into the dynamics of knowledge creation by integrating the national, sectoral and organizational levels of analysis. The book is absorbing, rich in information and fascinating to read. It is an important contribution to comparative management and innovation.

Alice Lam, Online Book Review, Journal of International Business Studies –www.jibs.net. October, 2003.

The study of Dengjian Jin contains convincing arguments and a clear structure. It is an ambitious synthesis of the rich cross-national studies of American and Japanese patterns of work, organization, management, and innovation. It points to the complementarities between different cultural spheres, types of knowledge creation and principles of work organization…The book is extremely useful in creasing the sensibility of politicians and managers for the taken-for-granted bases of their innovation strategies.

Martin Heidenreich, Management International Review, 2003, Vol. 43, Iss. 2.

In sum, this is a well-written and very informative book and we recommend it for those interested in developing a better understanding of why some basic industrial differences exist between industrial sectors in Japan and the US. There has been a debate on the convergence versus divergence of national competitiveness. The dynamics and co-evolutionary perspective on culture, governance mechanism, institutions, and knowledge creation proposed in this book offers a fresh perspective on this debate and provides a new ground for academic research. Both managers and policy makers would find this book helpful in formulating strategies for firms’ and countries’ competitive advantages.

Robert E. Hoskisson and Daphne Yiu, Asia Pacific Journal of Management, 2003, Vol. 20, Iss. 2.

A vast amount of literature exists on the creation, transformation, integration and diffusion of Knowledge… Dengjian Jin integrates these diverse streams of literature to develop a framework on how culture affects governance mechanisms on knowledge regimes, and the impact of knowledge regimes on national competitiveness… This is an excellent book that should find a ready audience both in academic and practitioner audiences; it offers several insights for future research. The strength of the book lies in its rich quantitative data and qualitative information used to connect widely disparate literature on culture, governance mechanisms and knowledge regimes, and national competitiveness. The book build on cogent and cohesive logic and is excellently packaged.

Amit Gupta, International Journal of Cross Cultural Management, 2004, Vol. 4, Iss. 1.

Jin should be applauded for attempting to offer a unique and new approach to studying variations in sectoral competitive successes. .. Due to the potential of his originally stated integrative framework, I would recommend Jin’s books to scholars of political economy, business, and economic sociology.

A.J. Jacobs, Asian Business & Management, 2003. Vol. 2, Iss. 3.

I admire the effort to develop an integrated perspective. I am intrigued by the notion that countries can be characterized by the ways they develop and utilize knowledge. The idea that national differences in these knowledge regimes increasingly constitute the dominant source of comparative advantage is also provocative… I agree with the conclusion that Japan’s strengths were grossly overestimated a decades ago and may be equally underestimated today. The development of as broad framework that can potentially be applied to counties other than Japan and the United States is very attractive. The author’s perspective as someone who is neither Japanese nor American  also offers the possibility of new insights. Finally, I cann’t recall any book in recent years that effectively brings together such diverse streams of research. Jin draws on an impressively broad set of literatures from many disciplines.

Leonard H. Lynn, Journal of Japanese Studies, 2002, Vol 28, Iss. 2.

Jin finds that although the Japanese “knowledge creation capability” proved superior in automobiles and related areas, it suffered “fundamental deficiencies” in the new leading areas of information technology, software and information services.

Frank B. Tipton, Asian Studies Review, 2002, Vol. 26, Iss. 3.

Dengjian Jin’s The Dynamics of Knowledge Regimes provides a measure of relief from the habits of overgeneralization that have plagued the literature on industrial policy… Jin’s book is a useful addition to the literature on competitiveness and innovation that is likely to provoke much thought and debates.

Steven P. Vallas, American Journal of Sociology, 2003. Vol. 108, Iss. 4.

One of the virtues of the book is its clear organization into chapters, subchapters, and section. The continuing dialogue between descriptions of the U.S. and Japanese economy contribute further to this clear organization.

Julian Dierkes, Contemporary Sociology, 2003, Vol. 32, Iss. 2.

The author manages to cover a surprisingly large amount of territory as he offers that underlying cultural dissimilarities… have resulted from differences in organizing principles and governance mechanisms… Offered as a de facto model, the high-level analysis is straightforward and intuitive comfortable. The author goes on to present additional layers of analysis that include a wealth of data which, by itself, helps to justify reading the book.

John W. Peterson, Technological Forecasting & Social Change, 2002, Vol. 69.

The book remains a provocative read.

Mari Sako, Journal of Regional Science, 2003, Vol. 43, Iss. 3.