What goes up and what goes down

摘要

For many young managers and strategists, few of them will realize just how mighty Japan and its firms were in the 1990s. As the world's second biggest economy, it saw many of its firms lead their industries in both size and innovation - Toyota and Sony being just two examples -so that they genuinely threatened to overtake the USA and its preeminence. Indeed, when Toyota finally overtook General Motors as the world's biggest car manufacturer, the effect was felt through Detroit and beyond. Further stories about the similar rise in the price of Tokyo real estate became legendary as well - for example that the well-heeled district of Ginza in central Tokyo was worth more than the whole of California.