Keiretsu
Keiretsu (系列Japanese, literally: row, line ) refers to Japanese mergers of companies, also known as " composite economic groups."
Definition
A uniform definition of keiretsu do not exist, they are identified by a catalog of characteristics. These characteristics include:
- Presidents' Meeting (社长 会shachō -kai ) for consultation of corporate strategies,
- A " house bank ", which is the main lender usually
- A general trading company ( sogo shosha ), which is mandated to trade at home and abroad,
- The cross- holding of shares of other group members,
- Bringing forward the award of contracts within the group
- The posting of managers in the boards of other group companies, as well as
- A strong sense of belonging.
In addition, horizontal and vertical keiretsu are distinguished. Horizontal keiretsu are made up of companies in various industries. Most go back to its precursor companies from business groups already before 1945 had stock (财阀zaibatsu ). Vertical keiretsu can end manufacturer and their suppliers (企业 系列Kígyó keiretsu ) designate or retail chains (流通 系列Ryutsu keiretsu ). The expression of the characters varies depending on the keiretsu.
They were created because under Allied occupation in the form of a holding company and the merging old zaibatsu name was banned. The organization in keiretsu served as a kind of compensation mechanism for the reduction of transaction costs. An increasing globalization and deregulation of the Japanese economic system since the mid- 1990s, also makes a restructuring of the Keiretsu required. The reform of the banking sector has had, for example, the merging of " house banks " result. This leads to a competition in lending to companies in an industry, which formerly belonged to different horizontal keiretsu. Also on cross -held shares are sold.
The keiretsu are in a strong process of change. In what form they will continue to endure, remain unknown to date. In 1997, the ban on holding companies have been lifted so Japanese corporate associations such as conglomerates can organize centralized in other industrialized countries, and cross-holdings are no longer the primary means of integration.
Important Keiretsu
Horizontal keiretsu
- Mitsui
- Mitsubishi
- Sumitomo
- Yasuda / Fuyo
- Sanwa
- Dai -Ichi Kangyo
Vertical keiretsu
- Hitachi
- Toshiba
- Sanyo
- Panasonic
- Sony