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Can an American entrepreneur work for a Japanese company and be effective and happy?

Weinig, Sheldon

"So what behavior is characteristic of an entrepreneur? Let me offer my experience as the
founder of Materials Research Corporation (MRC), a premier supplier of thin film materials and
the film process equipment for the semiconductor industry, as an example. As the semiconductor
industry spread throughout the free world, I expanded the business by opening sales and service
companies in several European countries as well as a manufacturing plant in Toulouse, France.
Doing business in Japan, however, was not as straightforward because until 1980 foreign
corporations could not organize a Japanese operation unless it was a Japanese majority-owned
joint venture. Since my company had a considerable amount of proprietary technology, this was
not acceptable to me. Therefore, for many years we were limited to working with distribution
and sales agents in Japan."

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Academic Units
Center on Japanese Economy and Business
Publisher
Center on Japanese Economy and Business, Graduate School of Business, Columbia University
Series
Center on Japanese Economy and Business Occasional Papers, 27
Published Here
February 16, 2011