In a message dated 7/27/98 11:57:32 AM Pacific Daylight Time,
dlau@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxxx writes:
BW Wrote,
<< >Hi Lars,
>I was told by some Japanese Marketing and Engineers visitors here in the US
> that it is very common for engineers to change Jobs / Companies in Japan.
> Therefore, they also take along their ideas to the new company. This is
the
> reason that many competitors have very similar products.
>BW
Dan Wrote;
I'll have to disagree with you here and agree with Lars.
Snip!
Hi Dan,
No problem with your disagreement. But, What are you disagreeing with, the
FACT that they told me this OR the Fact that they are wrong and you are RIGHT?
The fact is
that until very recently, the Japanese companies typically offer their
employees the equivalent of "life-time employment". A company would
hire someone fresh out of school and train that person for position(s)
within that company -- if a job disappears, the employee is trained
for a different position, all within the company -- until the employee
retires. The concept of quitting one company and joining another is
a very recent phenomenon.
Snip!
Yes, Dan, I am very aware of this culture in Japan. It was or is, I
understand, the reason Japan had the highest suicide rate in young educated
males. I think this was in the early 1980s or so.
On the other hand, as Lars said, the Japanese companies do cooperate
among themselves, much more than in the Western countries. There is
no concept of "anti-trust" -- if it is good for Japan, then it is a
good thing to do.
Snip!
You should put this in capital letters. Yes, you are absolutely correct here.
As long as it is good for Japan, anything goes!
Finally, contract manufacturing is quite common in certain industries
in the US as well,
Snip!
Yes, it is called out sourcing. It is common world wide. This is not new.
As far as the 35 - 105 being manufactured by Olympus question. I suspect it
is not. Mostly because someone on the list said the aperture ring works in
the opposite direction as all other Zuiko's. If this is correct, I doubt
Olympus would make such a drastic change. Why would they? Also, if my memory
serves me. The 35-105 was advertised as a "price" ( I think they called it a
"S' series) lens. This is a very common "outsourcing" method of adding
product to an existing line. Therefore, I would agree with Gary S. and others
who have stated "they think" it is made by someone else. If it was
manufactured by Zuiko, then they must have gotten their ideas from someone who
knows a lot about lens design. Because from the reports here on the list. It
is a very fine lens. And it sure is a radical change from the other Zuiko
zooms.
BW
< This message was delivered via the Olympus Mailing List >
< For questions, mailto:owner-olympus@xxxxxxxxxxxxxxx >
< Web Page: http://Zuiko.sls.bc.ca/swright/olympuslist.html >
|