THE SHIFT OF POSITIONING OF JAPANESE GENERAL CONTRACTORS' R&D ACTIVITIES

Abstract

Japanese general contractors, the giants in particular, have been leading R&D activities since the period of high economic growth. ������������������������������������������������������������������� �������������������������������������������pecific value network of the market, this paper analyzed patents applied for relating the two contrasting building markets, i.e. condominiums and ������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������������ ��������groups of patents in regard to the patent classification and the networks of joint appliers has revealed the fact that the positioning of general contrac������������� the condominium building market has shifted from the internally-and-externally integral to the internally-and-externally modular quadrant whereas with semiconductor factories their positioning appears to have converged in the externally modular and internally integral quadrant, suggesting that their R&D activities do depend upon the value network of their customer industries.