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About The Battalion. (College Station, Tex.) 1893-current | View Entire Issue (Feb. 10, 1988)
Wednesday, February 10, 1988/The Battalion/Page 3 State and Local ank official: Japan focuses on business By Sharon Maberry . _ Reporter alneatic* , , .1 • . ■apan is much stronger economi- 1' than t ^ ie United States because 1 Ml ( ' r its lop priority is making profits, a Biking of ficial said Tuesday during the Business Career Fair at Texas ountryiii AIM. ^_wereai*p au i Knudson, executive vice f neninHesident of Texas Commerce Bank, a -Catch [said that Japanese industry focuses if even P n ' ts business interests. lish, theiiB" The y J a P anese ) do what’s ’ Bt for them economically,” Knud- B said. “They have no loyalties to their relations with the United — States. We have to remember that todi/when we deal with them.” 'rjigwdiniBKiudson graduated from Texas Bm in 1979 with a degree in fi- Hnce and joined Texas Commerce Bank in 1980. ■ knudson became interested in the iniernational arena when the bank experienced some problems over seas with public relations. |“We had problems in the Asian- 3 ^ a [Pacific area several years ago in (IHBms of perception of the bank in V; :the market,” he said. ■ Knudson said he has spent four years in international banking. ■ “We mainly do domestic banking Dth Japanese companies,” he said, ■’his requires knowing how strong the parents are. We have to know jsoniething about Japan.” h wouldli Knudson has studied Japan and overnufEps economy. He spent October in Ja- inunraiir 11 learning more about the coun- Jy at a Japanese institute along with Bother Americans, Europeans and ^Canadians. sh onlf-B American businesses need to lamed r. know how Japanese businesses work, il Enflii'P* iet ^ er they consider Japan to be a ‘OtherllB‘ end 0ran enemy, Knudson said. . jV “If you can compete in Japan, you i as m I an (:oin p C t(. anyw'here,” he said, ted at ffl Knudson said American banks drools nifcve difficulties competing with Jap- guagesBese banks, which are among the wrongest entities in Japan. I “They are so strong because they all own stock in the companies they nk,” he said. “That is something at U S. banks can’t do. If things get lat Eng ge used ie Stale Photo by Lucinda Orr Businesses set up booths in Blocker Tuesday for the Business Career Fair, which will continue through today. strong but lend on thin margins. “As a banker, this means to me that anytime Japan wants to lend to someone, I can’t compete because they can lend on a thinner margin.” with a one-party system similar to that in Mexico, Knudson said. “The way the Japanese govern ment makes decisions would be like Bush, Robertson and Dukakis sitting down and deciding who will be pre sident,” he said. Consequently, the government can have a large impact on Japanese businesses, he said. In the 1960s, Ja pan’s chief economist and the prime minister instituted a program to double its gross national product in 10 years, which would be a 7 percent growth rate per year, Knudson said. They concentrated on companies with high income elasticity, such as high-tech items, he said. In this way, the Japanese gross national product would grow faster in relation to the rest of the world, he said. “If the world’s gross national product increases by 1 percent, Ja pan’s might increase by two per cent,” Knudson said. One reason for the success of such Japanese industries as automaking and electronics is that the people are largely relativists, Knudson said. This makes it easy for them to adjust to both good and bad situations, he said. When Mitsubishi Electric went from making motors to silicon prod ucts, they retrained their employees' rather than hiring new ones. Knudson also attributed the coun try’s economic success to the impor tance of hard work in Japan. “Many Japanese schoolchildren wear fluorescent armbands because it is often dark when they go to and from school,” Knudson said. “They have virtually no free time.” The Japanese adult takes this ded ication into the workplace. “When visiting Japanese busi nesses, we saw workers running the hundred feet from their break to their statibns when it was time to go back to work,” Knudson said. “I’ve never seen that in American plants. “Also, Japan has a free-flow as sembly line. Each guy works on an engine as long as he wants. “If something goes wrong, they shut down the whole plant and ev eryone watches while it is fixed. Then, they don’t let it happen again.” Japanese industries are also suc cessful because they put much of their profits back into production, Knudson said. “American companies don’t put that money back,” he said. “They go ahead and buy a new Porsche with that big bonus check.” Knudson said he is not optimistic about American competition with Japan in the future. “We must raise taxes, cut spend ing or balance our budget or no one will lend money to us,” he said. “I’d much prefer to force Japan to pay for its own defense than to hurt in ternational trade. We can’t support the world when we’re broke. “The Japanese have more money than we do. Let them support them selves.” » w I Mi ❖ MSC ALL NIGHT FHIH RND THE ORIGINAL NEID YORK SELZER BUNGLE t^e JUNGLE FEBRUARY 20, 1988 8 p.m, to 2 a.m. MEMORIAL STUDENT CENTER APPLICATIONS DUE FEBRUARY 10th All Night Fair Provides fundraising and publicity opportunities to any re- cogonized student organization-over 4,000 people attend each year. Apply now, only 35 spaces left! i