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
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