For exclusive use Nanyang Technological University, 2015

9-384-049
REV: MARCH 16, 2011

E. TATUM CHRISTIANSEN
RICHARD T. PASCALE

Ho onda (A
A)
Th two decad from 196 to 1980 w he des
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witnessed a s strategic reve ersal in the world motor rcycle indus stry. By the en of that pe nd eriod, previou usly well-fina anced Americ competito with seem can ors mingly impre egnable mark positions were faced w ket with extinctio Although most consum on. mers had an i initial prefer rence to pur rchase from them, these U.S. manuf facturers had been dislod d dged by Jap panese competitors and lost position despite tec n chnological s shifts that could have b been emulate as ed competition intens sified. Th Japanese invasion of th world mo he he otorcycle mar rket was spea arheaded by the Honda M
Motor
Comp pany. Its foun nder, Soichiro Honda, a v visionary inv ventor and in ndustrialist, h had been inv volved periph herally in the automotive i e industry prio to World W II. Howev Japan’s po or War ver, ostwar devast tation result ted in the downsizing of Honda’s ambitions; m d motorcycles were a mor technolog re gically mana ageable and economically affordable product for the average Japanese. R y Reflecting Ho onda’s comm mitment to a technologic cally based s strategy, the Honda Technical Resea arch Institute was e establ lished in 194 This inst
46.
titute, dedica ated to impro ovements in internal com mbustion eng gines, repres sented Hond da’s opening move in the motorcycle field. In 194 Honda in e 47, ntroduced its first s A-typ 2-stroke en pe, ngine.
As of 1948, Ho s onda’s Japan nese competit tion consisted of 247 Japa d anese particip pants in a lo oosely define motorcycle industry. M ed Most competit tors operated in ill-equipp job shops adapting cl