mouldtechasia

Why the U.S. Lags in Technology

When Americans think about Asian culture, they often consider that many Asian countries, particularly Japan and South Korea, are ahead of the U.S. in technology. Companies like Sony, Samsung, and even car companies like Honda and Hyundai have more highly rated products than similar U.S. companies. And now, with China's economy poised to become the world's largest, the U.S. may take an even more ancillary role in terms of driving technological innovation. There are many possible reasons for these developments. Here are a few ideas that may help explain them.

Connecting

If countries can be thought of as having a collective psychology, Japan's would emphasize the group. After being brought to its knees in World War 2, Japan's economy rebounded, leaping ahead of most countries in terms of technological advancement. In today's world, where people can download free ringtones from hundreds of internet sites and shop online for anything from cellphones to cameras, it can be easy to forget how Japan brought itself from economic devastation to prosperity. Perhaps the tragedy of World War 2 was necessary for Japan to develop the cultural attitude that the group is more important than the individual, but this attitude led to the relentless rise of several companies that brought Japan's economy back to life.

Separating

In contrast, American collective psychology has always rewarded individual achievement. It celebrates heroes, and rewards individual risk. This may explain why so many companies are started in America. However, for a company to grow, prosper, and become stable, it's necessary for a group mentality to somehow emerge. The bigger a company gets in America, the more unlikely this is to happen. Perhaps this is why corporate behemoths like GM are now shadows of what they once were, while corresponding Japanese companies are still flourishing.