ABSTRACT
The Cold War had developed a more inertial character as compared with its earlier intensity, though the basic alignments persisted and were for a time reactivated by the ‘New Cold War’ resulting from the Soviet invasion of Afghanistan in 1979, before finally giving way to fluidity as the 1980s progressed. The massive rise in oil prices arising from the Middle Eastern war of that year brought growth to an abrupt halt and demanded drastic restructuring. Japanese management showed remarkable adaptability in recovering from the oil shock without major social disruption and was so much more successful in this than other major economies that Japan came to be generally viewed both at home and abroad as an ‘economic superpower’ and ‘Number One’ in management skills. A parallel group, with background in the Naval Technical Research Institute, particularly relating to wartime radar research, was regarded as having formed the nucleus for Japan’s later spectacular success in electronics.
