ABSTRACT
In the early 1990s, Motorola’s top management had to make a decision on a new strategy for increasing market share in the Japanese consumer and industrial markets. Between 1982 and 1990, Motorola had vigorously pursued sales of semiconductors and telecommunications equipment in the Japanese markets, while aggressively defending its U.S. market against Japanese dumping and predatory pricing. Motorola’s successful dumping suits in the United States had brought them additional business with certain companies in Japan. Their Japan strategy had been to take a leadership product position with superior technology and quality, but they found out that these required great patience and very large up-front investments. As the executives considered all of the time and money that they had invested in selling to Japan, they concluded that they were less than satisfied with their previous return on their investment.
