This book describes the results of a ten-year research project by a joint US/Japanese study team focusing on Japanese automotive and electronics firms engaged in local production in the US. The project is concerned with the potential for effective international transfer of the Japanese management and production systems; how and why does the Japanese management style succeed or fail when fused into the American production environment. This would be the first book of its kind to examine the attempts to transplant the Japanese management systems to a country such as the US, where the socio-cultural environment differs so radically and where the systems will probably meet with some resistance.