Nippon Steel Essay ⋆ Business Essay Examples ⋆ EssayEmpire

Nippon Steel Corp. (Shin Nippon Seitetsu Kabushikigaisha in Japanese) is one of the principal iron and integrated steelmakers in the world. The company is also Japan’s largest steelmaker, with production capacity of more than 30 million tons annually. As a group of companies, it is also engaged in various engineering and construction activities, production of chemicals, and development of new materials.

Nippon Steel operates primarily in Japan. Its subsidiary companies include Nippon Styrene Monomer Co. Ltd., Nippon Micrometal Corp., Nippon Steel Chemical Korea Co. Ltd., NSCC Asia Ltd. (Hong Kong), Nippon Technoresearch Corporation and Nippon Steel Chemical Carbon Co. Ltd. The company’s global strategic alliances and joint business activities vary from different levels of core-steel production to logistics and technical issues. The company employs around 47,000 people (as of January 1, 2008). Its headquarters is located in Tokyo.

The company generates revenue from six business divisions: steelmaking and steel fabrication (80 percent of total revenue in 2007), engineering and construction (7 percent of total revenue in 2007), urban development (2 percent of total revenue in 2007), chemicals (6 percent of total revenue in 2007), new materials (2 percent of total revenue in 2007), and system solutions (3 percent of total revenue in 2007).

The steelmaking segment produces multipurpose and multiservice products such as electric power supply and services, fabricated and processed steels, titanium, and flat-rolled products. In addition, this segment designs and provides maintenance for equipment, transportation, facility management, and related analysis and testing.

Among the other segments, the engineering and construction segment provides civil engineering and marine construction, which includes natural gas platforms and undersea pipeline infrastructure. The urban development segment is responsible for effective use of idle land owned by the company. This segment also provides housing and large-scale urban development operations, including real estate and rental of buildings. The chemicals segment provides industrial chemicals as raw materials for other products, such as materials for liquid crystal displays (LCDs). This segment is well known for its large share of the global market for advanced electronic materials. The new materials segment provides advanced composite materials for industrial use, including fine ceramics, bonding wires for semiconductors, and carbon fibers. Finally, the system solutions segment provides engineering consultation services on computer systems related to industrial use.

History And Market Position

Nippon Steel was formed in 1970 as a result of the merger of Yawata Iron and Steel and Fuji Iron and Steel, both of which were established in 1950. During the 1980s, the company expanded its operations into other segments, such as new materials (1984) and electronics (1986). Throughout the 1990s and 2000s, Nippon Steel progressed its business operations by conducting joint ventures and strategic alliances in different geographical markets.

Key employees of Nippon Steel include Akio Mimura (president), Akira Chihaya (chairman), Hideaki Sekizawa, Shoji Muneoka, Hiroshi Shima, Kiichiroh Masuda, and Bun’yuu Futamura.

The company is the dominant power in the Japanese market, not only in crude-steel production, but also in nonferrous materials. Some of its unique chemical products that are used in consumer electronics, such as plasma displays and cellular phones, hold about half of the market share. This share is meaningful considering the constantly growing household-appliances market, especially in countries such as China and India. Its prevailing market position gives the firm the advantage of economy of scale and increases its bargaining power.

Nippon Steel is known for technological innovations. The company’s research and development achievements result in low production costs, making the company competitive in the worldwide steel industry.

Bibliography:

Adam Paul Brunet and Steve New, “Kaizen in Japan: An Empirical Study,” International Journal of Operations and Production Management (v.23/11–12, 2003);
Nippon Steel, www.nsc.co.jp (cited March 2009).

This example Nippon Steel Essay is published for educational and informational purposes only. If you need a custom essay or research paper on this topic please use our writing services. EssayEmpire.com offers reliable custom essay writing services that can help you to receive high grades and impress your professors with the quality of each essay or research paper you hand in.