The involvement of Japanese MNEs in the Indonesian automotive cluster

Abstract

The Indonesian Government has applied a form of cluster policy in the automotive sector drawing upon multinational enterprises (MNEs) to develop the dynamic capabilities of the industry. Cluster policies are seen by the government as a way to enhance competencies within the automotive cluster in Indonesia, particularly the work organisation for flexible production systems and skills, as well as building up the global-local production networks. Case studies of Toyota and Honda in Indonesia examine the international transfer of technology seen through the perspective of work organisation, in order to assess whether sophisticated Japanese production management technology has been successfully transplanted into Indonesia. These case studies investigate whether there is a successful catching up process, where MNEs through top-down knowledge transfer, are able to advance Indonesian's technological capability in the automotive industry.