Growth strategy from the suppliers' viewpoint: A case study of Denso and Hitachi Automotive Systems

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This paper aims to examine and compare the growth strategies of two Japanese mega suppliers involved in research and design of automatic braking systems, and to assess their impact on inter-firm relations and transactions. The case study approach of this paper is based on in-depth interviews and archive analysis, and draws a comparison between Denso's wide customer scope strategy and Hitachi Automotive Systems' wide product portfolio strategy. In order to analyse the relevance of these two approaches, we use the growth strategy cup framework, which consists of three parameters: customers, products, and core competences. Our findings show that Denso was successful in terms of economies of customer scope, while Hitachi Automotive Systems was more dynamic in new combination-oriented innovation. In addition, our paper discusses why Hitachi Automotive Systems managed to develop an automatic braking system faster than the Toyota Group. Copyright © 2018 Inderscience Enterprises Ltd.