Ethical study on failure of Kamaishi national ironmill

Abstract

In Japan, western technology was rapidly introduced from the last stage of the Edo era. However, a lot of examples of technology transfer failure were included in the process. This paper deals with the cause of failure of the Kamaishi national iron mill. Lack of the domestic pig iron demand and insufficient marketing research, the Kamaishi iron mill generated large amount of deficit and was the greatest failure at that period. Analyzing several remained documents, it was understood that Japanese engineers throw large raw ore into the furnace under operation, to make it blockade. It was the simplest way to avoid further financial loss, and to conseal serious carelessness of preliminary survey. Blockage of the furnace was not the main factor of the iron mill business discontinuance, however, it had significant meaning. It was useful to minimize the initial risk of the following private enterprise, which succeeded the iron mill management. And it had big influence in iron manufacture which had grown up to the Japanese key industry in modern ages.