Regarding the Japanese (a bit OT), the Japanese realized early enough that only quality can elevate their products above the “cheap but crap” level. Something I feel Chinese brands still have to do. Often quality gets cut first, after all, who cares about quality when there’s almost no warranty and you already have the customer’s money? It’s a really interesting topic to read up about Japanese work into quality practices where they involved everyone in the production line to openly discuss issues and make suggestions for improvement. Paired with a strong work ethic and tight company culture this paid off in no time. Although you need to get people extremely identified with the company to ask such a commitment. Quality circles, for example, happened after work, unpaid. In a hire-and-fire culture you’ll rarely get such commitment from employees until they’re afraid. But afraid employees are rarely useful and engaged. And why should they? You cannot buy loyalty and enthusiasm quickly with perks and bonuses. You must earn it by being a trustable and dependable employer, and that takes time.