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Abstract: The spirit of craftsmanship applies to every trade. In the context of opportunities arising from the new industrial revolution and China 's transition towards high-end manu facturing. Premier Li Keqicmg put forward the concept of the spirit of craftsmanship. This paper reckons that the spirit of craftsmanship can he defined from six dimensions including dedication, standard, precision, innovation, perfection and human care. In fact, the spirit of craftsmanship abounds in China, as illustrated hv the examples of Tongrentcmg and Haier. In comparing the three manu facturing powers of Germany, Japan and the United States, this paper reveals the differences in the connotations of the spirit of craftsmanship across these countries. According to specific national conditions and development stage, China must achieve structural re-engineering of corporate organizations at the level of firms, products, divisions and modules. In a nutshell, the spirit of craftsmanship is a core component of corporate and industrial civilization and it holds an important historic position in industrial and social civilization.
Keywords." spirit of craftsmanship, industrial civilization, social civilization, supply-side structural reforms
JEL classification: D20, 014, Z13
1. Introduction
1.1 Origin of the "Spirit of Craftsmanship"
In the Western world, the concept of craftsmanship took shape under the Guild System in the Middle Ages. In ancient China, the spirit of craftsmanship was behind the Four Great Inventions including the compass, papermaking, movable type printing press and gunpowder, as well as the succession of the craftsman culture of Butcher Ding and Architect Luban. In the traditional sense, reference to the spirit of craftsmanship evokes the exquisite and refined quality of products made by manufacturing powers like Germany and Japan. In the modern sense, the spirit of craftsmanship is extended from manufacturing to R&D, marketing, logistics and services across a wide array of sectors, as the Internet spirit of equality, openness, synergy and sharing takes hold and firms become increasingly decentralized and interconnected. In Japan, for instance, the word "master" can refer to a ramen chef, sushi restaurant owner, top-flight designer, literatus or artist. That is to say, the spirit of craftsmanship finds expression not only in material production but in nonmaterial production as well.
As a broad concept in the modern sense, the spirit of craftsmanship may apply to all individuals,...