一个重要句子的理解

寂寞的自由

Some observers of Japan have assumed that Japanese as United States firms but have benefited from the unique characteristics of Japanese employees and the Japanese culture.

这个是阅读里的一个问题的考点，请大家帮忙翻译一下，特别是我黑体字部分的as 和but的解释，感激

bon

Some observers of Japan have assumed that Japanese firms use the same manufacturing equipment and techniques as United States firms but have benefited from the unique characteristics of Japanese employees and the Japanese culture.
原句是这样的巴

深海的小美人鱼

that makes sense.

寂寞的自由

以下是引用bon在2004-2-6 12:33:00的发言：
Some observers of Japan have assumed that Japanese firms use the same manufacturing equipment and techniques as United States firms but have benefited from the unique characteristics of Japanese employees and the Japanese culture.
原句是这样的巴

呵呵，谢谢您的帮助，不过不好意思哦，原句不是这样的，原句是自由上面的话，呵呵~，这个文章很有意思，是关于日本企业如何突飞猛进超越美国企业的。其中设备和工作方式技能是完全同美国不同的，也是日本胜利的关键因素。