Japanese Management in Evolution

Tsutomu Nakano is Professor of Organization and Strategy at the Graduate School of International Management, Aoyama Gakuin University. He received his PhD in sociology from Columbia University and is on the external faculty of the Center on Organizational Innovation. His research interests include valuation studies, clusters, organizations and networks, and social design. In 2015-16, he took visiting positions at Copenhagen Business School, ENS Cachan, and MPIfG.

'This book on changing patterns of Japanese management is a helpful contribution to better understand the emergence of new and creative industries within a setting of strong established sectors like the manufacturing industries. This innovative collection is an important read for anyone who want to understand new developments in Japanese business management.' — Professor Cornelia Storz, Goethe University Frankfurt, Germany'For many years, books on Japan focused on Japanese characteristics of success, contrasting those characteristics with US or Western characteristics. As Japan lost its popularity, the change and evolution in the Japanese business environment and the variation within the Japanese system should have grabbed the interest of researchers. It has not done so. This book strives to redress this neglect. The readers are taken on a tour of the current Japanese business environment in a number of key areas of business success. The ‘tour guides’ are some of the most capable scholars of the Japanese system, both Japanese and non-Japanese, all familiar with Japan in a wider world-wide context via joint research projects or academic training.Variation is illustrated by a series of industry studies. Some like audio, examine an existing industry which must respond to new challenges; others in culture-based industries which continue to have appeal in a world looking for variety in experiences define a new image for Japan and its products. In contrast to the traditional focus on manufacturing, the book includes studies of service industries, and of the professional services that support the new directions presented in the book. In chapters addressing corporate social responsibility, family firms and firm management structure, the reader gets a better understanding of the tension in Japanese business between conformity to world norms and the continued value of ‘traditional’ Japanese business structures.Like an elegant kaiseki meal, the reader is treated to a taste of the many flavors that is the Japanese economy and business system in 2017. The reader should enjoy the meal.' — Tom Roehl, Professor of International Business, Western Washington University, and Founding Member and Past President, Association of Japanese Business Studies'Professor Nakano has assembled a deep and rich collection of original articles by top-flight scholars on an array of leading-edge issues in contemporary Japanese business. The book is thus a uniquely valuable contribution to understanding the structure and functioning of the Japanese economy today.' — James R. Lincoln, Mitsubishi Bank Professor Emeritus, Haas School of Business, University of California, Berkeley

• Part I: Overview and Introduction1. The Japanese Business and Management in Evolution (Tsutomu Nakano)Part II: Changes in Governance, Management System and Ownership2. The Evolution of Ownership Structure in Japanese Firm (1962-2012) (Jungwook Shim and Toru Yoshikawa)3. The Functionality of Hybrid Organizational Form: An Overview of Research on Business Units of Japanese Firms (Toshihiko Kato, Tsuyoshi Numagami, Masatoshi Fujiwara, and Masaru Karube)4. Japanese Family Firms between Tradition and Transition (Tim Goydke)Part III. Breaks and Evolution in Manufacturing and Service Sectors5. The Decline of the Japanese Flat Panel Display Industry: Causes of Failure and Implications (Derek Lehmberg)6. Monozukuri Management: Driver of Sustained Competitiveness in the Japanese Auto Industry (Daniel Heller and Takahiro Fujimoto)7. Who Imitates Whom?: A Study on New Product Introductions in the Japanese Non-alcoholic Beverage Industry (Shigeru Asaba and Marvin Lieberman)Part IV: Creative Industries and Cultural Capital in New Paradigms8. Networks and Management in the Japanese Creative Industries (Naoki Wakabayashi, Jin-ichiro Yamada, and Masaru Yamashita)9. Japanese Youth Subcultures as an Alternative Fashion System and a New Business Model (Yuniya Kawamura)10. Culture as a New Frontier of Business: A Study of Service Provider-Customer Interactions at Sushi Bars in Tokyo (Yutaka Yamauchi)11. Japan’s High-End Audio Equipments Industry in Transition: Pragmatic Valuation of "Hi-Fi" Sound and Valorization through Networks (Tsutomu Nakano)Part V. Managerial Innovations, New Directions, and Emerging Practices12. The Evolution of the ICT Start-up Eco-system in Japan: From Corporate Logic to Venture Logic? (Masahiro Kotosaka and Mari Sako)13. An Emerging Interpretation of CSR by Japanese Corporations: An Eco-System Approach to Simultaneous Pursuit of Social and Economic Values through Core Businesses (Masahiro Okada)14. The Change and Continuity of Accounting Professionals in Japan: Interpretive Policy Analysis Perspective (Saori Matsubara and Takahiro Endo)15. HRM Research on Japanese Organizations in the Twenty-First Century: Review and Emerging Research Topics (Yoshio Yanadori)