Hiraoka Shufuku Hiraoka – författare

This book deals with the systems of cost reduction that originated in Japan. These are mostly new systems that did not exist in western practices before they were utilized in Japan. The book also presents the Japanese ways of carrying out the globally popular cost reduction practices.(1) It describes the strategic cost management conducted by top management through alliances between companies and/or between government and industry.(2) It shows the functional cost reduction systems along the various phases of the product life cycle, as follows: R&D → Product development → Manufacturing → Administration and indirect operations(3) It conducts some humanistic or behavioral aspects of Japanese cost reduction systems.

This book clarifies the theory and practice of management control for strategy changes through the study of profit organizations, non-profit organizations, manufacturing and service industries. The relationship between strategy and management control is clearly elucidated in the book, which enables readers to understand how to implement management control systems for strategic changes in their organizations. The unique topics covered in this book include the methodology for continuing existing businesses and spreading the risk in the business portfolio, the management control systems for the new platform business models such as IT hardware and SaaS (Software as a Service) needed for business structure transformation, as well as management controls that are functioning in various industries and organizations.

Traditionally, innovation has been considered difficult to manage, as it occurs through contingent discoveries and inventions. For effective innovation management, it is necessary to determine what provides new value to customers and achieve this new value efficiently, while solving the technical problems. This book explores how innovation management for industrial revitalization and activation are conducted in Japanese companies. ''Innovation'' has diverse definitions, but the editors of this book have adopted the one proposed by J A Schumpeter. The features of innovation management in Japanese companies are considered systematically in the book. Positive analyses using questionnaires and innovation management strategy in individual industries and companies is also explored in detail.