外部専門家が中小企業経営に果たす役割

―京都の中小企業の定量・定性調査―

抄録

The corporate governance functions effectively by calling for outside experts into the executive board. An inclusion of outside professionals gets Japanese companies cope with encountered business challenges effectively. As compared to large companies, small and medium enterprises (SMEs) in Japan are reluctant to invite outside people into board members. To date, little research has been done regarding why and how Japanese SMEs have introduced outside executives in corporate decision-makings. There are two main functions provided by part-time executives; monitoring function and advising function for the corporate management. A questionnaire survey and face-to-face interviews were administered in the Kyoto area in order to examine the use of outside experts in SMEs. The current study reports that Japanese SMEs hire outside experts as advisers, rather than part-time board members. It clarifies the important roles played by external executives for managing SMEs, and suggests the credibility of professors in business schools as advisors.