This paper examines the case of sales departments of two companies that, driven by concerns over sales practices being dependent on individual ability and the resulting difficulty in training junior staff, enrolled in the same training program and undertook reforms that included standardizing their sales activities; however, they achieved sharply divergent outcomes. Company A focused on developing a sales kata and using role-playing exercises to master it; as a result, employees began to conduct their sales activities in line with standardized business processes instead of relying on individual experience and know-how. Company B focused on developing and disseminating detailed standardized operating procedures (SOPs); although there were short-term gains, the standard method failed to gain traction and a sales style dependent on individual skill persisted. These cases suggest that in complex operations such as sales, creating and mastering a kata, which functions as an exemplar while allowing for variation, is more effective than producing SOPs for promoting a standard method and embedding it as a new routine.

This paper examines the extent to which the internationalization of digital MNEs can be explained by conventional international business theory. In recent years, as digital MNEs have been able to enter international markets without establishing overseas offices, the need for new theories has been highlighted. Alibaba, the company discussed as a case study in this paper, was able to broker cross-border transactions without involving overseas offices by directly connecting suppliers in China and overseas consumers through AliExpress. However, as bottlenecks, such as rapid delivery and market response, became apparent, Alibaba began making foreign direct investments, such as developing global logistics networks and acquiring local e-commerce companies. This paper demonstrates that the explanatory power of new OLI and P-OLI is high during the cross-border EC phase, facilitating foreign market access, whereas the explanatory power of traditional OLI theory increases again during the subsequent international expansion.

Abstract: Research in the last few years has raised concerns that widespread beliefs in creativity myths, or conceptions of creativity unsupported by scientific evidence, may inhibit creative behavior. Using the Creativity Myths and Facts Questionnaire (CMFQ) developed by Benedek et al. (2021), we analyzed the responses of 1,844 Japanese participants. The results revealed a strong positive correlation between endorsement scores for creativity myths and facts (r = .716). Reanalysis of Benedek et al. (2021)’s publicly available international dataset showed a similarly high correlation (r = .771), indicating that a substantial number of respondents either endorsed or rejected both myths and facts. The participants were then grouped into four categories based on high or low endorsement of creativity myths and facts, and compared levels of creative behavior in the workplace. Regardless of the extent to which respondents endorsed creativity myths, those who endorsed creativity facts tended to report higher levels of creative behavior. This pattern was observed even among individuals who endorsed both myths and facts. These findings suggest that promoting scientifically grounded facts may be more effective in encouraging creative behavior in organizational settings than focusing exclusively on correcting misconceptions.

In previous studies on the textile industry and production areas, the success factors of the Fukuyama production area have often been discussed in terms of the success of KAIHARA, a company specializing in denim production with an integrated manufacturing process encompassing spinning, dyeing, weaving, and finishing. As a result, Fukuyama has often been viewed less as an area known for textile production and more through the lens of KAIHARA’s corporate success. However, in reality, the region is home to several long-established small- and medium-sized enterprises, that are neither subcontractors nor spin-offs of KAIHARA. These enterprises have each taken on specialized roles in spinning, weaving, dyeing, and processing. They have collaborated horizontally in a way that rivals the capabilities of KAIHARA, while also making efforts to facilitate the entry of younger generations into the industry. These efforts have contributed to the revitalization of the entire production area, countering the issue of an aging workforce that has affected other regions.

Japanese companies are actively hiring highly skilled international talents, making their cross-cultural adaptation a critical issue. This study found that highly skilled international talents adapted to their workplace through proactive behaviors such as “learning behaviors” and “relationship-building behaviors.” Furthermore, many talents could be classified under the “integration” category of acculturation. While this finding may indicate that highly skilled international talents are adapting smoothly to Japanese workplaces, it also implies assimilation into Japanese culture. This assimilation may raise concerns for employers as it does not align with their original goal of leveraging diverse talents from overseas.