What exactly is an organization? To answer this question, we will refer to organizational theory formulated and developed in the 20th century. Chester Barnard believed that human groups appear to be organized rather than disorderly crowds because members with a common purpose are working purposively. Herbert A. Simon, who expanded on this idea, considered that making purposive decisions is rational as long as the purposes are accomplished step by step from top to bottom along a hierarchy of ends. However, he pointed out that this hierarchy of ends was incomplete and was, sometimes, contradictory. Regarding technology as an alternative to this, James D. Thompson came to the opinion that if organizations are purposive, their core should consist of one or more technologies. Karl E. Weick depicted the technology-formation process as an organizing process. People will initially repeat, for their various purposes, an interlocked behavior cycle as a common means. If the cycle is stable, people with differing goals will be able to use it, leading to the assembly of a larger module and a gradual shift to a common purpose.

This study shows that a positive correlation exists between diversification of place of work and organizational commitment. The study compared the working-at-the-office group, working-from-home group, and shared-office-use group using data from an internet survey (N = 3694) and data gathered from a survey of people using shared offices (N = 424). The results were as follows. First, we found that organizational commitment was higher for the group that combined working at the office and working from home and the group that combined working at the office and shared office use than it was for the group that was only working at the office. Second, we found that organizational commitment was higher for the group that combined all three (working at the office, working from home, and shared office use) than for the group that combined working at the office and working from home. From this, we assert that diversification of the place of work gives employees a positive view of their company in that it supports them, and this could enhance employees’ organizational commitment.

Data usage has a major impact on the corporate innovation process by providing more multifaceted and clarified customer insights than those that have been available before. However, data-driven development relies on objective data, and as a result of the constant pursuit of rationality, we are confronted with the opposite constraint of user trends. Project L, as discussed in this paper, adopted data-driven development after its official release; however, as product updates were led by user data, the product tended to be updated conservatively and for the existing users, which resulted in a slowdown in the active user growth rate. Fortunately, the development team size was not reduced even after the product was released; hence, Project L was able to change into a development policy in which the ratio of idea-driven development and data-driven development could be adjusted based on user trends. The result revealed that they were equally successful in capturing new users and retaining existing ones.

In studies on buyer–supplier relationships, interdependence is a commonly used keyword; however, its definition and measurement items have not received much attention. By reviewing the literature, this study found two streams in studies associated with interdependence, with each stream having certain commonalities in its measurement items. In the power-related context based on Resource Dependence Theory by (1) Pfeffer and Salancik (1978), it tends to use the percentage of sales accounted for by the trading partner, the substitutability of trading partners, and the switching cost, whereas in the task-related context based on (2) Thompson’s (1967) technology, dependence on the traded input and output is often used as measurement items for interdependence. In fact, both logics are implemented in Toyota Motor Corporation’s supplier management, using multiple suppliers to avoid resource dependence while some parts are determined by technology.

The Nadler–Tushman congruence model stands out as a well-known and effective framework for navigating organizational change (Nadler & Tushman, 1989, 1997). Despite the prevalent discussions on organizational ambidexterity in recent years, few people are aware that both of these concepts originated from the same researcher around the same period. Although these ideas followed separate developmental paths, their shared origins underscore a common research interest. This paper aims to explore Tushman's research and respond to the convergence of these two concepts after approximately 30 years. Based on Tushman's suggestion that the integration of multiple logics through an overarching identity is necessary, this paper considers and suggests a new integrated model. This model can help formulate a paradigm for dynamic organizational change that aligns with today's organizational environment.

Identifying and gaining access to lead users (LUs) in the market is very costly and time-consuming. To enable more efficient access to LUs, this study examines how the proportion of embedded lead users (ELUs) of the organization as employees differs from that of LUs in the market as consumers. An organizational survey and a survey of consumers were conducted in the travel market, and differences in the distribution of lead userness were examined based on the samples obtained from these surveys. The results indicate that the proportion of individuals with high lead userness is higher within the organization than in the market. However, no significant differences in lead userness within the organization was found according to employment type.

I came up with the term “yarisugoshi” in Japanese to detect through a questionnaire survey the situation where “decision-making by flight” of the garbage can model occurs. Businesspeople initially denied its existence; however, it was confirmed in a questionnaire survey, and the first paper on the topic was published in 1992. For the next 30 years, “yarisugoshi” is an interesting phenomenon, even if it has nothing to do with the garbage can model or computer simulation, and it is now included in the Kojien, the leading Japanese dictionary. It occurs in every organization and occupation, and about half of all people experience it. In particular, it functions as a way to prevent organizational breakdowns in situations involving overloads or incompetent supervisors, and it has a training and selection function. It has been found that this phenomenon tends to occur when burdens increase, and it helps to prevent organizational mental health breakdowns.

This study examines the factors involved in the spread of digital transformation (DX) in Japan, which had previously been lagging in digitalization, during the COVID-19 pandemic, which began in 2020. To accomplish this, we analyzed 8,297 news articles that mentioned either “digital transformation” or “digitalization” during the three-year period from 2019 to 2021. We found that the public sector first began instituting DX policies soon after the pandemic broke out and was then followed by the private sector, meaning that the public and private sectors became actively involved in DX during the pandemic.

Since the emergence of free software in the 1980s, the belief that software should be free has been quite widely held. During this period, the software developers took the leading role. As the 1990s began, there was a notable increase in the number of general users of open source software. Furthermore, developers and distro developers (who acted as both licensors and licensees, as well as users and developers) began to take a more active role in driving the direction of open source development. This period marked the emergence of the open source era, characterized by a greater convenience for distro developers. However, in the 2010s, the importance of platforms increased and previous control on licensing diminished. In other words, the history of free software and open source has been the history of how the parties holding the business initiative have been changing at each period.

Roadmap sales & marketing is a medium- to long-term solution sales & marketing conducted by teams. Compared to one off sales & marketing, the sales scale will be dozens of times. As a result, Company X changed its sales & marketing strategy from improving the efficiency of one-time sales to roadmap sales & marketing; however, the sales organization could not immediately adapt. Nevertheless, Company X adapted its sales organization through trial and error, and, as a result, achieved a dramatic increase in sales. This paper analyzes these efforts and presents them as three standardizations and one course correction mechanism. At first glance, this seems to be a case of organizational sales & marketing being superior to individual sales & marketing. However, the main aim was to switch to a superior strategy, and the organization succeeded in adapting to it later.

Based on a detailed case study of a Japanese venture firm, this study suggests that the unconscious routines practiced by entrepreneurs in innovation processes are critical. Research on organizational routines has asserted the following two points. First, when existing routines become proficient distant searches of new fields become difficult (Levitt & March, 1988; March, 1991) (the exploration problem). Second, existing routines tend to be lost during distant searches as they are impossible to combine with the outcomes of the distant searches to make new routines (Gavetti & Levinthal, 2000; Levinthal & Rerup, 2006) (the fusion problem). Nevertheless, Takao Kimura and Kimura Information Technology Co., Ltd. (KIT), discussed in this study, have succeeded in overcoming such problems to create a business with a competitive advantage. Our analysis of this process shows that if the existing routines are so proficient that they are practiced unconsciously, (1) it can help distant searches, and (2) the outcomes of the distant searches can be combined with existing routines.

To date, there has been a tendency to think that difficulty for service operations to run smoothly in healthcare organizations is attributed to resistance by professionals to changes in practices. By contrast, in the Kurashiki Chuo Hospital case reported in this paper, the true cause that obstructed safe and smooth service operations was in fact a lack of communication between units.

In the world of open source constructed on the basis of the Unix philosophy, there are cases of unsung heroic programs in obscure locations being maintained in a detailed way by a single unknown person or a small number of unknown people, mainly for personal reasons. However, if once these small programs close to the bottom rung of the ladder break, it may cause a loss of balance and collapse of our entire modern infrastructure. This is referred to as the Nebraska Problem in this paper. We can see from the actual and serious case of the Heartbleed bug that “the number of eyeballs” taken for granted in Linus's Law up to this point needs to be proactively secured, and we need to consider complementary measures, such as SBOM, against risk in advance.

This study examines the formation of feelings of serendipity in buying behavior. In particular, based on the perspectives of previous research in information science and interpretative consumer research, this study proposes that feelings of serendipity are formed under the influence of an unexpected meaning creation process that comprises three elements, namely, (1) encounter with a product; (2) connection between the product’s cultural meanings and self; and (3) formation of a positive outlook in life based on the consumer’s life project. This model is demonstrated through two illustrative cases of purchasing. This model suggests that understanding consumers’ life projects enables marketers to strategically design encounters with products to facilitate feelings of serendipity.

In community-based marketing, the new marketing framework presented in this study is as follows: (i) in term of the creation of value, it views a product from the perspective of solving the life issues of the customer base by including augmented products; and (ii) in terms of communication and delivery of value, a company forms a community with customers who are interested in and empathize with the value that the company creates and who can be constantly connected through social media services, apps, and other digital means. There, interactions among customers are born and new value is created. It is managed by proactively collaborating with other companies toward creating innovative values. We believe that this framework accurately describes the ongoing marketing activities of companies.

This study examines how the performance of startups during the time period up to their initial public offering (IPO) is affected by the macro environment, a topic that has not been given much consideration to date. Taking the end of 2012 (the beginning of Abenomics), when Japan’s economic environment shifted to a hot market, as the transition point, we analyzed companies that did IPOs in terms of such variables as the target market, the attributes of the companies in the sample (type of entrepreneurship), and the date of their actual establishment. We found that for those companies operating in an economically favorable environment, the average time period from startup to IPO was relatively long. This could be because an economically favorable environment and improved business conditions spurred startups that had been implementing a wait-and-see attitude. We have some reservations about using “time to IPO” naively as a performance indicator, and caution should be exercised when using it.

In solar cell manufacturing from the late 2000s to the early 2010s, the turnover for top manufacturers implied that it was only a matter of years before they went out of business. In general, many tend to believe that top manufacturers went bankrupt because of the bubble and burst caused by policies intended to promote and control the PV industry in various countries; however, considering that solar cells can be sold in any country worldwide and the global market for solar cells continues to expand, the ups and downs of solar cell manufacturers cannot be explained by the bubbles and bursts of individual countries alone. In fact, (i) while the turn-key solutions of Western manufacturing companies facilitated market entry, in China, people witnessed successful companies and imitated them to start their own businesses. Many of these companies launched and entered the market one after another in a short time span, thereby causing companies in other countries to go bankrupt due to low prices. However, (ii) even these Chinese firms have been experiencing a decline in capacity utilization amid a chronic oversupply caused by vigorous entrepreneurship, and top manufacturers have collapsed due to minor setbacks that later proved catastrophic.

The number of gas stations (GS) in Japan has halved in the last quarter-century, as price competition has made selling gasoline unprofitable. Further, the Japanese government has formulated a policy to end the sale of gasoline and diesel-powered vehicles by 2035. Under these circumstances, Yamahiro, a GS company, (A) according to non-oil services, divided its GSs into three groups, namely, car inspection/testing, car washing/coating, and car rental, and further increased the specialization of each station by focusing on the services it offers; (B) not reduced the number of employees at the station despite operating self-service GSs and introduced the vehicle identification system and vehicle information management system to improve the profitability of its non-oil services by linking these systems; (C) utilized the vehicle data to create synergies between the car-rental business and used car sales business; and (D) increased the number of GSs by taking over unprofitable stations from wholesale dealers of oil products and retraining their entire workforces. As a result, the company expanded its business in Tokyo area, presently earning 40% of its profits from non-oil services, and won the Japan Quality Award (JQA).

The isomorphic mechanisms of organizations are known to consist of institutional isomorphism (coercive isomorphism, mimetic isomorphism, and normative isomorphism) and competitive isomorphism. The World Association of Zoos and Aquariums (WAZA) put pressure on the Japanese Association of Zoos and Aquariums (JAZA) over the issue of keeping wild dolphins in captivity and even suggested its expulsion, resulting in a form of coercive isomorphism. At that time, JAZA adopted measures such as stricter group rules and membership criteria, which led to competitive isomorphism within JAZA, as many aquariums that did not agree with JAZA’s position left the association. As a result, the Japan Aquarium Association (JAA) was born as an association of aquariums, formed by aquariums, for aquariums. In other words, institutional isomorphism at the level of associations was accompanied by competitive isomorphism, and the adaptation of organizations to the institutional environment and their subsequent selection of association occurred simultaneously.

This paper is a study of the entrepreneurial ecosystem (EE) formed by Japanese startup clustering around the University of Tokyo’s Hongo Campus. A chronological analysis of 234 startups clustering around the university showed that the EE started to evolve in 2004 with a university-led incubator, and that non-incubator startups began increasing in around 2014, growing into an entrepreneur-led EE beyond the control of the university.