The Formation of “Solution” for an Industry’s Self-renewal and Entrepreneurial Activity

by Koichiro Kodama

This paper determines how the “standard solution” for the self-renewal of the photoprinting industry in the face of the digitization of photography was formed. In contrast to many photo shops lacking a sense of crisis, Kitamura decided to deploy digital minilabs across its chain of stores in order to shift its business from film to digital photography. Acting on this decision, Kitamura halted the execution of its existing strategy midway, disposed of its old mini-lab machines, and replaced them with peripheral equipment that could take digital photo-printing orders. The timing of this adaptation to the market was attributed to Kitamura’s business composition and its information-processing capabilities.

In this regard, how was this decision made by Kitamura accepted by the entire industry as the “standard solution”? The main reason was that Kitamura had established its new business system well before its rivals, after which it promoted the benefits of digital mini-labs and took advantage of this gap in the market. Accordingly, the company’s rivals discarded their earlier plans and began to introduce digital mini-labs into their stores due to which digital mini-labs became the “standard solution” for dealing with the digitization of photography.

The Reformation of Bank and the Role of Bank’s President : A Case of Yōzō Itō, the President of the 35th Bank by Masanobu Mishina

This paper analyses the entrepreneurial activity of regional bank’s president in the situation of management reforms, focusing on the case of Yōzō Itō, the president of the 35th bank in Sizuoka prefecture from 1901 to 1904. At that time, the 35th bank ran short of the working capital caused by the loss due to immobilization and bad debts of funds for the bank’s staffs and parties. With respect to this situation, Yōzō Itō investigated the amount of the loss and the credit of the bankers, and tried to reorganize the lending system of each branch under the president. And, instead of making the largescale renewal of staffs, he employed some middle-managers, for example Isami Kogure and Kanjirō Matsuo by introduction of entrepreneurs who had graduated Keio University, Toyoji Wada and Tatsuo Yamamoto. Also, Yōzō Itō purchased stocks of Fuji-Bōseki Co. that was used as security of loan to Magoroku Adachi.

Yōzō Itō tried to write off the loss by the reduction of capital, but this plan failed by the opposition of shareholders. As a result he guitted president. From the above analysis, with pointing out the functions of the president in the regional bank in the late Meiji Era, this paper elucidated actual situation and function of the entrepreneurial activity of regional bank’s president.