Prior research indicates that regional cohesion enhances efficiency within industrial clusters, with brokerage firms acting as crucial hubs. However, while brokerage positions’ structural features, network structures, and network efficiency have been extensively examined, how central firms enact brokerage roles in practice, and firm-level behavioral dynamics within networks, remain underexplored. This study examines how firms contribute to cluster resilience by analyzing their network positions and engagement patterns. Using interfirm trading relationships’ quantitative network analysis, this study identified structurally central firms based on degree and betweenness centrality. Then, in-depth qualitative case studies and unstructured interviews were conducted with central firms in a representative Japanese manufacturing cluster. The analysis shows that several central firms occupy brokerage-relevant positions connecting segmented cluster parts. The case studies reveal contrasting engagement patterns: One firm emphasizes long-term, trust-based regional coordination while another prioritizes outward reconfiguration of ties toward external markets while maintaining selective local embeddedness. Thus, cluster resilience arises not from a binary choice between embeddedness and openness but from heterogeneous engagement orientations among structurally central firms. This study links firm-level behavioral practices to cluster-level adaptability, extending network and brokerage research by highlighting how brokerage engagement patterns contribute to sustaining regional clusters’ competitiveness and social and economic resilience.

Does the empathy ratio of group members toward a management philosophy influence its dissemination within the group? In this study, histogram data resembling those proposed in the traditional Chasm Theory were obtained. However, the analysis revealed a chasm point differing from the conventional chasm point of approximately 16% proposed by the theory. A survey was conducted with 237 samples in the hypothesis generation stage and 1,000 samples in the hypothesis verification stage. The results of the curve regression analysis were statistically significant (F=9.449, p=.010), with both the linear and quadratic terms being significant (p<.01 and p<.05, respectively). The results of 1,000 bootstrap trials (R²=0.730) were consistent with the presence of a chasm-like discontinuity around the 50% level of individual perception and further indicated an acceleration tendency in empathy beyond approximately 60%. The response of individuals toward the group initially decreased; however, after surpassing the chasm point and threshold, it increased, resulting in a U-shaped curve.

This study investigates the key factors required for Japanese firms to successfully achieve organizational transformation through reskilling in an era of rapid technological and environmental change. Building on a review of previous literature, the paper analyzes the transformation case of a Japanese firm, Hitachi, Ltd., initiated in 2009. The analysis employs the framework of dynamic managerial capabilities alongside an adaptation model of strategy, organizational design, and human resource practices. The findings reveal that Hitachi, Ltd.’s, V-shaped recovery was underpinned by a dynamic spiral originating from the top management team’s dynamic managerial capabilities, coupled with various initiatives corresponding to an ambidextrous architecture and flexibility-oriented human resource management.

This study contributes to the literature on latecomer strategy by examining how a latecomer automaker can shift from an imitator to an innovative follower under rapid technological and market change, focusing on Toyota’s strategy in the Chinese electric vehicle (EV) market. Building on the frameworks of ordinary capabilities (OC), dynamic managerial capabilities (DMC), and Kawai’s entry strategy typology, this study develops a process-based view of OC by distinguishing between its contents (work systems) and processes (sensing, transforming, and executing). Through a case study of the bZ3X project, supported by interview data, the analysis shows that Toyota initially relied on its existing OC to sustain performance and “buy time,” despite delayed strategic adaptation. However, these capabilities proved insufficient in the fast-evolving Chinese EV market. The turning point came with the bZ3X, where both the contents and processes of ordinary capabilities were reconfigured through collaboration with GAC (Guangzhou Automobile Group Co., Ltd.), a major Chinese state-owned automotive manufacturer headquartered in Guangzhou. This transformation was not a simple transfer of capabilities but rather an interdependent restructuring mediated by a key individual. The study highlights that latecomers must reconfigure both capability structures and processes to achieve competitive repositioning.