The thanks-card is used to breed “the feeling of thanks” and “culture to praise” between employees mainly in big companies. It is one of the prevailing internal communication methods for such purposes. In many organizations, simple paper cards are used for the thanks-card operation and there are many successful cases, especially in the service-industry (e.g., a hotel, a restaurant, a shop, an airline, a logistic company). However, such paper-based activities require organizational support and a dedicated team to maintain the systematic operation. Considering operating costs and workforces with paper-based message exchange, companies may hesitate to start the thanks-cad activity. In late years, some venture companies, including Japan, have started thanks-card service to be usable for a PC and a smart phone and provide such service as cloud service. Using such service, companies are able to introduce thanks-card operation with much less effort. With this paper, the author reports an empirical study on effects of a smart phone-based thanks-card in a distributed small-sized shop organization, using thank-card cloud service provided by a Japanese startup. 5 restaurant-chain shops, which contain of about 15 to 40 employees in a shop, were adopted for the study. The author measured changes of employees’ internal communication satisfaction, job satisfaction and dedication, one of the 3 work-engagement concepts, before and after the smart-phone thanks-card operation. As a result, employees’ satisfaction of horizontal communication and job satisfaction were improved after the 2.5-month thanks-card operation. Analyzing the quantity of message and contents, practical implications to send effective messages to influence employees’ feeling were also indicated. With limitations, the author showed practical usefulness of the smart phone-based thanks-card in a shop organization, and the future research possibilities, by expanding its operations to other industries and/or larger organizations.

It’s known that introduction of Amoeba management to venture company can achieve high profits and high value-added. Previous studies on Amoeba management have separately explained the relation between the high profits realized by rigorous management accounting system and the high value-added realized by educational systems of management philosophy. Consequently, they have paid only little attention to the reason of arising innovative attitude of employees by the rigorous management accounting system. In this paper, thereby, we construct a conceptual framework about Amoeba management through revisiting organizational culture as a tool for control and then analyze Bears Co. Ltd. that has introduced Amoeba management. Finally, we consider theoretical and practical implications produced by our unified explanation on the mechanism that Amoeba management system simultaneously achieves high profits and high value-added, through a focus to entrepreneur's management behavior.

Data from previous studies show Entrepreneurs do not hold respectable positions in the Japanese society, and that constricts the activities to create and to open new businesses. The researchers conducted a questionnaire survey to reveal how high school students perceived images of entrepreneurs before an entrepreneurship education program was launched at a school. Respondents were 172 high school students. Twenty two students were experimental group; the others in control group. Though the result of the survey showed that the students had a sense of respect for entrepreneurs, most of them had neither willingness nor confidence to become entrepreneurs. They did not consider the entrepreneurs as a good option for their career, even when they had a sense of respect for entrepreneurs. One year later, the researchers conducted the same questionnaire survey for the students. Though the result of the experimental group showed their high regard to entrepreneurs, about 70% of the students made their self-esteem to be an entrepreneur lower compared to the result of pre-survey. The researchers found by interviewing the participants that simulated experience to run a start-up business was so formidable that the students had lost their willingness and confidence. We also ascertained, however, most of the students had an intention to be a member of a start-up if they were asked by the founder. The students had successful group activities in the simulation, and that made them believe the power of working together to meet their challenges. An entrepreneurial society needs not only founders, but people who support the start-ups. Therefore the aims of the entrepreneurship education for high school students should include cultivating both entrepreneurs and their supporters.