Hamano Products. Co., Ltd., (HPCL) was a small company in Sumida Ward, Tokyo, with three employees and 30 million yen sales in 1993. The company's main business, metal processing, is typical of Japanese small and medium-sized micro manufacturing companies. Later, HPCL, with 50 employees, became one of the most famous metal processing companies in the Kanto region and grew to be a company that the Emperor of Japan (now the Emperor-Emeritus) did visit. How was HPCL able to grow amid a declining market? The strategy, the HPCL, may offer the key to the revitalization of Japan's small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs). This paper analyzes the case of HPCL to clarify the survival strategies of manufacturing SMEs. The fact that the company could transform a manufacturing enterprise, mainly as a subcontractor, into a comprehensive manufacturing support service will help manage manufacturing SMEs. Considering that entrepreneurial strength and new business creation capability are necessary for SMEs to survive, we use effectuation theory to explain strategy execution and SME presidents' behavioral approach. We also use ambidextrous management to identify strategies for new business creation. We confirm that the SME president with high effectuation ability was deeply committed to promoting both exploitation and exploration of business through practical deepening business in industry-academia cooperation.
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