This paper discusses the possibility of international business research of the deglobalization era for the future based on our previous studies.

 It consists of the following two parts. In the first part, we confirm the recent global managerial circumstances and corporate behavior of multi-national enterprises (MNEs). We specifically analyze the offshore production of Japanese automobile assemblers during the period from the early 1980s to the present when they increased their offshore production volume. Our analysis is based on the context where Japanese automobile assemblers use the offshore production of automobiles as a way of supplying them to foreign markets instead of exporting them from Japan. We concentrate on Japanese automobile assemblers’ production stream in Asia, North America and Europe and conclude that their local production strategies are distinctive in each market especially in recent years for dealing with such business climate issues as idiosyncratic trade and industry policy, economy recession, re-formation of multilateral trade agreement, and the Covid-19 pandemic.

 In the second part, we describe three aspects for comprehending the business environments and corporate behavior of MNEs for future studies in global business context based on the above data analysis as well as other implications obtained from our previous studies and recent cases of Japanese MNEs. The first aspect is that room exists for research to investigate how MNEs have dealt with local market adaptation in each region. The second aspect is rethinking a management approach for achieving local adaptation and global integration, which is a traditional research theme. We suppose this topic contains sufficient leeway to be researched from the standpoint of such themes as organization structure. The final aspect is using open-source information for international business studies.

 The purpose of this presentation at the annual conference of the Japan Academy of Business Administration was to provide a 25-year overview of the development and evolution of international human resource management (IHRM) research, with a focus on the sub-theme “Retrospect and Prospects of International Business.” Specifically, the presentation examined papers published in leading international journals from 2020 to 2024, identifying key research trends over the past 25 years and suggesting future research directions in the field of IHRM.

 This study explores what constitutes “interesting” research, focusing on the potential of gap-spotting research to generate impactful contributions. While prior scholars have criticized gap-spotting as merely reproducing existing theories, this study argues that a bundle of gap-spotting research with methodological diversity can achieve interesting insights. To illustrate this, this paper reviews three studies on experimentation in organizations, which employed different methods: qualitative case studies, quantitative surveys, and agent-based modeling. Study 1 examines how project leaders’ political behavior addresses intertwined uncertainties in innovation processes. Study 2 investigates the interplay between individual political skills, organizational innovativeness, and experimentation. Study 3 uses simulations to model the dynamic relationships between psychological safety, experimentation, and outcomes. These studies highlight the value of methodological diversity in uncovering diverse aspects of phenomena. This paper demonstrates that even gap-spotting research can transcend traditional limitations by integrating diverse methods, offering novel insights into organizational experimentation and innovation.

 Action science is a unique form of action research in which researchers study organizations with the goal of making change. It aims to generalize knowledge that can help individuals and social systems design actions and achieve their own intentions in everyday life. It locates theories of action at the foundation of human cognition and action. This paper explores how action science methods and concepts have extended our understanding of changing and diverse realities through tracing recent research. The studies of supervisory boards and management teams reveal conflict and the conditions that lead to constructive dialogue. The study of educational organizations uncovers factors that contribute to social exclusion, identifies action strategies to realize social inclusion, and verifies the effectiveness of these strategies in actual organizational settings. Finally, the paper identifies three aspects that action science research has uniquely extended: surfacing the gap between espoused theories and actual execution, developing alternative choices, and designing and implementing interventions for transformation.

 In this study, we investigate how the existing assumptions of management studies can be revised through a research and development project pertaining to a dialogue-recording method that allows entrepreneurs and researchers to continue reflecting on a single site. To clarify the characteristics of the dialogue-recording method, we present two cases.

 The first case is a narrative by a serial entrepreneur regarding the process of generating an entrepreneurial partnership. This narrative is based on fragmentary data obtained over 13 years of interactive research with the researcher but can be understood by applying the “entrepreneurial partnership theory” model.

 The second case is a record of a dialogue conducted through visual images created by a painter using the entrepreneur’s narrative as material. Unlike conventional dialogs, in this dialog, the researcher asks the entrepreneur questions based on a clear research theme of “the process of generating entrepreneurial partnerships.”

 The main findings of the case analyses are as follows: First, using the verbatim transcript of the dialogue as a medium, the entrepreneurs tend to reflect on their main experiences from the previous dialogue. Second, using visual images as a medium, the researchers can ask questions that focus on the entrepreneurs’ past experiences.

 The objective of this paper is to examine the fundamental principles of corporate social entrepreneurship (CSE), which plays a pivotal role in social business, by analyzing the practices of Japanese companies engaged in social business creation. Additionally, we will examine the evolution of discourse on the relationship between management and society that led to the emergence of the concept of CSE.

 The discussion of CSR strategy, including the concept of creating shared value (CSV), encompasses two distinct meanings. The first is the strategic implementation of CSR and Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) programs. The second is the design of programs that are mutually beneficial for both companies and society. The term “social business” refers to the transformation of CSR strategy activities into business activities. In recent years, there has been a shift towards integrating CSR as a core business strategy, rather than merely implementing it as a standalone program or in a passive or unrelated manner to the core business. Social business can be defined as a proactive, sustainable, and holistic approach to value creation, whereby companies proactively engage in CSR and SDGs in a manner that is responsive to the demands of these initiatives.

 The examination of the two social business cases revealed that in order to demonstrate CSE, companies must possess the capacity to facilitate collaboration and to oversee the activities of diverse social entrepreneurs. This is a challenging aspect of management. The challenge is to create an attractive ROI story and to justify and scale it based on that story.

 The purpose of this paper is to propose a theory and method of categorization that analyzes the characteristics of the CSR concept. Furthermore, it aims to construct a theory that explains the relationship between the CSR discourses and the concept of management responsibility in which private companies contribute to achieving the United Nations Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) based on this categorization. This paper adopts discourse analysis as its research method, examining mainly the literature on business administration and business ethics in Japan and the United States, and its research subject is CSR theory and its management model that have been accumulated over the past century.

 In Section 1, this paper introduces the typical CSR management model proposed by R. E. Freeman, F. William, and A. B. Carroll, and explains the problem interest and purpose of this research. In Section 2, the existing discourse on CSR is organized chronologically, and it is proposed that the origin of CSR is in the quasi-rule. In Section 3, I propose a typology of CSR discourses in the form of a four-quadrant table, using the axes of “attribution” and “nature” of management responsibility. In Section 5, it consider the similarities and differences between SDG management and CSR from a theoretical perspective through comparison with the discourses.

 The conclusion of this paper is that the SDG management can be explained in a way that is consistent with the CSR theories, based on the ideas of “expansion” and “cross-border” of the concept of corporate responsibility.

 This essay aims to provide an overview of the article “The Relationship Between Extraversion and Isolation Among Organizational Members” and to suggest potential directions for future research on isolation. The article examines the relationship between extraversion and isolation within organizations. Due to challenges such as the difficulty of data collection, prior research has primarily focused on loneliness rather than isolation as the main subject of study. The research emphasizes that isolation is not solely attributable to individual traits but also emerges through interactions with others within an organization. To address the limitations of previous studies, the article incorporates insights from network theory. It employs multi-agent simulations, which allow for modeling the dynamic interactions among organizational members, to redefine and analyze organizational isolation.

 The results indicate that isolation arises through interactions among organizational members and is influenced by the composition of the group. Highly extraverted members tend to become the primary isolated individuals, and the proportion of members with low extraversion within an organization significantly impacts the overall rate of isolation. Furthermore, the study suggests that opportunities for group formation specific to low-extraversion members may play a critical role in influencing the isolation levels of both low- and high-extraversion members.