While there exist many companies that are successful, there are few studies on the effective approach for new business creation. This paper presents several principles for an effective strategy in creating new business. In this paper,the idea of a "platform" is applied to new business creation. This article examines the relation between typical business strategy and an evolutionary path for new business creation from the following two points of view; that is(1)an organic recombination among businesses (goods) which support society and(2)the evolution and metabolism of businesses(goods).

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Accompanied with the development of diversification and globalization of business and the advancement of technology, modern companies expand their activities on a large scale. But such expansion does not necessarily cause the magnification of organization size. The transaction-cost approach is one of the significant theories to explain this reason. According to it, network organization will be considered as the intermediary form between organization and market. But it seems difficult that this approach can get persuasive explanation regarding the adaptive competence of organization against the changing environment. What is questioned is not to make the structure as the result of strategic behavior but to understand the organizing process from the viewpoint of the organizational creativity focused on strategic adaptation. We think the most meaningful point of organizing is to structure the organization so as to be able to create the strategy through voluntary actions by its members. It is necessaty not to formulate management systems along the goal oriented rationality of organization, but to settle the field for forming the value oriented rationality through emergent actions of members and to transform the strategic behavior by it. It will be said that modern companies face the turning point whether they can organize the filed within their structure that will actualize the value oriented rationality for renewing the adaptive competence against the new reality.

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The purpose of this article is to take a step toward conceptualization of current excellent companies, that is, the creative and adaptive firms. Under the mature market condition, these firms will have two types of alternatives on the strategic orientation, that is, the digging-out strategy and the far-seeing strategy. The digging-out strategy is to follow thoroughly current customer's needs and thier satisfaction, and to promote learning in the industrial level. The far-seeing strategy is to follow a perspective of probable development or change in the area of economy, politics, and / or technology, and consequent change of the customers' life style in the future. This strategy is also to try to promote industrial level unlearning. Each strategic orientation will have a typical organization structure and information systems.

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Retail Business is now facing at the difficulty. The price destruction has brought big changes to the market, and it could be called 'Price Revolution'. The Changes requires not only reconstruction of enterprises but also drastic reconstruction of Business System. It means that the progress of the price revolution strongly requires innovation of Retail Business System and that new paradaigm for this innovation is now expected. Here, I come up with an idea of Retail ECR (Efficient Comsumer Response) to take ECR with much more considering comsumer for the purpose of getting adovanced Retail Business System. The differrence of meanning between ECR and Retail ECR comes from the type leadership for reconstruction of Business System. Namely ECR is done under the leadership of wholesaler and Retail ECR is done under the leadership of retailer. So Retail ECR is superior to ECR to get comsumer satisfaction and is best way of accelerate systematize of Retail Business System. Also, in order to embody the Retail ECR, I introduce some examples of the advansed ECR in America such as cases of Wal-mart, Supervalue and IRI.

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The impact of information on organization is considered in terms of organization design strategies. The development of information technology is always twofold. When it means the development of machinery to cope with the complex problems, Organization is centralized with the decreasing number of middle managemnet levels. In case that human problem solving activities are important to deal with the technological development, organization is decentralized with increasing in the number of middle management levels. In the age of informatization, the following two organization design strategies are to be identified. First is a network organization of loosely coupled system. Second is a matrix organization.

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With the shift to a low growth economy, it is necessary for the firms to establish a new business throuth interpreting market needs. Also, as the economy globalize, Japanese firms are required to fulfill their social responsibility and social contribution by foreign coutries. When these challenges are considered, it is readily evident that the traditional management methods in Japanese firms will have to change. It means that they need to creat social values, collaborating with society. With these points in mind, we have tried to introduce a new model of Japanese managenent for the 21 st century.

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Management of companies is now faced with a need for sweeping review as a result of the introduction of computers and the higher educational background of office workers. A new type of one-man company (called "Hitori-Kigyou") has recently appeared in japan, where the lack of other workers is compensated for by information technology and the use of computer networks. This study is designed to prove the hypothesis that the "Hitori-kigyou" is an effective way of management and that the best way to realize it is to develop and nurture one-man companies. It was disclosed that some of the new technological industries showed little resistance in accepting the above hypothesis and belive that development and fostering of one-man company activities would be extremly useful for the overall economy.

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Higher level of standardization in BP (Business Prodess) and IT (Information Technology) is indispensable for the implementation of CALS (Commerce At Light Speed) Japanese companies are endeavoring to attain the higher level, but very few have been successful so far. This paper seeks (1) to find out patterns in which SIS, EDI, ISO9000 and CASE tools have accelerated the standardization of BP and / or IT, and (2) to examine the possibility of applying similar patterns when implementing CALS.

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This paper presents a new perspective toward information technology, which reflects the emergence of "knowledge society" and the ongoing paradigm shift from "information processing" to "knowledge creation" in business management. Based upon the theoretical and practical framework for "organizational knowledge creation" constructed by Professors Nonaka and Takeuchi at Hitotsubashi University, we explain the "knowledge spiral" across four modes of "knowledge conversion" and across organizational levels (individual, group, organizational, and inter-organizational), then five enabling conditions to promote the knowledge spiral, and finally a more practical five-phase model of the organizational knowledge creation process, along with actual uses of information technology.

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This article recaptures recent marketing innovations, which have triggered significant fall in Japanese consumer prices, from the viewpoint of "organizational knowledge creation." Strategic alliances between majorg manufactures and distributors have realized so-called "team merchandisin" and "efficient consumer responses," which are creating excellent products at reasonable prices. Emerging "knowledge merchants," who mediate knowledge trades on new communication networks like internet, are expanding consumers' knowledge-base on products or services. Extending "hypertext organization" model to the industry system level, it argues these innovations accelerate structural reformation of Japanese distribution system toward a knowledge-creating "hypertext industry system."

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Asia is booming. Many countries in East and Southeast Asia, including Japan, Taiwan, Singapore, and the Republic of Korea, as well as the territory of Hong Kong, have recently experienced the fastest economic growth rate in the world. To compete effectively, Japanese firms must maintain a presence in Asia, more importantly, they must know HOW to conduct business there. This article will therefore present the relevance of cultural diversity in Asia and, then, propose a new management challenge for effectively managing Japanese companies in Asia. The broad argument is that managing a multicultural workforce effectively requires a willingness to share successes, mental models, vision, and competence for an effective multicultural learning. Indeed, the current reality dictates effective learning to enhance individual, team, and organizational performance.

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