The purpose of this research is to explore the extent to which companies set long-term targets in their sustainability reports. Based on a sample of Nikkei 225 listed firms from Japan, the use of targets related to environmental and social issues is assessed. In addition, commitments to sustainable development goals (SDGs) are examined. The results of this study show that (a) many companies set sustainability targets for a specific year (2020, 2030), (b) targets are less frequently revised than medium-term business plans, (c) non-manufacturing industries, especially construction and fisheries industries, tend to set longer-term targets and (d) of the 17 SDGs, companies prefer to commit themselves to targets on sustainable production and consumption (SDG 12) and climate action (SDG 8), which are seen as more relevant to their business activities than the other goals.

To date, studies of Japanese founder-run companies have largely focused on their prominent founders. However, all founders eventually hand over the wheel so that even in founder-run companies, executive officers generally increase their influence over time. However, there has been little research on the executives of founder-run companies. As such, this article empirically analyzes the characteristics of two leading postwar Japanese founder-run companies, Panasonic and Sony and their changes of board members, comparing with those of Hitachi as a leading CEO-run corporation in Japan over the period of the 1950s to the 2010s. The analysis reveals similarities and differences among the three companies and clarifies how the characteristics of board members in the founder-run companies changed after their transformation to CEO leadership.

Many companies use Facebook pages (hereinafter referred to as FB pages) as a part of integrated marketing communication strategies. In previous research, despite the fact that many companies have developed FB pages, studies either took the approach of studying only a small number of FB pages, or they collected the data of a large number of FB pages, aggregated statistics. Therefore, this paper, applying consumer response data for the FB pages of 38 brands, examines the applicability of a hierarchical linear model. A hierarchical linear model is a method for accurately analyzing individual level (consumer) and a group level (FB page) hierarchical data. The results show that the group level error applies significantly better to the random effects model than to the fixed effects model. Regarding effect at the individual level, it is clear that the model assuming heterogeneity among FB pages is highly effective in explaining the dependent variable (recommended intention) by the independent variables (trust, interaction, commitment). Furthermore, the group level variables, age, gender ratio and popularity ranking, have no significant effect. Meanwhile, with respect to satisfaction and hedonic motivation, model fitness is improved not only by individual level effect but also by group level effect.

In 2017, 7-Eleven China (SEC) opened more than 100 stores, suggesting SEC may be taking off in the Chinese market. This study examines the SEC’s “Convenience Store Business System (CSB)” to identify the characteristics of this high-achieving business model format. Furthermore, this study clarifies the challenges in three aspects of the CSB from 2004 to the present day, and the countermeasures taken by SEC. In the “front system,” against the backdrop of a dramatically changing macro environment in Beijing, SEC gradually undertook innovation and localization. SEC had struggled for more than ten years with slow growth in the number of store openings. However, SEC reformed its franchise store contract policies in 2017 to facilitate openings. The current growth path is due to the resulting economies of scale, as well as the synergies generated by the “front system,” “background system,” and “store operations system”.

The innovation and localization of the “front system” has been the most important factor in success. Simultaneously in the “background system,” maintaining balance and support from both local and Japanese suppliers is crucial for maintaining competitive advantage with regard to product offer.

This study explains the link between entrepreneurs’ identity formation and new product development, as well as the process and mechanism by which this extends to a firm’s competitive advantage. As a case example, we examined the product development of the world’s first Japanese word processor, JW-10, announced by Toshiba Corporation in 1978 and launched the following year. We provided an example of how the identity formation of technology entrepreneur Shinya Amano influenced the development of Kana-Kanji conversion technology and the product development of the JW-10, which had a ripple effect on the company’s competitive advantage. Then, we derive the “entrepreneurial self-theory” as an analogy for the social self-theory of G.H. Mead, and use this to provide a theoretical framework to analyze Shinya Amano’s technology entrepreneurship. Consequently, we show the specific dynamics of the entrepreneurial self, in which product design as a significant symbol. A positive cycle arises from the communication between the entrepreneur and the market through the product architecture, which can lead the entrepreneur to demonstrate emergent reflexivity and achieve a breakthrough, resulting in successful product development, which becomes a source of competitive advantage.

In China, there has been increasing attention given to the rise of B2B platform distribution enterprises.

These companies aim to build a distribution supply chain to compete with large organized retailers and online shopping companies by providing comprehensive retail support and strengthening the business capabilities of traditional small retail stores.

Shenzhen Synergy, a pioneering B2B platform distribution company, was selected by theoretical sampling as a case study.

In addition, from the perspective of innovation in the distribution system, the study clarifies the retail support offered by the company and its actual condition and components. The study also considers the impact of B2B platform distribution enterprises on the evolutionary process of the China’s distribution system from the viewpoint of the distribution system dynamism.

This paper is an analysis of a case in which social innovation in the creation of elderly employment has spread among four small or medium-size companies. It is found that for-profit companies can provide employment to the elderly living in difficult circumstances to achieve social inclusion, such as providing them a place to belong—a value inherent to the labor process—as well as livelihood to support their economic independence, just as work integration social enterprises do. Previous studies have investigated cases in which social innovation began when a social entrepreneur becomes conscious of a social issue. However, the case study in this paper details a case in which the solution to an economic problem - a business model - rather than awareness of a social issue is the source of social innovation. This suggests the potential for unintended emergence of social innovation. In this case, the community’s complex learning network, or mixed membership in communities of practice, led these social entrepreneurs to recognize the social issue of elderly employment and encouraged them to develop and spread social innovation to create jobs for older people.

This paper discusses the transition of open data policy in Japan and examines the problem awareness of the Japanese government in a changing international context. From the analysis of open data trends in Japan and globally and the government decisions to address them, this paper presents three stages of transition in Japan’s policy on open data: the first stage concerned with the provision of administrative information with the central focus as the transparency of the government; the second stage where emphasis is placed on creation of new services and the promotion of industries through the utilization of public data, and a third stage where the creation of new services is to the fore through data held by the private sector being made increasingly available to the public to complement public data. Moreover, the social significance of open data utilization and the future of open private sector data are also discussed.