The medical device industry is expected to continue growing in the Japanese domestic and global market. Therefore, many local governments and industrial promotion organizations in Japan are supporting manufactures from other industries entering the field of medical devices proactively.

In 2005 Fukushima Prefectural Government launched the so-called “Fukushima Next-Generation Medical Industry Cluster Project” through industry-academia-government collaboration as the next stage of a project to develop innovative medical devices at Nihon University’s College of Engineering which started in 2000. The aim of the project was to create the first medical devices industry cluster in Japan. The key players in this cluster are local SMEs that want to launch a business in a new field. During the project there have been many hardships like the 2008 financial crisis, the 2011 Great East Japan Earthquake and the nuclear accident at the Fukushima Daiichi Nuclear Power Plant. Fukushima Prefecture has accelerated the activities within this cluster as a core pillar of industrial recovery in Fukushima.

In this research paper, I researched the activities for creating the Fukushima Medical Devices Industry Cluster retrospectively, and I described the process of government initiatives supporting SMEs to enter the field of medical devices. Secondly, I clarified the current situation of those SMEs and companies that expanded into Fukushima Prefecture after the 2011 Great East Japan Earthquake and the following nuclear accident. Moreover, I did a case study analysis of those SMEs, and examined whether our support measures were effective or not. Finally, I described the future trends of the Fukushima Medical Devices Industry Cluster.

At present, the super-ageing society is progressing in Japan, so, development and dissemination of Nursing Care Robots are promoted by collaboration between MHLW （the Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare） and METI （the Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry）.

However, the progress of the promotion for development and dissemination is unfavorable. And, there are some background factors, for example, price problem and technical problem so on. On this point, we have a hypothesis that the most notable blocking factor is the lack of the business ecosystem’s viewpoint for the development and dissemination of the Nursing Care Robot in Japan.

Therefore, we analyze these problems by using data from original and other questionnaire surveys in this paper. The constitution of this paper is as follows.

First, to take a general view of the birth of the concept about Japanese Service Robot including the Nursing Care Robot. Second, to carry out the original questionnaire survey for the nursing care and welfare facilities and to analyze the blocking factors of dissemination by using those data statistically. Third, to consider the relationship between concepts of the business ecosystem and the Nursing Care Robot business, based on the articles by Ander & Kapoor and Sugiyama & Takao. Fourth, to present the scheme of the Japanese Nursing Care Business Ecosystem formed in various sectors including financial and human resource development sectors.

Production using AM （Additive Manufacturing） technology is expanding in the manufacturing industry. AM technology is a technology in which materials are built up in layers to form the desired shape. It eliminates the need for molds and can produce products in a free shape. One of the applications of the technology is medical devices. Some medical devices are required to have highly customizable functions to suit the physical characteristics and symptoms of the patient. AM technology is a technology that can respond to such medical device needs. This paper discusses the impact of AM technology on medical devices, with examples introduced from small and medium manufacturers.

The purpose of this study is to analyze various aspects of the business strategy of Tesla, a U.S. company specializing in complete electric vehicles, and to clarify its competitive advantage. In this study, we will clarify how the company has risen to the top of the world, albeit in a specific segment, in such a short period of time, and how this competitive advantage has been achieved.

The following three points are conclusions. First, Tesla is very good at defining its business domain and then redefining it in a short period of time from there. Secondly, it is a super speedy management. And thirdly, although there is no denying that there is a strong element of genus, Tesla has been able to take full advantage of the corporate value of SpaceX, which is owned by Mr. Musk, the founder of the company. The maverick statements of Mr. Musk and his unique way of conducting business make Tesla a company that stands out in some ways. However, we would like to emphasize that the corporate behavior in pursuit of its business strategy is based on economic rationality, as evidenced by its excellent entry process and its sincere approach to engineering.

Today’s automobiles are becoming more electrified and electronic, with increasingly complicated parts. However, from official statistics, it is impossible to measure how many parts from the electrical and electronic industries are installed in the finished vehicle. Although the items listed in official statistics have been reviewed for some automobile parts, arguably, they have not been sufficiently accompanied by the progress of electronics in motor vehicles. However, now that the automobile industry is entering the new era of CASE - connected, autonomous, shared, and electrified - it is expected to incorporate many more items from the electrical and electronic industries and multiple other industries, which can now form new markets for automobiles.

This study uses the official Input-Output table（ 2011, 2015） to estimate the amount of inputs in finished vehicles from the electrical and electronic industries. We extracted devices that are considered car electronics products in a narrow sense, confirmed the routes and patterns in which they are assembled into the finished vehicle, and confirmed the total number of such parts in use.

However, this paper also emphasizes that there are limits to the estimation using the Input-Output table. For example, as the Input-Output table is prepared every five years, it hinders the accurate measurement of the dynamic expansion trends of the electronics automobile parts segment and the deepening interdependence between the automobile and the electrical and electronic industries. The official statistics also need to be reviewed.

This study aimed to examine the effectiveness of sales pitches by top management to generate interfirm relationships in the automotive parts industry. According to previous studies, suppliers and automakers tend to invest significant time and effort in building and sustaining interfirm relationships. As a result, the automotive parts industry has a tendency to form strong interfirm relationships.

This study compares the effectiveness of top management’s personal networking between German and Japanese suppliers. In this research, the author utilized text mining methodology to integrate qualitative and quantitative analyses. Based on the text mining analysis, interesting differences in relationship building mediation and velocity were identified. The differences reflect the various perspectives and expectations of relationship building between German and Japanese suppliers. This will also implicate the openness of transactions and the diffusion of innovation.

The purpose of this paper is to focus on the Japanese corporate car sales environment and analyze the business relationships within.

Many consumer durable goods such as automobiles, electrical appliances, furniture, household appliances, etc., have been developed, produced, and sold through various strategies to individuals. However, these consumer durable goods are also commonly purchased by businesses.

Among consumer durable goods, particularly so in the case of the automobile market, personal preference plays a large role and so the majority of sales strategies have been focused on targeting individuals. Nevertheless, 14.5% of the approximately 5.2 million domestic automobile sales in 2019 were leasing contracts, the majority of which for corporate use. There are no small number of corporate transactions for automobiles. Additionally, the era of“ owning” vehicles has changed to the era of“ using” them, leading to a rapid increase of rental car and car sharing businesses, as well as to the number of vehicles registered as such.

While traditional car manufactures are struggling with community-based personal sales, corporate leasing and the use of car-sharing is increasing. Within this paper, I will analyze the complex inter-company relationships and various sales forms found in the corporate automobile market. In addition, after clarifying the current automobile-centered transaction composition data from the Toyota Motor Corporation, I will share my thoughts on the outlook for car distribution moving forward.

In this study, I propose a novel ordering process through regional decentralization in the aircraft industry, based on the relationship between the industrial policy in the peripheral regions and the ordering process of aircraft components. In the 2010s, some companies received new orders for aircraft components in the Tohoku and Hokkaido regions following the increased production of commercial aircraft. Although the machinery industry has not been relatively strong in the Tohoku and Hokkaido areas, a new trend of some local companies entering the aircraft components industry and accepting orders has emerged in these regions.

Some doubts have been raised on whether it is possible to receive new orders for aircraft components in peripheral regions where the machinery industry has traditionally not been strong. Akita Prefecture has remained a spatial and technical periphery for the aircraft industry because its machine industry lacks processing and technical standards, dedicated procurement divisions, and research and development （R&D） functions needed for aircraft components. This is very much like the spatial and technical periphery barriers in the electrical and electronic industries. In spite of this, the region has overcome the spatial and technical periphery barriers in the aircraft industry through industrial policies that have resulted in production consistency, dedicated purchase divisions, and robust R&D functions.

The global economy has gotten great development with globalization and digitization of corporations. However, on the other hand, the environment was destructed, the resources were depleted. The gap between rich and poor became enlarged, the spread of diseases like COVID-19 was quickly. Is it really well that corporations plan their own profit and growth? In other words, business leaders should think ahead of their future strategies for a better society and people’s life. Under these circumstances, an action plan for the prosperity of human and the world―“Sustainable Development Goals（ SDGs）” was issued by United Nations in 2015.

The purpose of this paper is to analyze the future strategies of FAST RETAILING CO., LTD. （FAST RETAILING） towards to the SDGs. FAST RETAILING is a Specialty-store retailer of Private-label Apparel （SPA） group. One of its famous brand is “UNQLO”. In this paper the key factors about its manufactures will be extracted.

The revenue of FAST RETAILING in FY2019 is ¥2.2905 trillion. Its position at the apparel industry of SPA is the third in the world. There are 3,589 stores in 26 markets worldwide, and boasts of a widespread presence in North America, Europe, Asia, and Oceania. It has the conviction and vision to face the challenge of creating a better world. The corporate statement is“ Changing clothes. Changing conventional wisdom. Change the world”.

FAST RETAILING not only makes itself grow constantly, but also exploits a global platform just like an ecosystem, working together with 72 main textile material factories, 248 sewing factories and 585 business partners in the world, the leaders of FAST RETAILING always plan future strategies to take proactive steps, turning crisis into opportunity to realize much better society. Even many apparel corporations are impacted by COVID-19 in 2020, FAST RETAILING is still keeping sustainable growth.

In this research, we focus on design management as a matching of“ sensitivity”, and examine the matching of design personnel with SMEs that adopt design management. In particular, the matching of SMEs and design personnel, which can be said to be difficult to secure in-house design personnel due to lack of management resources compared to large companies, is an experimental approach as a local model of Iwate Prefecture. By doing so, it will lead to empirical research.

In this paper, we first organized discussions on business-to-business relationships from the perspective of transaction costs, management resources, and sociology. In addition, we have also organized research on human resource matching in companies, which has been conducted mainly on empirical research. From these previous studies, the cost is important not only before the transaction but also after the transaction, the existence of an intermediary is important for improving the matching accuracy, and the shortage of resources is supplemented by filling the gap in the network. He mentioned the importance of things and the importance of exchanging information in human resources matching. Based on these, we presented the framework for this research on design matching that does not correspond to QCD （quality, cost, delivery）, which has been regarded as important in conventional production goods transactions.

It is considered that there is a weighting gap between the company and the design personnel in conducting the experimental efforts to demonstrate the framework of this research in the matching of SMEs and design personnel. In order to eliminate such a gap, in this research, matching will be practiced by mediation using a matching sheet by the Iwate Industrial Research Institute.