This paper uses the framework of companies' international division of labour to explore the possibility that shifting to overseas production can stimulate domestic transformational activities in Japanese companies. ‘Domestic transformational activities' refers to the processes whereby domestic businesses convert excess resources, realised from the transfer of production overseas, into new products, processes or businesses. Until now, in viewing the relationship between a company's overseas production activities and its domestic production and employment, it has been considered that overseas production decreases domestic production and employment. This paper highlights the one－dimensional nature of this ‘hollowing－out' theory. It puts forward the hypothesis that shifting to overseas production may stimulate ‘induced transformational activities' resulting from the expansion of exports of intermediate goods, as well as ‘voluntary transformational activities' for new products and businesses. Quantitative and qualitative analyses are then performed to verify this hypothesis. The results reveal the following : 1) the transfer to overseas production triggers induced transformational activities ; 2) the likelihood of such a transfer leading to voluntary transformational activities is affected by the degree of accumulated or developed technological slack in a company, as well as its organisational leadership and coordinating ability ; and 3) restrictions on a company's ability to lay off its workforce at will through employee unions and intrinsic employee motivation create organisational commitment, which supports overall transformational activities.

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This paper is an analysis of how the competitive advantages of industrial agglomerations can be strengthened by the networks that exist between the firms within them, using as a case study the Okayama jeans agglomeration. The manfacturers in this example are able to supply jeans flexibly, according to the demands of the market, through close−knit interactions between the branded jeans companies and their preferred specialist supplier companies within the agglomeration network. At the same time, similar interactions taking place across the entire network ensure a sustainable level of production is maintained for the agglomeration as a whole. Based on the above, we can formulate a hypothesis about the factors that help to support the advantages of industrial agglomerations.

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Based on case studies of cooperative corporate philanthropy at NPOs established largely by companies, this paper examines the relationships between companies and NPOs, the significance and issues of corporate philanthropy, and how corporate philanthropy relates to the commercial activities of companies. In addition to analyzing the results of corporate philanthropy and the impactsit has on society and companies from such aspects as stakeholders, resources and capabilities, the paper also extracts the factors that encourage cooperation and examines the issues inherent to such collaborative partnerships. Corporate philanthropy initiated through cooperation among companies at NPOs has a major impact on society and companies, and is a new form of collaboration with the potential to stimulate the growth of both.

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This paper examines whether a cognition framework based upon the accumulation of technological knowledge results not only in a level of inertia that prevents the company from responding to technological innovation, but also in this inertia remaining in the organisation after the technological transition. As examples, the contrasting behaviours of quartz crystal device pure−play companies in Japan and the general electronics manufacturer Kyocera are used. In the event that they transit to new technology, the former companies adhere to the development pathway established for previous products, because of their astute understanding of the limitations of their specialist technologies, whereas the latter company exhibits aggressive technological innovation as a result of its less in−depth understanding of those limitations.

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