It has been said that sponsoring in-house sports teams can help to increase teamwork and loyalty within a firm, though sufficient evidence-based studies have not been done to substantiate this claim. This research aimed to examine the positive impact of a corporate sponsored sports team on its employees, primarily by measuring the following three factors ; 1) corporate shared-value, 2) both internal and external communications, and 3) employees’ attachment to and pride for the company. A questionnaire was sent to all 28,000 employees of Seino Holdings Co., Ltd., which sponsors a corporate baseball team for its employees, and 6,440 valid responses were received. 36.1% of the respondents said they had interest in the team, while 35.7% answered they were neutral toward it, and 28.8% answered that they were not interested in it. Furthermore, 12.3% of the respondents answered that they had participated in the baseball team activities. Both of the groups that showed interest or participated in the team scored higher in all three factors, compared to non-interest / non-participants (p<0.01). The results suggest that engagement of employees in corporate sponsored sports teams contributes to a deepening of inter-organizational relationships, helps to cultivate a collaborative corporate culture, and increases team spirit.

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Based on social changes and potential problems faced by convenience stores, this study analyzed the business models of convenience stores offering Mobile Sales (MS) and Homedelivery Services (HDS), and then discussed the strategic significance in relation to improving relative businesses. By analyzing case studies of typical enterprises and conducting comparative analyses with other retailing formats, we reached the following conclusions. First, MS and HDS of convenience stores are still in the exploratory stage, but experience accumulated so far has been flexibly applied to the trial processes and technical innovations have been gained through trial and error. Secondly, unique competitive advantages of MS and HDS compared to the other retail formats may emerge, with the precondition that the convenience store had fully exploited its specialties – “small lot, short lead time and high level of convenience.” However, a convenience store must construct a more efficient sales system and pursue a more sweeping low-cost strategy to realize the aforementioned advantages. We put emphasis on the development of MS and HDS to expand into new markets and admit that direct contributions of the business are limited for the industry at the present stage. In the longer term, the promotion of MS and HDS will encourage evolution of the business model and retail format of convenience stores, and will become an excellent example of shared-value creation.

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日本において貸金業法が2006年に改正されて以降、ヤミ金融の事犯が表面化される機会が減ったように見受けられる。しかしながら最近の報道を精読してみると、ヤミ金融はそのスキームを様々に進化させ、警察にとって摘発が難しい形態へ巧妙化させることで高金利被害を拡大している。例えば、2018年9月26日に報道された日本経済新聞の記事「倒産企業の陰にひそむ危うい資金調達」によると、従来から商慣行として行われてきたファクタリングのスキームを利用する違法性の高い二者間ファクタリングが新たなヤミ金融として水面下で浸潤し、資金需要のある中小企業の間で被害が拡大している。二者間ファクタリングに関しては警察の摘発が困難であるだけでない。利用した中小企業がファクタリング業者に賠償請求を求める裁判が幾つかの事案で争われたが、その違法性を巡る判決に一貫性はない。

2017年3月3日に共同通信が報じた記事｢債権取引『実質は貸金』 　地裁､過払い金返還命令｣によると、二者間ファクタリングの違法性を認めた判決が出された。一方で筆者が二者間ファクタリングを利用した中小企業に行ったインタビュー調査の中には、裁判で二者間ファクタリングの違法性は認められず、逆に中小企業側がファクタリング業者に多額の違約金の支払いを命じられた事例も存在する。

こうした司法判示の限界性を鑑みると、現行法令で二者間ファクタリングを規制することは困難となってきている。さらに2020年改正民法の施行により債権譲渡が原則自由化されることで、二者間ファクタリングを行う上での環境は逆に整う恐れもある。こうした見地からも中小零細企業による資金需要の現実を考慮した上で貸金業法が改正され、適正な貸金市場が日本国内で形成されるべきである。

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