Japanese Manufacturing Companies Research Articles

Is Thailand Attractive to Japanese Companies?

This study examines the relationship between the business sentiment of Japanese companies regarding promising or potential countries for investment and macroeconomic statistics, such as economic or population growth in Thailand, using data from the Survey Report on Overseas Business Operations by Japanese Manufacturing Companies from 1992 to 2022. Although investing in Thailand has been popular among Japanese companies since the late 1980s, it has seemingly become relatively inactive in recent years. The present study’s results are summarized as follows: First, the business sentiment of Japanese companies has some relationships with relatively short-term economic growth and the business cycle in the short run. Second, business sentiment depends on long-term trends, and this stance may have changed after 2020. Third, other elements, such as minimum wage or fewer young people, do not necessarily have a relationship with business sentiment. Although more studies including capital accumulation or the global value chain should be conducted, improving the sentiments of Japanese businesspersons is desirable.

Can logistics and supply chain resilience strategies minimize the impacts of disruptions: evidence from Japan

PurposeThis study investigates whether logistics and supply chain resilience strategies (SCREST) can help mitigate the negative impacts of disruptions on firm performance and logistics and supply chain (SC) activities of companies, using the COVID-19 pandemic as a case study.Design/methodology/approachThe authors collected primary data on the implementation of different types of SCRESTs and measured the impact of COVID-19 in terms of firm performance and logistics and SC metrics through a survey of Japanese manufacturing companies in four sectors. The authors used these data to illustrate whether the companies benefitted from SCRESTs in mitigating the negative impacts of COVID-19. A questionnaire comprising structured and open-ended questions was sent to 8,000 companies all over Japan that met the selection criteria, using a combination of mail and web-based media. The respondents were logistics and SC professionals. A combination of qualitative and quantitative analysis was performed for data analysis and interpretation.FindingsResearch conducted within the case of the Japanese context revealed that findings varied depending on the methodology applied. The use of a direct analysis approach and qualitative analysis suggested that the implementation of SCRESTs is beneficial in addressing the negative impacts of COVID-19 on firm performance and logistics and SC activities, whereas the application of indirect analysis approach yielded mixed results. The analysis also indicated a shift in the preferred SCRESTs during COVID-19.Originality/valueTo the best of the authors’ knowledge, this is the first study to examine the benefits of implementing SCRESTs using primary data from the manufacturing sector of Japan. Furthermore, empirical research on this topic is generally lacking.

An analysis of sustainable procurement guidelines in Japanese manufacturing companies: clarifying the current state and future directions

An analysis of sustainable procurement guidelines in Japanese manufacturing companies: clarifying the current state and future directions

Potential Projection of Non-Production Waste and GIS-derived Biomass Waste Potential Mapping Outside PT. XYZ for Boiler Alternative Fuels

Non-process waste such as wooden pallets, cardboard, and plastic in the manufacturing and/or processing industries can be used as a source of fuel that provides added value to the company. PT. XYZ is a Japanese manufacturing company that produces foodstuffs. During the production process, PT. XYZ produces non-process waste from internal sources in the form of wood, cardboard, and plastic. So far, this waste has not been used optimally. Therefore, in this study non-process waste will be projected using several time series models (AR, MA, ARMA, and ARIMA) as an illustration for the availability of raw materials to fulfil biomass fuel. In addition to waste in the factory, biomass waste is also mapped in the area around PT. XYZ for the fulfilment of biomass fuel using GIS (Geographic Information System). The time series analysis indicates that ARIMA model (0,1,1) without constants shows the smallest MAPE (14.7%) for wood waste, ARIMA model (1,1,0) without constants shows MAPE (27.39%) for cardboard waste, while plastic waste suits the ARIMA model (0,1,1) without constants yielding MAPE of 20.3%. Further, mapping of biomass waste potential around PT. XYZ, in Mojokerto, is subjected to the teak wood biomass waste (Tectona Grandis L.f) and eucalyptus. The biomass waste from teak wood waste and eucalyptus is potentially 783.1 tons/month and 0.3 tons/month, respectively. The projected results of biomass waste both inside and outside the factory can substitute 16.34% of coal fuel from the total fuel requirement in the boiler, i.e., 5143.7 tons/month.

일본 중소 제조기업의 DX를 활용한 생산성 향상 전략

Purpose: Digital technologies, which have played a major role in driving the era of the Fourth Industrial Revolution, are now not only a means of maximizing their competitiveness to small and medium manufacturing companies, but also use them to deepen their ties with related parties such as producers, suppliers, and consumers. Therefore, these digital technologies make it possible to create new values and higher values for small and medium manufacturing companies in Japan today. The purpose of this paper is to focus on what is the fundamental purpose of promoting digital transformation by small and medium Japanese manufacturing companies in recent years, and what are the effects of promoting such digital transformation. In addition, the characteristic that appears in the process of developing digital transformation by introducing such digital technology to its management activities is to analyze cases using the operation model of digital transformation.
 Research design, data, and methodology: Based on previous studies so far, this study presents a DX operation analysis model of Japanese small and medium manufacturing companies to identify and analyze the characteristics of Japanese small and medium manufacturing companies’ introduction and operation of DX in their production activities, and focuses on the cases of small and medium manufacturing companies corresponding to the three types in such models.
 Results: In order to enable Japanese small and medium manufacturing companies to develop production activities suitable for the new digital era amid rapidly changing environmental changes in the era of the 4th industrial revolution, above all, a change in the business model is required to maximize the productivity and added value of their products. Through the DX operation cases of small and medium manufacturing companies in Japan, we were able to see how effectively and efficiently they are coping with the challenges related to productivity improvement and technology succession, which were their ultimate problems, by using digital technologies such as IoT, AI, big data, and cloud.
 Implications: Since the problem of low birth rate and aging population is emerging as a serious social problem in Korea, the technology succession problem related to the manufacture of molds by skilled engineers in Japanese small and medium manufacturing companies is thought to be a phenomenon that may soon occur in Korea. Therefore, the various DX operation cases of small and medium manufacturing industries in Japan have great implications for small and medium manufacturing companies in Korea.

Association Between Workplace Social Support and Use of Health-Promoting Wearable Devices: A Prospective Cohort Study of Japanese Employees.

We examined the relationship between workplace environmental factors, including support from supervisors and colleagues, and the continued use of a wearable device meant to promote occupational health. One hundred employees at a Japanese manufacturing company participated in a 3-month study, and information related to their physical health status was recorded by a wearable device. We analyzed the results using the χ2 test and logistic regression analysis. We found that men aged 40-49 years and employees reporting low support from supervisors and colleagues were significantly more likely to be continuing device users. Participants with low workplace support had adjusted odds ratios approximately two to three times higher than those with high levels of support, which was significant. Employees with low workplace support were able to communicate at work, access appropriate support, and enthusiastically participate in occupational health promotion with little psychological difficulty in using the device. Occupational health promotion using wearable devices can complement traditional face-to-face occupational health promotion.

일본 제조기업의 리쇼어링 현황과 일본 정부의 기업 유치 지원제도

Purpose: This study examines the current situation and characteristics of reshoring, manufacturers return to Japan from their production bases that have been relocated abroad amid increased instability in the global supply chain due to factors such as COVID-19 and Russia’s invasion of Ukraine. This study tried to figure out what kind of reshoring business attraction support policies are being deployed by the central government or local governments in Japan. Also the author tried to derive what implications these support policies have for Korea.
 Research design, data, and methodology: This study collects and analyzes the contents of previous research papers related to the Japanese government’s support system for attracting reshoring companies, statistical data from research institutes, press releases from media companies, and homepages of local governments regarding reshoring of Japanese manufacturing companies.
 Results: The Japanese government has executed various support policies at the central and local governments level to turn reshoring manufacturing companies into opportunities to contribute to the country’s economic regeneration and local growth, resulting in more than 500 companies returning to Japan annually in recent years. These results had the effect of creating new jobs in various parts of Japan, and the increase in local governments’ tax revenues led to the revitalization of the local economy.
 Implications: In order to induce a successful return to Korea for manufacturers wishing to reshor, policies that can provide unconventional incentives such as smart factory construction, R&D support, and corporate tax cuts for reshoring companies should be reviewed and prepared.

Optimizing the Relationship between Regulation and Innovation in Dietary Supplements: A Case Study of Food with Function Claims in Japan.

Regulation has long been a counterpart of innovation in the health care industry, and recent cases have demonstrated that appropriately designed regulations can both coexist with and promote innovation. This study is the first study to explore how the regulatory environment affected the innovation process during the transition of the regulations for functional foods in Japan by examining quantitatively the impact of the foods with function claims (FFC) system on industry, companies, and products. Based on a dataset of Japanese dietary supplement manufacturing companies (n = 169) and their products (n = 731) in 2019, we found that companies that have newly entered the FFC system are smaller in scale than existing companies (p < 0.01, Wilcoxon rank sum test). We also found that companies with FFC products have larger revenue growth (p = 0.01). A multiple regression analysis revealed that FFC product sales increased with in-house clinical testing (coefficient: 26.8, p < 0.0001), diverse active ingredients (coefficient: 7.6, p < 0.001), and the claim of new functions (coefficient: 10.2, p < 0.05). These results suggested that the FFC system facilitated the market entry of small and mid-size enterprises and promoted the creation of high-value products through innovative company efforts.

Corporate governance characteristics of Japanese manufacturing companies and ISO 14001 adoption by their subsidiaries in Thailand

Companies have reported some voluntary initiatives such as obtaining an ISO 14001 certification to solve environmental problems and to achieve United Nation's Sustainable Development Goals. While ISO 14001 adoption has been studied extensively on the case of parent companies, there is not much prior research related to the parent-subsidiary relationship. This paper attempts to answer the question why Japanese subsidiaries in Thailand obtain ISO 14001 certification by focusing on corporate governance characteristics of Japanese parent companies such as board diversity and on the share of voting rights in their subsidiaries. We perform a logistic analysis using panel data from 117 subsidiaries in three industrial sectors (rubber products, machinery, and precise machinery) in 2017–2020. We find that characteristics such as direct voting rights in the subsidiaries and long business history of the parent companies have a strong positive correlation with ISO 14001 adoption by their subsidiaries in Thailand. The proportion of independent directors on the parent companies' boards exhibits only a slightly positive correlation. By contrast, our findings show no correlation with the proportion of female directors on the parent companies' boards due to the gender inequality gap in Japan. Our findings contribute to the empirical literature about voluntary environmental management in developing countries with regard to the parent-subsidiary relationship.

Scale and development of foreign economic interaction between the USA and Japan in 2009–2021

The article analyzes the dynamics of economic cooperation between the US and Japan for the period 2009–2021: bilateral trade, export and import, FDI flows. Particular attention is paid to Japanese FDI and activities of Japanese manufacturing companies in the United States. Bilateral economic relations are a part of the broader context of economic integration in the Asia-Pacific, activities of multinational enterprises and their global production networks. A "triangular" model of trade relations has developed between Japan, China and the United States, with significant part of trade going through global value chains (GVCs). Over the past decade, the US foreign trade policy priorities have changed several times: from the attempt to create a free trade area in the Asia-Pacific under the Obama administration to President Trump’s protectionism and to more liberal economic agenda of the Biden administration. The role of Japan in the Trans-Pacific Partnership creation and reformatting after the US withdrawal is shown. The prerequisites for the progress of bilateral relations to a new stage of scientifi c, technical and economic cooperation in the context of confrontation between the USA and China are analyzed. President Biden’s economic policy priority in the Asia-Pacific is attracting allies to crucial technologies development and increasing global value chains sustainability. Japan is a key partner for the US to secure control over technology transfer, diversify supply sources and strengthen GVCs. Coordination of approaches to promoting economic security is an important priority for the renewed US-Japan alliance, so the two countries can reach a new level of cooperation.

Differences in the organizational-commitment–rewards relationship between Chinese managers and Japanese expatriates in manufacturing companies in China

PurposeAs China attracts more and more foreign enterprises today, it is getting more important to consider how to enhance the organizational commitment (OC) of host country employees. This paper aims to examine the differences in the relationship between OC and rewards among Chinese managers and Japanese expatriates who work for Japanese manufacturing companies in China.Design/methodology/approachHierarchical regression analysis was used to analyze survey data gathered from 539 Chinese managers and 354 Japanese expatriates working for a total of 19 Japanese manufacturing companies in China.FindingsThe findings reveal that, for Chinese managers, role clarity had a stronger influence and autonomy had a weaker influence on OC than for Japanese expatriates. A possible reason is the ethnocentric culture of Japanese companies that leads to Japanese expatriates not sufficiently empowering local human resources. Moreover, there was no difference between senior- and junior-level Chinese managers in the association of any kind of reward with OC.Research limitations/implicationsThe most significant limitation concerns its generalizability. The authors recommend that future research use other nations' expatriates as reference groups to objectively clarify the characteristics of Chinese workers, thus testing the validity of this research.Practical implicationsThe results of this research may be used to reshape future human-resource-management practices in several types of the company located in China to facilitate attracting and employing the employees most able to make long-term contributions to the company.Originality/valueAlthough previous research has elucidated OC–rewards relation in particular countries, it has not met the potential requirements of the expatriates who face the difference in OC–rewards relation with host country national managers. In this sense, to the best of the authors’ knowledge, this research was the first attempt to tackle this theme by contributing to the literature.

Low Adaptation to Management Philosophy and Refraining From Seeking Medical Care in Japanese Employees: A 1-Year Prospective Study.

We examined the prospective association of low adaptation to management philosophy with refraining from seeking medical care (RSMC) among Japanese employees in a company with a management philosophy of "pursuing employees' well-being." We surveyed 2791 employees (2059 men and 732 women) from 2 factories of a Japanese manufacturing company following the management philosophy of "pursuing employees' well-being." Using a self-administered questionnaire, we measured adaptation to management philosophy at baseline and RSMC at a 1-year follow-up. We conducted robust Poisson regression analysis. Low adaptation to management philosophy was significantly associated with RSMC (incidence rate ratio, 1.17; 95% confidence interval, 1.03-1.35). Adaptation to management philosophy may be an important factor associated with the decision of employees working at a company following the "pursuing employees' well-being" management philosophy to seek medical care for their perceived health issues.

Role of a Sense of Urgency in Driving Employees’ Innovative Behavior: Empirical Evidence from Japan

This study investigates antecedents of a sense of urgency and its effect on innovative behavior. Data from 481 employees working in Japanese manufacturing companies were collected by administering an online questionnaire survey, then were analyzed using structural equation modeling and moderation analysis. The findings suggest that a sense of urgency among employees can significantly improve innovative behavior, including idea generation, promotion, and realization. Moreover, the effect of a sense of urgency on idea realization will be more substantial if there is a higher level of trust in management. Furthermore, our results indicate that a sense of urgency is triggered by managerial actions of external benchmarking and challenging goals setting, but it is hindered by reducing bonuses. Additionally, change leadership behavior was found to strengthen the positive impact of benchmarking and the negative impact of bonus reduction on a sense of urgency. As an early work that empirically tests the antecedents and outcomes of a sense of urgency, this study contributes to change management and behavioral operations literature. Furthermore, it guides managers to utilize motivation from a sense of urgency to leverage employees' innovative behavior.

How Meaningful Are Modest Carbon Emissions Reductions Targets? The Case of Sumitomo Electrical Group’s Short-Term Targets towards Longer-Term Net Zero

Japan is one of 196 parties who adopted the Paris Agreement and is committed to reducing greenhouse gas emissions to achieve net zero by 2050. Greenhouse gas emissions are predicted to increase global temperatures by +3.8° in 2100 under RCP8.5. In response to the Paris Agreement, Sumitomo Electrical Industries Ltd. (Osaka, Japan, 107-8468) (a Japanese manufacturing company) has committed itself to being net zero by 2050. The aim of this research was to determine the overall GHG reductions of SEI to evaluate whether they have met their sustainability development goals and emissions reductions target. Evaluation of the GHG targets pledged by SEI was performed using secondary data analysis from their most recent company sustainability report. They estimated 1,372,000 tons of CO2-eq emissions in 2019 for the company globally. This accounted for scope 1 and 2 emissions estimates. They implemented a conservative target of a 0% change in emissions between 2017–2019, but recorded a reduction of 13%. Summitomo Electrical Industries Ltd. implemented transport changes, energy savings, and developed ‘ECO’ products to meet their sustainability and carbon management goals. SEI have demonstrated that modest targets can lead to meaningful carbon emissions reductions through potentially low-cost, easily implemented, and accessible options. Addressing the target of net zero, however, will only be addressed in large-scale emissions reductions practices which will be the determining factor for SEI’s ambitions of net zero by 2050. Their conservative approach shows that there is room for more ambitious carbon management within Summitomo Electrical Industries. Moving forward, several carbon emissions management actions can be implemented to further reduce emissions including carbon capture and storage, purchasing offsets, and investment in renewable energies. There are limitations to this desktop study including data reliability. However, this is a useful first step for investigating carbon management performance.

The relationship between personal reputation and performance appraisal:An exploration of the influencing factors

Organizations must make decisions about which resources to prioritize and to whom to allocate them. In order to do so, evaluation practices are used to clarify the quality of employees. The purpose of this study is to examine the relationship between performance appraisal and personal reputation, which are two types of personnel appraisal practices used in organizations. Using questionnaire data and HR data analysis from a Japanese manufacturing company, we empirically took on this problem. The results of questionnaire data and HR data analysis from a Japanese manufacturing company showed that the capital that affects the two evaluation scores was found to be different from each other. In addition, psychological capital was found to be an antecedent of both.

Bookcase: Hirohumi Ueda and Kohei Mishima, Japanese Manufacturing Companies in China: Suzhou as a Multinational Industrial City (in Japanese)

Bookcase: Hirohumi Ueda and Kohei Mishima, <i>Japanese Manufacturing Companies in China: Suzhou as a Multinational Industrial City</i> (in Japanese)

An exploratory study on procurement risk management in Japanese manufacturing companies

An exploratory study on procurement risk management in Japanese manufacturing companies

Technological innovation, new solutions, branding, and promotion: Twitter and technical report use in Japanese’s companies

ABSTRACT Manufacturing companies publish a variety of own data via social media platforms Twitter and also technical reports concerning the new technologies developed in-house. This study aims to analyse corporate social networking service data and technical reports to bring to light the technological innovations taking place in Japanese manufacturing companies. It uses text mining, a text data analysis method to extract useful information (from published technical reports) by dividing normal text data into words and phrases. The results show the strategic differences that exist between Twitter and technical reports in terms of bringing new information to consumers and companies.

The Moderating Effect of Organization Tenure on Job Rotation and Career Development

Career development serves as an important personnel factor with many consequences for business and individual self. The literature outlines many factors that can influence career development prospects, such as job rotation. To understand how such a relationship can be augmented further, the current study presents and discusses the moderating effect of organization tenure on the relationship between job rotation and career development. A survey instrument that included career development measures, job rotation and organization tenure was used to collect information from production workers in Japanese manufacturing companies in Malaysia. The study was conducted among 209 production workers and was analyzed by using hierarchical regression analyses. The result found that job rotation effects on career development are significantly stronger for employees with longer organization tenure than employees with lower organization tenure. The paper provides important research implications and suggestions for business owners based on the study findings. The authors also provide scope for future to guide researchers interested in studying career development, job rotation and organization tenure.

Does Ambidexterity Improve Business Performance Outcomes? —An Empirical Analysis of Major Japanese Manufacturing Companies—

Does Ambidexterity Improve Business Performance Outcomes? —An Empirical Analysis of Major Japanese Manufacturing Companies—