Leveraging the Strengths of Japanese companies (and you): To Profit Doing What You Love

Speaker: Masanao Kawakami (University of Hyogo)

Abstract

Japanese companies are in the midst of a difficult situation. They are still at the centre of global pop culture with manga, animation and video games, but they will gradually lose their presence. I have a strong sense of crisis about this, not only as a business researcher but also as an advisor to several companies.

In this presentation, I will deal with the following questions. What traps have Japanese companies fallen into over the past 30 years? How can they break through them? As a solution, I would like to propose a business model thinking approach that utilises the strengths of Japanese companies. For you to learn more, I will introduce some case studies in which I have been involved as an advisor. They are from entertainment companies as well as manufacturing companies and should therefore be instructive for all those interested in Japanese products.

I hope that participants will take the opportunity to think about how to survive their lives and businesses in the age of VUCA (Volatility, Uncertainty, Complexity and Ambiguity). Learning about the current situation of Japanese companies and how to break through it should serve as a good case study for this purpose.

Event recording

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Speaker biography

Masanao Kawakami is currently a Professor at the School of Economics and Management at University of Hyogo in Japan and a Visiting Scholar at the Japan Research Centre at SOAS University of London.

He has published eleven books on business modelling and monetisation. Some of his publications include Business Model Thinking (Diamond Inc., 2014) and Profiting Strategy (Toyo Keizai Inc., 2021). He has also been advising major entertainment companies, manufacturers and retailers on reinventing and creating business models.

• Organiser: SOAS Japan Research Centre
• Contact email: centres@soas.ac.uk