The Contemporary Japan Group at the University of Tokyo's Institute of Social Science

(ISS, or Shaken), welcomes you to a lecture by

Ulrike Schaede （University of California, San Diego）


The Business Reinvention of Japan:

Corporate Renewal, Private Equity and New Employment Patterns


DATE AND PLACE

Friday, February 14 from 6:00-7:30 p.m. at Akamon Sōgō Kenkyūtō Room 549, Institute of Social Science, University of Tokyo, Hongo Campus, University of Tokyo


ABSTRACT

After two decades of reinvention, Japanese companies are re-emerging as major players in the new economy. Japan once again matters, for three reasons: (1) Japanese companies now quietly anchor many global supply chains with technology leadership in advanced components and materials, (2) lucrative new markets for corporate assets and consumer products are opening up within Japan, and (3) Japanese companies will be important players in the digital transformation. This presentation explains this business reinvention, and how it is guided in speed and content by Japan's business norms. In response to the rise of China and the globalization of supply chains, Japanese companies have begun to build deep technology competencies for critical upstream components and materials. This has resulted in what I call the "aggregated niche strategy". The necessary corporate reorganization has fueled the growth of Japan's private equity market as well as important changes in employment and management patterns. Because the pace and style of this reorganization is different from other markets, it is often overlooked.


SPEAKER

Ulrike Schaede is Professor of Japanese Business at the University of California, San Diego. She is the Director of JFIT (Japan Forum for Innovation and Technology) and head of the
International Management track at GPS, the School of Global Policy and Strategy. She has published five books and more than 50 papers on Japanese business organization, strategy and management. Her research interest is to analyze the social and economic efficiency consequences of different ways of organizing business and the economy, and her main areas of interest are Japan's corporate strategies in light of financial market organization, regulation, corporate governance, employment, manufacturing, innovation and entrepreneurship. Schaede has spent a total of more than nine years of research
and study in Japan. Her new book titled The Business Reinvention of Japan: How to Make Sense ofthe New Japan and Why it Matters will be published with Stanford University Press in June 2020. Her CV can be found here: http://gps.ucsd.edu/faculty-directory/ulrike- schaede.htm


CONTEMPORARY JAPAN GROUP
The ISS Contemporary Japan Group provides English-speaking residents of the Tokyo area with an opportunity to hear cutting-edge research in social science and related policy issues, as well as a venue for researchers and professionals in or visiting Tokyo to present and receive knowledgeable feedback on their latest research projects. Admission is free and advance registration is not required. Everyone is welcome.
For more information, including maps and a list of past lectures, please visit our website:

https://web.iss.u-tokyo.ac.jp/cjg/