Ken Nishikawa* |
Corresponding Author: Ken Nishikawa, Konan University, Japan |
Revised: 21 September 2020; |
Share : |
713
Views & Citations10
Likes & Shares
Since the end of WW II in
Japan, a few large companies have governed over a large number of small and
medium-sized corporations (SMEs). It was a product of the industrial policy institutionalized
by the government, which dovetailed with the financial systems consistently. It
still seems effective; however, the challenges in mavericks have been
successful in holding their niches in the traditional systems. Sanwa General
Contractor is one of them in the SMEs. As its name shows, the corporation has
been running a group of constructing businesses in Japan for over seven
decades. Moreover, throughout a painful corporate restructuring, it transformed
its business model and is getting to evolve year after year. It reminds us of
entrepreneurial management in terms of technologies and marketing they have
developed. It might be true, but this is not the case. The corporation
completely pours its energy into human development before making their business
successful. It seems strange as if the corporation were to get back to Japanese
management, which has already obsoleted as faults. The corporation determined
to get out of the rut to track at first. It was unusual for most SMEs in the
sectors controlled by the government and the construction sectors following the
strict pecking order. Regarding the general business situation in Japan, it can
be safe to say that the entire society has been struggling with an aging
society. Naturally, the aging society should be saddled with an agonizing
burden, such as increasing healthcare costs, decreasing birth ratio, and high
government debt ratio. Nevertheless, its challenges come to fruition in
thriving collaborations with customers, employees, and all stakeholders. This
presentation is to give a tentative lens to understand the organizational
transformation in the stagnated economy and shackled with the industrial
traditions. The method we use is the case study based on a series of interviews
in the corporation and the consultant involved.
Keywords: Small and
medium-sized corporations, Industrial policy, Management.