福澤 光啓

<jats:p>This study aimed to reveal the actual state of Japanese firms’ logistics outsourcing, and examine their relationship with LSPs. This study addressed the following issues by conducting a case study of six leading manufacturing firms. First, it clarified the characteristics of Japanese-style logistics outsourcing as: the outsourcing of the total activities, the consigning to a single LSP, and the development of advanced information systems. Moreover, it examined the logistics outsourcing performance from a sustainable perspective, and concluded that Japanese-style logistics management enables firms to achieve high performance in all the economic, environmental, and social dimensions. Second, this study confirms that the traditional Japanese business practice of long-term partnerships is still maintained in logistics outsourcing management. Third, this study also explored how long-term partnerships create sustainable competitive advantages. Finally, based on these findings, a theoretical framework illustrating the relationship between Japanese-style logistics outsourcing and firms’ sustainable competitive advantage is presented. Our findings may encourage companies to develop a long-term partnership with their logistics service providers, and to put environmental and social indicators into their KPI system to achieve a sustainable competitive advantage by balancing the economy, environment, and society.</jats:p>

<jats:p>This study investigates the objectives, approval process, decision criteria, metrics, and performance of the Internet of Things (IoT) system investment in four Japanese manufacturing firms through exploratory case analysis. This study conducted semi-structured interviews and several workshops with practitioners to collect, confirm, supplement, and verify the interviews data and the researcher’s interpretations. The study clarifies the actual status of investment activities in IoT systems and the essential common issues. In addition, this study shows that IoT investments in Japanese companies improve production activities’ efficiency. However, collaboration among divisions and departments other than production is not sufficient. This paper also contributes to constructing an analytical framework for comprehensively clarifying IT system investment decision-making and investment effects. These findings will be one of the reference points of the IoT system investment project and will contribute to the recent digital transformation movement in many manufacturing firms.</jats:p>

近年，日本のものづくり企業を巡る環境は目まぐるしく変化している．IoT，Industry 4.0，AI，ビッグデータなど新しいコンセプトと技術が次々と登場し，その対応に追われている．とくに，IoT をはじめとする近年の IT システムは従来の設計情報の流れの両軸であるエンジニアリングチェーンとサプライチェーンに直接的に影響を与えている．本研究の目的は，IT システムがエンジニアリングチェーンとサプライチェーンを統合したバリューチェーンにどのような影響を与える かについてその実態を分析することであり，日本国内にある 4 工場を対象として，「ものと情報の流れ図」に沿って各社の IT システムの活用状況の比較事例分析を行った．本稿の意義は，IT システム分析に「ものと情報の流れ図」のフレームワークを用いることを提案し，企業のバリューチェーンにおける IT の活用の実態を詳細に明らかにしたことである．

This study employs data collected from a questionnaire survey of 97 business operations (factories) in Japan&#039;s electric and electronics industry to measure gemba-level and market-level competitiveness based on the framework of Fujimoto (2003). In addition, the employment situations within these sites were surveyed. The results of these surveys revealed that, as strengths of the electric industry gemba in Japan, 1) these gemba are superior in all metrics of competitiveness except for manufacturing cost, relative to overseas sites in the same companies; and 2) the high level of responsiveness to customers is the major source of market-level competitiveness. Nevertheless, the primary issue faced by these gemba is the skewed age composition of the full-time employees. There are few workers to carry forward necessary skills into future, and the labor costs of the veteran workers are increasing. Japan&#039;s manufacturing gemba must develop manufacturing competencies and improve design and development capabilities, in addition to nurturing younger personnel, to gain and sustain competitive advantage.

Beginning in the latter half of the 1990s through the early 2000s, research on dynamic capability (DC) emerged. Teece, Pisano, and Shuen (1997) were famous for being quoted even while only having a working paper, which was subsequently published. They were followed by Eisenhardt and Martin (2000). Then, researchers such as Zollo and Winter (2002) studied routines and organizational learning with a focus on the keyword “capability.” These three influential papers cited the following concepts as elements that comprise DC: 1) the level of environmental change; 2) organizational processes or routines; 3) resource configuration; 4) the role of managers (for example, decision making with regard to resource investment); and 5) learning mechanisms. Later, many researchers adopted a resource-based view (RBV) and presented their studies as incorporating DC if they contained the keywords “change,” “competitive advantage,” or “capability” even though they were merely descriptions of static resource states and discussions of their changes. By casually labeling research on R&amp;D, acquisitions, or alliances as DC theory, these later studies a) caused ambiguity and confusion with regard to what “dynamic” means and b) lost sight of the essence of DC theory with various solutions concerning whether the concept can be explained with the stable characteristic of capability.

Purpose - This study aims to describe how a work team adapted to its fluctuated and severe environment by changing from "lean" to "over-lean" mode. To do this, the author investigated the relations among productivity, the vertical division of labor, and group leaders' behavior in a Japanese automobile assembly plant. Design/methodology/approach - The authors conducted field study at an assembly plant for five months. They collected three plant-level data to investigate the capability of its shop floor: transition of production volume; transition of the number of workers; and productivity. And they collected two types of workforce data: skill map and work shift. Moreover, they videotaped the behavior of group leaders on several days and analyzed them through a time study. Findings - The work team of this study achieved high productivity even in its tough environment. However, the authors' time study of group leaders showed that the group leaders, who usually engage in some management activities outside of the production line, did many tasks within the line. This indicates the team had a weakness toward the change of team members. Changing to this over-lean mode enabled the team to survive in a short-run, but maintaining the mode has a weakness in enhancing long-term competitiveness. Originality/value - This study proposes a balance between the two modes is required for organizations if they are to survive their severe and fluctuating environments.

製品開発に関する既存研究では，開発プロセスで実際に発生した問題と開発組織のリーダーとメンバーによる解決行動との関係，および問題解決行動と開発成果との関係などについて，産業横断的かつ国際的な定量分析が行われていない．本稿では，日本・中国・韓国のエンジニア個人を対象にしたアンケート調査データに基づき定量分析を行い，以下の３点を析出した．第１に，担当業務内で発生した問題を現場レベルで解決しようとするのは日本であり，上位組織で解決しようとするのは中国である．韓国は日本に近い．第２に，担当業務外の問題解決のための協力という意味でのエンジニア個人の能動性は日本で最も高く，韓国で最も低い．中国はその中間である．第３に，担当内問題解決の組織レベルは，いずれの国のどの開発成果に対しても有意な影響をもたないのに対し，担当外問題解決での能動性は，いずれの国の開発組織レベルでの開発成果に対しても正で有意な影響をもつ．

Social scientists credit science with stimulating technological invocation and with it economic growth. We management theorist also believe that theories do help us organize our thoughts, generate explanations, and improve our predictions. In American/Western context, however, many researchers in our field point out that the gap between science and practice is so persistent and pervasive that our theory has been lost its relevance. Over the past decade, several attempts to deal with such problem have evolved in the form of movements toward &quot;evidence-based management: EBM.&quot; In response to EBM movement, in this &quot;theme session&quot; we try to rethink about the problems of researcher-practitioner linkage (RPL) in Japanese context. Our session consists of three separate parts. In the first part, based on the result of survey research we discuss about diffusion of management theory. In this part we try to develop a framework that will guide us in taking steps necessary for increasing the probability that practitioners will implement our findings. This may enable us to understand how transfer of knowledge (management theory) occurs and why. In the second part, we theoretically and empirically discuss about inter-organizational trust. As prior studies have suggested, the existence of inter organizational trust decrease uncertainty in inter-organizational exchanges and can enhance the performance of both practitioner and researchers. And our empirical research supports this. And finally, in the third part we think about RPL from the perspective of educational technology. Discussing about &quot;evidence-based education&quot; and analyzing data from some academic-industrial collaboration projects we try to draw some implication about RPL.

This study examines how a work organization adapts to severe environmental fluctuation, focusing on group leaders at an automotive assembly plant. Group leaders, who are the most skillful workers in their line, are usually dedicated to &quot;kaizen.&quot; The field observation and the time study of group leaders indicate that the organization in this study adapted to severe environmental fluctuation by altering what the group leaders had to do. At the expense of their time for &quot;kaizen,&quot; in particular, they moved around and busily engaged in preventing the production line from stopping. Finally, we discuss whether short-term adaptation enabled by remarkable organizational capability will be possible in the long-term performance.

グローバル化の時代における、微細な産業内貿易、企業の多国籍展開といった現象を説明する一つの論理として、組織能力とアーキテクチャの適合性を重視する設計立地の比較優位論がある。これまで、多くの日本企業が「生産は中国へ移し、設計は日本に残す」という、比較的シンプルな立地方針で日中生産・設計分業を進めてきた。これは、華南の低賃金・単能工・モジュラー生産というモデルを前提にした分業構想である。しかし、中国での賃金は高騰を続けており、東莞や青島などに進出した低賃金のみに依存する外国企業は、中国から撤退を始めているように見受けられる。このように、多国籍企業は、最適立地を見直す必要に迫られている。中国には、産業平均の定着率が比較的良い地域や企業の定着政策次第で、その離職率をさらに下げる余地のある地域がある。その典型例が大連をはじめとした東北地域であり、本研究では、日系企業2社の大連拠点の事例研究を行った。大連をはじめとした東北地域では、華南や長江と比べて賃金が低いことに加えて、賃金水準に対して低い離職率、豊富な設計技術者の供給など、インテグラル型製品に適した労働環境が存在する。そこでは、日本企業は、従来考えられていた日中生産・設計分業とは異なる形での企業内国際分業体制を構築可能である。ものづくり組織能力の偏在とアーキテクチャの適合の観点から中国への国際展開を考えた場合、インテグラル・アーキテクチャ寄りの設計業務の一部を中国で行うことが可能であるということが示唆される。

In this article, we focus on the firmware development process that has recently become larger and more complex in the context of digitalization. From a case study involving the development of the firmware for a digital multifunction peripheral (MFP), the firmware architecture have changed alongside the change in organizational structure. As a result, some suggestions are made for the generation and selection process of a product architecture suitable for multi-functionalization, as well as for the ideal form of interdepartmental coordination in an organization. Moreover, the limits of the existing arguments about the development of product architecture are revealed and a new viewpoint is proposed to investigate the dynamics of product architecture.