This book focuses on the establishment process of the Japanese style of management (JSM). Traditionally, it has been widely believed that the JSM is native to Japan and consists of three pillars: lifetime employment, a seniority-based wage system, and company unions. This book opposes these traditional views on the JSM and argues that it has been shaped by the influence of management theories and ideas of other countries. The JSM has not only adopted the ideas and concepts of other countries, but also has refined, translated, and customized them to make such ideas and concepts acceptable in...

This book is about the "benefits of inconvenience (BoI)", providing a new approach to designing innovative systems and opening an alternative viewpoint to readers for looking at the world. BoI says that convenient living has “black boxed” the processes we used to rely on, while BoI is about looking at the benefits that were originally provided by these actions that have been black-boxed. Consider the relationship between humans and artificial objects, or things, newly created by engineering technology. In the past, things were “extensions” of people, but before we knew it, things...

This book is a collection of research articles that deal with three aspects of simulation and gaming for social design: (1) Theory and methodology, including game system theory and agent-based modeling; (2) Sustainability, including global warming and the energy–food nexus);; and (3) Social entrepreneurship, including business, ethnic, and ethical understanding. The latter two especially form two major areas of clinical knowledge in contemporary life.Simulation and gaming, with its participatory approach, provides participants with a seamless integration of problem solving and education. It...

This book provides a multilateral view of Japanese management control systems (MCS), presents the frameworks of MCS theory, and integrates those systems based on quantitative and qualitative research. Readers will learn how Japanese MCS were investigated by researchers and why they chose the existing frameworks. Not only are the topics clarified with regard to Japanese MCS; empirical evidence from Japan is also provided. At the outset, the frameworks of MCS used by Japanese researchers are explained, and the reasons they choose those frameworks are investigated. Following that exploration,...