"Strategic Shift"

  I have read "Strategic Shift" by Yoko Ishikura, a former professor at the Graduate School of Media Design of Keio University. The book explains how corporate strategies in the future will move from OR choices to the AND paradigm by means of open systems.

 The pursuit of profits or corporate responsibility, global or local, mega-hits or the long tail, masses or individuals. According to Ishikura, these contradicting ideas that once had an OR relationship will become able to coexist with each other in the AND paradigm, and ICT will play a part in increasing those possibilities. The important thing here is the importance placed on the power of ICT, and I believe that this is what Japanese business owners lack.

 Ishikura says that in the 80s, Japan took the lead in the world by marrying the mutually opposing concepts of quality and cost in an AND relationship, and even from a historical perspective, there were times when Japan had a dual nature of accepting various cultures as well, in order to make the best use of their capabilities. The strengths of Japan, she explains, are its thriving manufacturing prowess its soft assets, such as hospitality and attention to detail. In addition, she mentions that Japan has an exceptional ability to accept diversity and value an AND coexistence. I agree to all her points.

 Lego Mindstorm, which was involved with MIT in its development, makes an appearance as an example of open systems. Although I was working in the team at that point in time, I was not conscious or cognizant of that fact at the time.

 Ishikura explains that it is critical for corporations to achieve a balance between how open or closed their systems are in their strategies concerning intellectual property, and the key to that is "logic". She raises examples of corporations that did not make good use of logic, such as NTT DoCoMo, which ignored the international market while developing i-mode, and Sony, which was obsessed with protecting its own software despite seeing the possibility of digital distribution.

 The book also compares the contrast between the relatively open Silicon Valley, and the self-sufficient, closed Route 128 on the outskirts of Boston. It also makes the analysis that engineers are investing in the former area as venture capitalists, whereas investment banks make up the main bulk of investments in the latter area. As I have been involved in both Boston (MIT) and Stanford (Silicon Valley), I personally experienced the atmosphere in both vicinities.

 This book also pays attention to Kyoto as a cluster. With the presence of both technology and culture, the small size of its market, its rebellious spirit, and links with universities… Yes, even the fact that the Stanford Japan Center is based in Kyoto is because it has recognized the potential of Kyoto as a cluster. Once again, I plan on keeping my eye on Kyoto too.