My Vision No.50
2020.10

Readjusting Organizations and Individuals
The advent of the COVID-19 pandemic has seen a greater number of workers beginning to use newwork styles that employ ICT, such as telework. However, this change is not limited to a reconsiderationof work styles; ICT is also spurring significant changes in the ways that organizations communicate.
How will changes in communication driven by ICT transform organizations and individuals? And what
will organizations look like in the future? In this issue, we ask five experts to discuss their visions of
the future transformations of organizations and individuals with a focus on the “post-corona” era.

About this Issue

Readjusting Organizations and Individuals– Rapid Provision of Optimal Solutions to Customers
Yasufumi Kanemaru

NIRA Chairman／Chairman and President, Group CEO, Future Corporation
Keywords…Essence of the problem, readjustment of existing systems, role of organizations, rapid provisionof optimal solutions, task-based, rapid communication, scale of decision-making, specialties

Expert Opinions

Readjustment of Organizations and Individuals
How will changes in communication driven by ICT transform organizations and individuals?
What will organizations look like in the future?

Market transactions or hierarchicalorganizations?

How do we create intimacy?

Thomas Y. Lee

Yuka Tanimoto

Associate Adjunct Professor and Research
Scientist, Haas School of Business, University ofCalifornia, Berkeley

Managing Editor, Web Editing Department,
Forbes JAPAN

Keywords…Transparency of decision-making andimplementation within companies, changes in therole of the CIO, transparency in market
transactions, resolution of problems of incomplete
information, creation of an internal corporate
culture, building of trust within and outsidecompanies

Keywords…Communication that makes it easy togenerate innovation, intimacy, safe and secureenvironments, ticket to the world, leaders who are
producers

Efficiency or effect? – Judgment using“sense”

The university will be reborn as a“management body” that drives social change

Ken Kusunoki

Makoto Gonokami

Professor, Graduate School of International
Corporate Strategy, Hitotsubashi University
Keywords…Human nature and convention,“efficiency” vs. “effect,” sense and skill

President, The University of Tokyo
Keywords…Knowledge-intensive, creating value
for intangible knowledge, large-scale “University
Corporate Collaboration”, large-scale contracts
formulated by top-level colleagues

It will be the role of organizations to provide
support for individuals seeking to reach agoal
Kentaro Kawabe
President and Representative Director,
Z Holdings Corporation
Keywords…Individual empowerment, individualtransformation, platforms, project-drivenalignment and realignment, individuals seeking toreach a goal, equal relationships

Interview period：August – September, 2020
Interviewer :Atsushi Inoue (NIRA Research Coordinator, Researcher)
Ayumi Kitajima (NIRA Research Coordinator, Researcher)This is a translation of a paper originally published in Japanese. NIRA bears full responsibility for the translation presented here.
Translated by Michael Faul.
Copyright Ⓒ 2020 by Nippon Institute for Research Advancement

My Vision No.50
2020.10
About this Issue

Readjusting Organizations and Individuals– Rapid Provision of Optimal Solutions to Customers
The spread of COVID-19 has forced Japanesecompanies to make unprecedented changes. There is vigorous
discussion of how to advance the use of telework, but this is not
the essence of the problem. It will be important to readjust
existing systems to new circumstances. For example, if we wereto launch a company under the current circumstances, what
type of organization should we create? Are organizations
inherently necessary? What was our purpose in creatingorganizations up to the present?
Yasufumi Kanemaru
In fact, companies that have grown to a certain scale
NIRA Chairman／or beyond possess very few shared goals across the entire
Chairman and President,
company. Growth is the shared goal; other than this, goals andGroup CEO, Future Corporation
targets vary from department to department. Thomas Y. Lee,an Associate Adjunct Professor at the University of California, Berkeley, regards the reason for
the existence of industrial organizations as the reduction of transaction costs with external entities.
Advances in ICT have made it possible to share information and exchange ideas quickly and at
low cost, and it also increases the transparency of the market. Professor Lee points out that thesechanges are also bringing changes in the form of collaboration both within companies themselves
and with other entities. Ultimately, companies are focused on providing optimal solutions to theircustomers’ needs as quickly as possible, and their organizations will also change to match this goal.

The role of a company is to rapidly provide its customers with optimal solutions
The existence of business chat tools such as Slack and Teams clearly symbolizes this wayof thinking. Using chat tools, everything proceeds on a task-related basis. When an issue that
requires discussion is raised by a customer, a channel for the relevant topic is created in the chatand at first several members of the company team begin to exchange ideas. Eventually, otherinterested team members begin to participate, and the discussion becomes more vigorous. The
important thing when using chat is to take in people’s opinions, think about them, and continue
to generate meaningful opinions. This bears no relation to one’s job position. Even a person withno official position who is considered competent will be recognized as a “favorite” if they offer theiropinions on a range of topics. By contrast, a person who has a job position but is unable to offer
significant opinions reveals their lack of ability. Yuka Tanimoto, Managing Editor of Forbes
JAPAN’s Web Editing Department, indicates that ICT can offer a tool for Japanese people toproject themselves in the world. From the perspective of rapidly providing optimal solutions tocustomers’ needs, there is nothing that reflects a person’s actual ability like a chat tool.
What I am trying to say here is not that companies should introduce chat tools. It is thatthey should use all the tools that they are able to use. If most of a company’s employees wereunable to read, the company would have no choice but to exchange opinions face-to-face. However,in Japanese society everyone is able to read, and most of them can use not only computers andsmartphones but also presentation tools and chat tools. I am merely saying that a company shouldchoose the tools that suit its TPO, and there is no necessity to choose between online and offline.
The problem with Japanese companies is that communication takes time, and the scale ofdecision-making is small. However, neighboring Japan we have China, a nation with ten times
This is a translation of a paper originally published in Japanese. NIRA bears full responsibility for the translation presented here.
Translated by Michael Faul.
Copyright Ⓒ 2020 by Nippon Institute for Research Advancement

My Vision No.50
2020.10
Japan’s population, and one in which the populace is more aspirational than the Japanese. The
only way to compete with such a nation is to speed up communication and increase the scale ofdecision-making.

The specialties of both managers and employees will come under scrutiny
Change in the mindsets of managers and employees will also be required. Up to thepresent, executives have been able to confirm their identity by sitting in a large executive office,while employees, by commuting to work every day, were able to secure a position and receive asalary. However, in the future, the competitive environment for companies will intensify, and theform of employment will change drastically. There is no doubt that we will shift away from thelifetime employment system towards the effective use of external resources such as individuals
working side or second jobs. When this happens, the specialties of managers and employees, e.g.
“Who am I and what am I good at?,” will be closely scrutinized. What will be necessary toconfirming the significance of one’s existence will be neither sitting in the executive office nor
commuting to work, but rather how you contribute to the team based on your specialties.
What is the nature of these specialties? Ken Kusunoki, a Professor in Hitotsubashi
University’s Graduate School of International Corporate Strategy, explains the importance of“sense” and “skill.” Specific skills are essential for the performance of work in different fields,
while sense is necessary to making comprehensive judgments of things and situations. Possessing
a good balance of sense and skills could be called a specialty.

Changing the direction for management structure
In Japan also, a movement towards the fundamental reexamination of the best direction
for organizational structure has finally commenced. Under President Makoto Gonokami, The
University of Tokyo has formulated a policy under which it will formulate its own strategies andact at its own initiative. Dr. Gonokami tells us that the university will be reborn as a “managementbody” that will grow by extracting value from intangible knowledge and attracting investment.
The ability to formulate large-scale contracts based on mutual discussions between the top
management of the university and the top management of companies in a new process of“University Corporate Collaboration” can be said to represent a breakthrough towards therealization of an organizational form that is able to rapidly implement large-scale decision-making.
Kentaro Kawabe, the President and Representative Director of Z Holdings Corporation,
predicts that ICT will change the power balance between organizations and individuals, and thatthe relationship will become more equal. Individuals empowered by ICT will align and realign fordifferent missions, but there will be numerous missions that are impossible to realize based solely
on a collaboration between individuals. Mr. Kawabe’s thinking is that organizations will benecessary as platforms to support individuals of this type. This would resemble the relationshipbetween YouTube and a YouTuber, or a crowdfunding service and the initiator of a project seeking
funding.
Changes in the nature of decision-making against the background of progress in ICT willbring changes to individual awareness, and organizations will come to have the function of
empowering individuals rather than representing an aggregation of individuals. In the “era of
readjustment,” both companies and workers will come under severe scrutiny by the market withregard to both their roles and their functions.

Mr. Kanemaru is NIRA’s Chairman and the Chairman and President and Group CEO of Future Corporation. He has
also served in a variety of public capacities, including as a member of the Cabinet Secretariat’s Growth Strategy Council.

This is a translation of a paper originally published in Japanese. NIRA bears full responsibility for the translation presented here.
Translated by Michael Faul.
Copyright Ⓒ 2020 by Nippon Institute for Research Advancement

My Vision No.50
2020.10
Expert Opinions

Market Transactions or Hierarchical Organizations?
Recent advances in information and communication
technology (ICT) are changing relationships both within andoutside organizations, and having a significant influence on
the dynamics and relationships of companies. These changes
can be considered separately within companies and between
companies.
Considering the situation within companies first, theapplication of ICT to a variety of situations has increased thetransparency of decision-making, and it has also made iteasier to monitor work procedures. In addition, it is affecting
the relationship between functional units such as departments
Thomas Y. Lee
in company organizations. The role of the CIO (Chief
Associate Adjunct Professor andInformation Officer), which was previously to focus on backResearch Scientist, Haas School ofoffice operational efficiency, is now changing to include
Business, University of California,
Berkeleystrategic issues. In many cases, CIO functions have mergedwith the CFO (Chief Financial Officer) in order to facilitate
greater agility in responding to market changes.
On the other hand, it is not clear that telework, which has rapidly expanded as a result of the
COVID-19 pandemic, will be sustainable over the long term, despite the fact that we have clearly madesome early gains. Perhaps the productivity ascribed to ICT-enabled remote work will ultimately echo
the Hawthorne effect, which is a psychological phenomenon observed during in situ experiments
whereby changes in workers’ behavior are ultimately due to their awareness that they are under
greater scrutiny, rather than a systemic change. Productivity gains attributable to the Hawthorne
Effect generally diminish over time. In the case of COVID-19 remote work, we may eventually discoverthat workers have been particularly conscientious about ensuring that they do not decrease theirproductivity, and have expended extra energy to scrutinize their own productivity in ways that are notsustainable over the long-term. To turn a long-term challenge into success for remote work, one thatfirms are only beginning to encounter, depends on maintaining and even evolving their corporate
culture in a time when employees are physically distant and unable to rely upon informal and nonverbal physical cues to shape and reinforce cultural norms of behavior and practice.
ICT is also having a major impact on the relationships between companies. The theory ofindustrial organizations explains the formation of hierarchical, vertically-integrated firms andindustries as a means for minimizing the cost of procurement of goods and services through market
transactions. ICT allows greater transparency in market transactions, resolving problems ofincomplete information. As a result, market transaction costs are being significantly reduced, andthere is an increasing trend towards choosing market transactions. The rise of platform-based businessmodels such as Amazon’s marketplace or Uber's service exemplify this. By contrast, Rolls Royce Ltd.,
which manufactures aircraft engines, is generating revenue by analyzing data from sensors fitted intheir engines, allowing the company to continuously provide services such as maintenance and support
for efficient operation. The former is a trend towards market-based industry structure andrelationships between firms, while the latter suggests consolidation in industry structure andhierarchical relationships between firms. Malone and Yates described these ICT influences using thelanguage of economics more than thirty-five years ago. Today, we do not necessarily know whether the
progress of ICT will see companies advancing towards procurement through greater coordination in
the market or the creation of larger hierarchical organizations, but the key will be to build and foster
trust using ICT.
ICT will not produce anything or offer the correct answers by itself, but it is an enabler thatcan provide a tool for building trust. Managers are now focusing their efforts on how to introduce ICT
and create an internal corporate culture and build trust within and outside their companies.
Professor Lee conducts research on the use of ICT to support innovation and new product development. He specializes intext and sequence mining techniques; his recent work focuses on mining semi-structured and unstructured usergenerated data to support innovation, problem-solving, and design. Professor Lee holds a Ph.D. from MIT’s Engineering
Systems Division. He took his present position after holding an Assistant Professorship at the Wharton School of the
University of Pennsylvania. He has also served as a visiting scientist at the National Institute of Standards andTechnology and as a research engineer at the MITRE Corporation.
This is a translation of a paper originally published in Japanese. NIRA bears full responsibility for the translation presented here.
Translated by Michael Faul.
Copyright Ⓒ 2020 by Nippon Institute for Research Advancement

My Vision No.50
2020.10
Expert Opinions

How Do We Create Intimacy?
Interviewing managers throughout the world, what I
have come to realize is that Japanese companies do not engage
in the type of communication that generates innovation. This is
the reason that it has not been possible to spark innovation.
Today, we have available ICT tools such as LINE, Facebook andSlack, making it possible to create the ground forcommunication that generates innovation. The success or
failure of this initiative will determine whether a company
becomes an entity that generates innovation.
Yuka Tanimoto
I believe that the key to creating this ground isManaging Editor, Web Editing
Department, Forbes JAPANintimacy. An atmosphere in which there are hierarchicalrelationships in meetings and it is difficult to freely offer
opinions is not one that will produce diverse ideas. ICT tools will make it possible to adroitly breakaway from this type of company culture. Hitting the “Like” button in relation to your superior’s
opinion without trepidation, sending back a stamp for a more junior employee’s idea; this is anenvironment that encompasses intimacy. Truly creative companies that generate ideas set out
intentionally to create a safe and secure zone in which employees are able to say anything, andcreate numerous spaces and opportunities for intimacy in their organizations. It is the role of top
management to change their organizations in this direction.
ICT tools are also a “ticket to the world.” Today, the CEOs of Japanese companies arealmost never seen at international conferences. If one of the reasons for this low internationalpresence is a feeling of being daunted by languages and communication, strategies such as the useof VR or avatars may be able to resolve the issue. Japan has considerable cultural affinity withavatars and the like, and it would be possible in this way for Japanese individuals to naturally
project themselves and communicate. In the future, if top corporate managers mutually createdavatars of themselves and were able to use services that made it possible to conduct businessmeetings while lying on a beach sipping a cocktail, Japanese managers should be able to realize
good communication in the situation. Avatars and other ICT tools are powerful tools that can beused in business.
The style of leadership will also change. What we require today is not traditional topdown management by a charismatic manager, but leadership by managers who are also producers,
able to elicit each individuals’ strengths and individual characteristics. If managers are daring
enough to allow aspects of things to “not yet be decided,” and allow their human resources to run
with them, things of a scale different to that previously available will become possible. Companies
that have leaders able to make this type of professional-to-professional synergy function throughteamwork are vigorous today. Possessing a company philosophy and a message to society as aframework, and advancing a diverse range of projects in any possible direction within thisframework: This is the vision of the corporation of the future.
Ms. Tanimoto is an “interview professional,” and has conducted interviews with more than 3000 VIPs throughout theworld, including former British Prime Minister Tony Blair and Steve Wozniak, the co-founder of Apple. She hasdeveloped numerous theories of leadership based on the knowledge she has gained, as shared in works including “Sekaino toppu ri-da- ni manabu – Ichiryu no “hen’ai” ryoku (“Learning from the World’s Top Leaders – The Power of Partiality
at the Top Level”).” Following a period as a newscaster for Bloomberg TV, she took an MBA in the US. Ms. Tanimoto
then joined Nikkei CNBC as a newscaster, and became the network’s first female commentator. She joined Forbes
JAPAN in2016, taking her current position in 2020.
This is a translation of a paper originally published in Japanese. NIRA bears full responsibility for the translation presented here.
Translated by Michael Faul.
Copyright Ⓒ 2020 by Nippon Institute for Research Advancement

My Vision No.50
2020.10
Expert Opinions

Efficiency or Effect? – Judgment Using “Sense”
The advent of the COVID-19 pandemic has rendered
the outlook for our society and economy uncertain. In such asituation, it is “human nature” that we rely on when thinking
about things and making decisions. Remote work, work
performed at home or another location without the need to visit
the office, accords well with human nature in that we findcommuting every day a nuisance, and as such I believe that it
will continue to become entrenched even when the COVID
crisis is over. Gathering together in offices to work was, so to
Ken Kusunoki
speak, a mere convention. The turmoil of the pandemic has
Professor, Graduate School ofInternational Corporate Strategy,
provided the opportunity to break through the convention that
Hitotsubashi University
work is something that we gather together to perform in offices,
and allowed human nature to become more apparent.
If there is the option of going online for the operation and management of organizations
and our work style, then it is necessary to also think about the use of offline resources to allow
people to come together and meet face-to-face. There is also a classic example of the issue of“efficiency” versus “effect.” The use of online resources is clearly very efficient. They are suited toadministrative meetings and formal meetings conducted to seek approval from everyone present,such as board or faculty meetings. However, effect is an entirely different issue to efficiency. If
positive effects are sought – expecting a diverse range of ideas to be hammered out during ameeting, getting everyone on the same page and motivating them when starting something,effectively communicating your intentions in relation to important matters – offline resources,
such as meeting people face-to-face or gathering everyone together in a conference room, are wellsuited.
“Sense” is what allows us to judge whether the aim is efficiency or effect. Sense isnecessary for comprehensively judging perspectives on things and situations, and is indispensable
to the formulation of management strategies. Sense is not innate, but is an ability that can beacquired through one’s own efforts. Excellent managers hone their sense. “Skills” areindispensable to performing procedures in different fields. However, when a new movement isbegun, we tend to focus exclusively on the acquisition of skills, and forget the original purpose. We
see many cases in which as we identify the means to be employed, they become the purpose, anddo not produce outcomes. A classic example is possessing the skills to make a presentation, but
one’s content being of no interest.
In the future of work, it will be necessary to utilize online and offline resources effectively.
Which one to use when? Here also, insights into human nature will provide the standard.
Professor Kusunoki is highly regarded for his management theories, which he formulates based on vibrant thinking. His
book Stourii toshite no kyousou senryaku (“Competitive Strategy as a Narrative Story”), published in 2010 by Toyo Keizai
Inc., has become a bestseller, having sold more than 250,000 copies. He has given extensive consideration to the best
ways of working in a mature society, and adopts a variety of approaches in addition to corporate strategy, including theimage of leaders, the work skills of young people, and work styles. Professor Kusunoki specializes in the theory ofcorporate strategy and innovation. He completed the Master’s program at Hitotsubashi University’s Graduate School ofCommerce. Following terms as an assistant professor in the same university’s Faculty of Commerce and Management
and Institute of Innovation Research, he took his current position in 2010. In addition to being a member of government
councils and the director of an academic society, he has also served as a management advisor to private companies.
This is a translation of a paper originally published in Japanese. NIRA bears full responsibility for the translation presented here.
Translated by Michael Faul.
Copyright Ⓒ 2020 by Nippon Institute for Research Advancement

My Vision No.50
2020.10
Expert Opinions

The University Will Be Reborn as a “Management
Body” That Drives Social ChangeWith the development of ICT, digital transformation(DX) has proceeded at a rapid pace, and the global industrial
structure has been displaying a shift from capital-intensive toknowledge-intensive for the past 20 to 30 years. However, fromits thinking in the area of corporate management to its legal
system, Japan has not yet escaped a “manufacturing” base. The
role of driving Japan’s society, which is lagging behind, to thetransformation into a knowledge-intensive society, should be
fulfilled by academia, which conducts its activities on a“knowledge” base.
Makoto Gonokami
In order for the university to drive social change, it mustbe transformed into a “management body” that formulates its
President, The University of Tokyoown strategies and acts on them, rather than operating passively
on the basis of government policy and government funds. This change will necessitate upfront
investment funds, and in order for universities to obtain them, it will be essential to create value from
intangible knowledge. This will also be essential from the perspective of the transformation to aknowledge-intensive society. Up to the present, The University of Tokyo has been actively engaged in
the fostering of ventures, and venture companies have gathered around us, to the point that the areaaround us is sometimes referred to as “Hongo Valley.” However, the scale is still small from aninternational perspective, and the numbers being established in research areas that Japan is strong in,such as condensed matter physics, materials and chemistry, is still small. My desire is to actively callfor overseas venture capital to help ensure that commercial viability can be achieved.
Additionally, in October we will issue long-term university bonds in order to procure funds
from the market. By procuring corporate finance-style funding for the university as a whole, we will beable to focus our investment on projects that should create value over the long-term, and realize public
good in a new form, regardless of our immediate situation or the success or failure of individual
businesses.
Furthermore, we are aiming to realize, in collaboration with companies, large-scale“University Corporate Collaboration” extending from the setting of agenda to commercialization, toprovide a conduit for investment by private companies in the university. In many cases, previous
collaborations between industry and academia have sought only to solve on-site problems and mostwere of a scale of only several million yen. The value of the knowledge possessed by the university was
also underestimated. From now on, our top-level management and the top-level management ofcompanies will talk together in order to secure large-scale contracts based on cooperation between ourorganizations. One project that I would particularly like to bring to your attention is the formation ofan alliance with Taiwan’s TSMC, creating a mechanism for providing the Japanese industrial world
with access to the company’s manufacturing processes. The University of Tokyo will fulfill a gateway
function. The utilization of TSMC’s cutting-edge semiconductor processes, to which it is difficult forindividual companies to gain access, will make it possible to manufacture prototype next-generation
semiconductors.
It is a timely thing to establish the goal of becoming a university that drives social change atsuch a time as today, when we must respond to global issues, and activities that optimize overall value
globally are demanded. We will also thoroughly mobilize the knowledge in the humanities and sharethe university’s experience with companies in order to realize a better future society.
Since 2015, Dr. Gonokami has served as the 30th President of the University of Tokyo. As industry and society transformto become knowledge-intensive, he has advocated new roles that universities should fulfill as bases of knowledge, andhas advanced reforms on that basis. His concept of the expansion of the university’s role is wide-ranging, encompassing,for example, the creation of “smart islands” centering on the academic information network SINET, linking universities
and research institutions throughout Japan. Dr. Gonokami serves in numerous public roles, including as a member of
the Science Council of Japan, the Council on Investments for the Future, and the Council for Science and Technology.
He took his present position following terms in positions including as an Assistant Professor in the University of Tokyo’s
Faculty of Engineering, a Professor in the university’s Graduate School of Engineering, a Professor in its Graduate Schoolof Science, its Vice-President, and Dean of its Graduate School of Science. He holds a Ph.D. from the University of Tokyo,
and specializes in photon science.
This is a translation of a paper originally published in Japanese. NIRA bears full responsibility for the translation presented here.
Translated by Michael Faul.
Copyright Ⓒ 2020 by Nippon Institute for Research Advancement

My Vision No.50
2020.10
Expert Opinions

It Will Be the Role of Organizations to Provide
Support for Individuals Who Seek to Realize Goals
What ICT brings to us is “individual empowerment.”
ICT has removed the restrictions of place and time, and evolved
communication into something that transcends time and space.
In particular, the advent of the commercial internet,
smartphones and SNS has produced a great leap forward in theempowerment of individuals. In addition, with the arrival ofservices such as Facebook, we have entered a phase in whichempowered individuals are connected. This has produced an“individual revolution” which allows individuals to do things by
Kentaro Kawabe
themselves that they previously did in organizations. The fact
President and Representativethat the number of people able to survive as freelancers or in
Director, Z Holdings Corporation
the sharing economy is increasing is a manifestation of this.
This change necessarily negatively affects the raison d’etre of the conventional organization. In the
future, organizations that perform functions that can be performed by individuals who establish
connections, even if they do not belong to an organization, will probably fade away.
However, this does not mean that organizations will become completely unnecessary. For one
thing, organizations will be essential to creating huge platforms to allow individual empowerment. Thisis easy to understand if we think of the relationship between YouTube and a YouTuber who is active on
the platform, or a crowdfunding service and the initiator of a project who is seeking funding through it.
In our future society, individuals will align and realign in a more project-driven fashion, looking
towards the realization of individual ideas, dreams and desires – following their vision of “doing
something like this” – and things will be born from that. I believe that this will be facilitated by support
from platforms.
Secondly, organizations will be necessary for doing big things that cannot be done solely by
individuals collaborating. The future will be an era in which working people, in order to realize what
they want to achieve, will decide whether they can implement the project themselves, or whether theyshould belong to an organization that is capable of achieving bigger things. For example, my company
has established its mission as “Unleashing the infinite potential of all people, with the power of
information technology.” People who want to realize a project that it would be difficult for an individual
to complete and feel that they want to implement it with an organization come to us. In order to realize
those projects, the organization conducts management that provides support for the individuals that
seek to realize a goal who have gathered together. You could say that the relationship between
organization and individuals has become more equal. I believe that in the future, this type oforganizational management will be an essential condition for the growth of companies andorganizations. Amid the COVID-19 pandemic, the attractiveness of organizations has beensignificantly affected by whether or not they are able to use technology in order to provide spaces thatmake it possible to work safely and efficiently. Organizations that foreground their ego as companies
and demand selfless devotion are avoided. It is necessary for top management to make changes with aconstant will and an ability to get things done.
Mr. Kawabe established a venture company while at university. Following this he joined Yahoo Japan Corporation in2000 subsequent to a merger between his company PIM Corporation and Yahoo Japan Corporation. After terms as an
executive producer for Yahoo! Mobile and in a supervisory position for Yahoo! News, he became the President of GYAO
Corporation and worked to rebuild the company’s business. In 2012 he became Yahoo Japan Corporation’s COO, andfrom 2018 he was its President and CEO. With Yahoo Japan Corporation’s transition to a holding company structure, in
October 2019 Mr. Kawabe became the President and Representative Director of Z Holdings Corporation and Yahoo Japan
Corporation.
This is a translation of a paper originally published in Japanese. NIRA bears full responsibility for the translation presented here.
Translated by Michael Faul.
Copyright Ⓒ 2020 by Nippon Institute for Research Advancement