LIFE & CULTURE

ENABLING THE NEXT
GENERATIONTO LEAD IN A VUCA WORLDWith the world in the midst of radical transition, Japan is boosting efforts to nurture future leaders to take to theworld stage and supporting startup businesses for the new era. Professor TAKEUCHI Hirotaka of Harvard
Business School has been actively endeavoring, in Japan and the U.S., to develop globally minded human resources.
He explains the qualities needed for the coming times, and details Japan’s possibilities.
“We are living in an eraof VUCA,” says TAKEUCHI
Hirotaka, management scholar
and professor at Harvard Business
School (HBS). VUCA (volatility,uncertainty, complexity, andambiguity) is the perfect way todescribe the world of recent years,
with Russia invading Ukraine
and COVID-19 developing into
a global pandemic. These aretimes that require humanresources capable of dealing
with social issues across national
borders and opening doors to newdevelopment. Digital technology
enables us to maintain close
ties with the rest of the world
regardless of time or location,
but “a multi-cultural mindset” isProfessor TAKEUCHI Hirotaka graduated fromInternational Christian University (ICU) in 1969
and went on to earn an MBA and PhD at theUniversity of California, Berkeley. He became anassistant professor at Harvard Business School(HBS) and subsequently a professor at
Hitotsubashi University in Japan in 1987. He
accepted a position as professor at HBS in 2010and has also chaired the Board of Trustees at ICU
since 2019. His field of expertise encompasses
competitive strategy, knowledge management,marketing, and international business. He has
authored numerous books and articles thatprovide detailed analyses of Japanese businesses.

still indispensable even if we nolonger need to physically travelabroad, Takeuchi explains. “Theimportant thing is to understandthis ‘dynamic duality’ between
analog and digital and be capableof adapting to both.”Investment in human capitalis at the heart of the Kishidaadministration’s growth strategy,
and Japan is actively cultivating
people who can act on the global
stage in the new age. From early
on, as a private-sector actor
Takeuchi has been engagedin efforts toward those ends,
creating a platform that willproduce large numbers of global
leaders from Japan.
“Agility is important in a VUCA
world,” Takeuchi maintains.
Agility was part of the strengthof renowned Japanese companies
such as Sony and Honda—both
established soon after World War
II—as they became major players
in the world. “Present-day startups
are following in the footsteps ofthese firms that were founded
after the war. Many young
people today, possessing a strong
sense of social responsibility, areseeking to become involved instartups. At HBS, roughly 70%

Left: HONDA Soichiro (center) established Honda Motor Co., Ltd. shortly after World War II ended. Takeuchi,
along with management scholar NONAKA Ikujiro, described the new product development process of Japanesemanufacturers like Honda as being analogous to that of a rugby scrum, based on the image of a rugby team working asa single unit to move the ball forward. “Scrum” became a major concept in agile development in Silicon Valley and has
exerted great influence on software development. Takeuchi and Nonaka are referred to as the “Grandfathers of Scrum”
in the U.S. BERNARD CAHIER/GETTY IMAGES
Right: Takeuchi points to MLB player OHTANI Shohei as a role model who possesses “dynamic duality.” He admiresthe way that Ohtani has not only achieved superb results as both pitcher and batter, but has also succeeded insmoothly assimilating the mindset and values of American culture while maintaining the traditional courtesy andmorals of Japanese society. REUTERS/AFLOof the graduates launch their own
businesses or go to work for NPOsor relatively small companies. Asmall but growing tendency to
do the same can be found among
talented recruits in Japan.”
One region in Japan that has
lured such people is Tohoku, which
was devastated by the Great EastJapan Earthquake in 2011 and is
still rebuilding. “Young people aretaking on leadership roles because
they feel truly compelled to dosomething about the situation inwhich many have lost everything
owing to the disaster.”
In 2012, Takeuchi launched asecond-year field study program
called the Japan Immersive Field
Course (known until 2015 as
the Japan Immersive Experience
Program). During the first six yearsof the program, students carriedout hands-on projects, such as
clearing debris in Tohoku, while
helping to find solutions for local
business problems. In their firstyear strategy course, HBS students
are rigorously trained to adopt an“outside-in” approach that begins
with an objective analysis of theindustry and competition. InTohoku, on the other hand, theyencountered social entrepreneurs

who followed a diametrically
opposed “inside-out” approachto strategy that put one’s mission
and beliefs at the core. “Whatour students learned was anintegration of the two approaches
to strategy,” says Takeuchi.
Takeuchi regards the goalof the program to be morethan just “Knowing”—that is,going beyond the acquisitionof knowledge. Also to beconsidered and learned are“Doing”—namely, practicing thatknowledge through action—and“Being”—which is learning thevalues and convictions needed
to become a business leader.
Leadership in today’s world

Japan Immersive Field
Course ( Japan IFC) waslaunched in Tohoku when
the region was stilldevastated by the earthquake
and tsunami, and Takeuchi(photo: second from right)
joined student volunteers inclearing debris. “It was amoving experience for thestudents, who have a strong
sense of social responsibility,”he says. Since 2016, Tokyo
has been the locus for Japan
IFC, which is presently
focusing on the fusion ofdigital and analog.
KENICHI NONOMURA

requires that both organizations
and individuals be socially
responsible, and that demands aprogression from “Knowing” and“Doing” to “Being.” “The ultimate
goal in educating leaders whomake a difference in the world isto enable them to reach the stateof ‘Being.’ And ‘Being’ is attained
through the act of ‘Doing,’” heconcludes.
The Japanese government aims
to increase the number of startups
tenfold over the next five years. If
that is achieved, the number ofentrepreneurs who can grapple
with social issues on the global
stage may also multiply significantly.
“Many talented young Japanese
students who study abroad on
scholarships are choosing to start
their own businesses instead offinding employment with bluechip companies. Amazing things
are already happening,” Takeuchi
observes. “Enabling Japan tocompete again—that’s what weaspire to. I hope to see thesestudents break the mold in these
VUCA times.”