Effects of Economic Policy Uncertainty on Corporate Investment: Review of Literature and Evidence from Japan

Money and happiness: the income-happiness correlation is higher when income inequality is higher

The Endowment Effect in the Future: How Time Shapes Buying and Selling Prices. Judgement and Decision Making

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Previous research has focused on studying the endowment effect for transactions that take place in the present. Many real-world transactions, however, are delayed into the future (i.e., people agree to buy or sell, but the actual transaction does not materialize until a later time). Here we investigate how transaction timing affects the endowment effect. In 5 studies, we show that the endowment effect systematically increases as transactions are delayed into the future. Specifically, buying prices significantly decrease as the transaction is delayed, while selling prices remain constant, resulting in an amplified endowment effect (Experiment 1). This pattern is not produced by a discounting of the money involved in the transaction (Experiment 2), and it holds across different types of items (Experiment 3). We also show that the phenomenon cannot be explained by sellers anticipating becoming increasingly attached to the items over time (Experiment 4). Finally, we demonstrate that this increased endowment effect in the future holds in the field, in the context of a real market and with real transactions (Experiment 5).

The impact of gender-role-orientations on subjective career success: A multilevel study of 36 societies. Journal of Vocational Behavior

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We investigate the relationships between gender-role-orientation (i.e., androgynous, masculine, feminine and undifferentiated) and subjective career success among business professionals from 36 societies. Drawing on the resource management perspective, we predict that androgynous individuals will report the highest subjective career success, followed by masculine, feminine, and undifferentiated individuals. We also postulate that meso-organizational culture and macro-societal values will have moderating effects on gender role's impact on subjective career success. The results of our hierarchical linear models support the hypothesized hierarchy of the relationships between gender-role-orientations and subjective career success. However, we found that ethical achievement values at the societal culture level was the only variable that had a positive moderating impact on the relationship between feminine orientation and subjective career success. Thus, our findings of minimal moderation effect suggest that meso- and macro-level environments may not play a significant role in determining an individual's perception of career success.

The role of brand coolness in the masstige co-branding of luxuary and mass brands. Journal of Business Research 149 (2022) pp.240-249

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Masstige marketing could be attractive to luxury brands to reach a wider market, though success is difficult. This study proposes co-branding as an alternative strategy for luxury brands to achieve masstige. Luxury brands can ally with mass brands to leverage their strength in mass marketing. Because luxury and mass are conceptually opposing ideas, co-branding between the two can be difficult. However, this study identifies brand coolness as a key attribute to create perceived fit between luxury and mass brands. The results show that brand coolness of mass brand affects perceived fit, which impacts attitude toward the co-branded product and its purchase intention. Additionally, self-brand connection with the luxury brand moderates this effect, and product category involvement negatively impacts perceived fit. The results have implications for brand managers who wish to select partners for masstige co-branding. The article concludes by proposing methods to create congruence among opposing brand concepts.

The Antecedents and Consequences of Workaholism: Findings From the Modern Japanese Labor Market. Frontiers in Psychology 2022 Volume 13 Article 812821

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The present study examined the direct and indirect (via workaholism) relationships between competitive work environments and subjective unhealthiness. It also examined the effects of adjusting for cognitive distortions in the relationship between a competitive work environment and subjective unhealthiness and between a competitive work environment and workaholism. Data were collected from 9,716 workers in various industries, occupations, and positions. The results show that competitive work environments were positively related to subjective unhealthiness, both directly and through workaholism. Furthermore, cognitive distortions moderated the positive effect between a competitive work environment and workaholism, and the positive relationship was stronger when cognitive distortions were high (as compared to low). This study has important and practical implications for companies that are increasingly concerned about the health of their employees.

The Cultural Variance Model of Organizational Shame and its Implications on Health and Well-Being. Japanese Psychological Research. Volume 64, Issue 2 April 2022 pp,244-266

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Drawing on various studies, we provide a holistic view incorporating different nested cultural contexts, organizational shame, and health outcomes. We introduce the concept of organizational shame and explain its two key domains: conformity and status/competition. Then, we comprehensively review prior studies on cultural approaches to shame and propose our cultural variance model of organizational shame. Our model illustrates an equilibrium, exhibiting dominant and stable patterns of shame domains formed by reinforcing relationships among three key nested contextual layers: individuals (workers), organizations (firms), and the labor market. We apply our model to discuss general and occupational implications and outline future research directions. Thus, we hope to conceptualize organizational shame within the dynamic contexts of organizations and cultures.

Failure to drink, failure to launch? A model of the perceived stigma of nondrinkers in the workplace. Applied Psychology Vol. 70, Issue 4 pp.1-27 October 2021

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Although drinking alcohol in the workplace is usually prohibited, certain work-related activities (e.g., happy hours and office parties) might encourage drinking as part of the work socialization process. Cultures with strong drinking norms may even hold expectations for employees to drink as a means to bond with colleagues and clients, resulting in the perception of the stigma of nondrinkers. However, research has yet to examine the influence of strong workplace drinking cultures on employees with drinking restrictions. In this study, we sample participants from South Korea, a country with high workplace drinking norms, to identify the presence of the perceived stigma of nondrinkers (PSND) among employees. We also examine the identity management of individuals' drinking restrictions at work along with organizational factors related to PSND in workplace settings. We find that strong organizational drinking norms and lack of perceived supervisor support are related to greater PSND. High PSND is related to fear of disclosing one's nondrinking status and a greater likelihood of drinking for work functions among nondrinkers. We also identify negative work outcomes related to PSND (higher turnover, lower organizational commitment) and find that organizational commitment mediates the relationship between PSND and turnover intentions. Implications of our findings are discussed.

The Impact of Regime Change on the Influence of the Central Bank's Inflation Forecasts: Evidence from Japan's Shift to Inflation Targeting. International Journal of Central Banking, 70th Issue (October 2021)

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Many central banks release inflation forecasts to reduce uncertainty; at the same time, an increasing number rely on a publicly stated medium-term inflation target to help anchor expectations.We examine how the adoption of an inflation target (IT) by a major central bank, the Bank of Japan (BOJ), influenced the impact of its inflation forecasts on private-sector expectations.We find that the relative accuracy of central bank forecasts versus those of the private sector declined, a deterioration not evident in GDP forecasts. This appears to have been due to a structural (upward) shift in central bank inflation forecasts with the introduction of the IT regime. Regression results suggest that private-sector forecasts discounted the shift in central bank forecasts. The results are consistent with a regime, after the adoption of inflation targeting, in which the private sector viewed the central bank forecasts as upwardly biased. More generally, they confirm the difficulty in raising inflation expectations from below in the presence of an effective lower bound in the nominal policy interest rate.

The impacts of inward knowledge transfer and absorptive capacity on the turnover of host country nationals in MNE subsidiaries: a multilevel modeling approach. Journal of Knowledge Management, Sep. 2021

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This study aims to find how the turnover of host country nationals (HCNs) would be affected by the knowledge transfer from a headquarter to a subsidiary. Knowledge transfer in a multinational corporation (MNC) has been discussed as a critical factor in the MNC's success. Because HCNs are essential to synergizing with a new knowledge inflow during this knowledge transfer process, their turnover entails negative consequences such as knowledge loss.

Cross-stock market spillovers through variance risk premiums and equity flows. Journal of International Money and Finance Vol. 119, December 2021, 102480

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We estimate variance risk premiums (VRPs) in stock markets of selected major advanced economies (AEs) and emerging market economies (EMEs) over 2007-2015, and decompose the VRP into variance-diffusive risk premium (DRP) and variance-jump risk premium (JRP). Daily VAR analysis reveals significant spillovers from US and developed Eurozone's VRPs to the other economies' VRPs, especially during the post-Global Financial Crisis (GFC) period. We also find that during the post-GFC period, shocks on the DRPs of the United States and the developed Eurozone have relatively strong and long-lived positive effects on other economies' VRPs, whereas shocks on their JRPs have relatively weak and short-lived positive effects. In addition, we show that increases in the size of US VRP, DRP and JRP tend to significantly reduce weekly equity fund flows to all other AEs and some EMEs during the post-GFC period, while the impacts are limited during the GFC period. Finally, US DRP plays a more important role than US JRP in the determination of equity fund flows to other AEs during the post-GFC period. Such results indicate the possibility of equity fund flows working as a channel of cross-stock market VRP spillovers.

Are economic growth and well-being compatible? Welfare reform and life satisfaction in Japan. Oxford Economic Papers, 2021, gpab038

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Whether economic growth improves the human lot is a matter of conditions. We focus on Japan, a country which shifted in the 1990s from a pattern of rampant economic growth and stagnant well-being, to one of modest growth and increasing well-being. We discuss concurrent policy reforms and analyse the changes in well-being. In particular, we assess whether the correlates of the increase in well-being are consistent with those expected from the reforms. We apply Blinder-Oaxaca decomposition to World Values Survey data. Results show that improved conditions for the elderly, parents and women, that is the primary groups targeted by the reforms, correlate with well-being increases. This evidence is consistent with the hypothesis that social safety nets can make economic growth compatible with sustained increases in well-being.

Nomological Network of Dispositional Mindfulness: Evidence from MIDUS-II and MIDUS-III. International Journal of Psychological Studies, Vol.13, No.3, 2021

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While dispositional mindfulness is a popular construct in the field of positive psychology, its nomological network in the context of health and well-being is not well established. Our study addresses this limitation by examining the relationship between dispositional mindfulness and various health-related psychological constructs, including personality, social well-being, and affective states. Data for this study were gathered from the national longitudinal studies of health and well-being called Midlife in the United States (MIDUS-II and MIDUS-III). The nomological network analysis of dispositional mindfulness showed positive associations with both religiosity and overall well-being measures (e.g., Social Well-Being, Sympathy, Optimism, and Generativity) and negative associations with maladaptive tendencies (e.g., Pessimism, Aggression, Neuroticism, and Personal Constraints). Finally, test-retest validity was positively verified by significant correlations among the variables, spanning over ten years. Articulating a nomological network of dispositional mindfulness has important implications for future research and practice.

Product Creativity as an Identity Issue: Through the Eyes of New Product Development Team Members. Frontiers in Psychology,12 (July 14, 2021)

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In this study, we introduce a concept of product identification that denotes the overlap between identities of a new product and its developer. As creativity is the most important identity dimension in the new product, we draw on two dimensions of creativity: novelty and meaningfulness. According to the argument that novelty represents exploration, whereas meaningfulness represents exploitation, we hypothesize that product novelty is associated with an explorative behavior of new product team members, while product meaningfulness is associated with exploitative behavior. More importantly, product identification is proposed as the mechanism that explains the amplification effect of product identity on team members. Based on survey data collected from 200 Japanese new product development (NPD) team members, we conduct a statistical analysis to test the hypotheses. The findings demonstrate the alignment between the identity of a new product and the behaviors of the NPD members, which is amplified by product identification but not by organizational identification.

Enablers of postacquisition joint knowledge creation: evidence from joint patenting in high-tech mergers and acquisitions. Journal of Knowledge Management. (July 12, 2021)

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Abstract Purpose This study aims to investigate three organizational-level factors (geographical proximity, technological similarity and organizational identity integration) that influence the likelihood of post-mergers and acquisition (M&A) joint knowledge creation between inventors from the target and acquiring firms. Design/methodology/approach Analyzing post-M&A joint patent filing activities from 136 M&A deals in high-tech industries, the authors conduct a zero-inflated negative binomial regression analysis to estimate the likelihood of joint knowledge creation. Findings The results indicate that close geographical proximity and technological similarity are positively associated, whereas the integration of organizational identity is negatively associated with post-M&A joint knowledge creation. Practical implications Managers searching for an ideal acquisition target firm for joint production of new technologies or products should consider factors such as location, prior knowledge base and post-acquisition integration strategies. Originality/value The proposed model is a comprehensive framework that considers physical, cognitive and identity dimensions as antecedents of post-M&A joint knowledge creation. This study analyzes joint patenting activities to measure post-M&A joint knowledge creation between target and acquiring firm inventors.

COVID-19 and Telework: An International Comparison. Journal of Quantitative Description: Digital Media Vol. 1 2021. 1-35

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This paper uses identical surveys conducted in July 2020 in eight countries - U.S., U.K., Germany, Italy, Sweden, China, South Korea, and Japan - and examines teleworking within and across these eight countries. We seek to answer the following questions: (1) Which demographic and socioeconomic groups are more likely to telework? (2) Is there any association between telework and other work-related experiences such as life satisfaction and perceived productivity at work? Across countries, we observe that teleworking was higher in countries that imposed strict lockdowns, such as China, and lower in countries that had soft lockdowns, such as Japan. Within each country, there are notable differences in teleworking between low- and high-income persons, and between those employed in small versus large firms. We also find that people who used telework before COVID-19 report higher life satisfaction compared to those who started using telework for the first time after the COVID-19 outbreak.

Reputation Incongruence and the Preference of Stakeholder: In the Context of MBA Ranking, Behavioral Sciences 2021, Volume 11 Issue 1, 10

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In this paper, we examine the effect of an organization's multi-dimensional reputation on the external stakeholders' preference for an organization in the notions of reputation incongruence. We propose that an organization's incongruent reputation, or large variations among the reputations of each dimension, can be an unfavorable signal to its stakeholders based on theoretical ideas that claim reputation incongruence induces the ambiguity and risk of an organization perceived by stakeholders. We also investigate the moderating effect of reputation incongruence by positing that this incongruence may nullify the influences of reputation dimensions on the preferences of stakeholders. These propositions about reputation incongruence are empirically examined in the context of MBA programs of the global business schools which have three dimensions of reputation--career development, globalization, and research performance.

Charitable behavior in China under the Charity Law: Evaluation of charity advertisements involving in-groups and out-groups

Culture and Business: How Can Cultural Psychologists Contribute to Research on Behaviors in the Marketplace and Workplace? Frontiers in Psychology, 2020.11: 1304

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Cultural psychology has great potential to expand its research frameworks to more applied research fields in business such as marketing and organizational studies while going beyond basic psychological processes to more complex social practices. In fact, the number of cross-cultural business studies has grown constantly over the past 20 years. Nonetheless, the theoretical and methodological closeness between cultural psychology and these business-oriented studies has not been fully recognized by scholars in cultural psychology. In this paper, we briefly introduce six representative cultural constructs commonly applied in business research, which include (1) individualism vs. collectivism, (2) independence vs. interdependence, (3) analytic vs. holistic cognition, (4) vertical vs. horizontal orientation, (5) tightness vs. looseness, and (6) strong vs. weak uncertainty avoidance. We plot the constructs on a chart to conceptually represent a common ground between cultural psychology and business research. We then review some representative empirical studies from the research fields of marketing and organizational studies which utilize at least one of these six constructs in their research frameworks. At the end of the paper, we recommend some future directions for further advancing collaboration with scholars in the field of marketing and organizational studies, while referring to theoretical and methodological issues.

Digital inequalities in time of pandemic: COVID-19 exposure risk profiles and new forms of vulnerability. First Monday. (20200620). Volume 25, Number 7, July 6, 2020

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In this article, we argue that new kinds of risk are emerging with the COVID-19 virus, and that these risks are unequally distributed. As we expose to view, digital inequalities and social inequalities are rendering certain subgroups significantly more vulnerable to exposure to COVID-19. Vulnerable populations bearing disproportionate risks include the social isolated, older adults, penal system subjects, digitally disadvantaged students, gig workers, and last-mile workers. Therefore, we map out the intersection between COVID-19 risk factors and digital inequalities on each of these populations in order to examine how the digitally resourced have additional tools to mitigate some of the risks associated with the pandemic. We shed light on how the ongoing pandemic is deepening key axes of social differentiation, which were previously occluded from view. These newly manifested forms of social differentiation can be conceived along several related dimensions. At their most general and abstract, these risks have to do with the capacity individuals have to control the risk of pathogen exposure. In order to fully manage exposure risk, individuals must control their physical environment to the greatest extent possible in order to prevent contact with potentially compromised physical spaces. In addition, they must control their social interactional environment to the greatest extent possible in order to minimize their contacts with potentially infected individuals. All else equal, those individuals who exercise more control over their exposure risk -- on the basis of their control over their physical and social interactional environments -- stand a better chance of staying healthy than those individuals who cannot manage exposure risk. Individuals therefore vary in terms of what we call their COVID-19 exposure risk profile (CERPs). CERPs hinge on preexisting forms of social differentiation such as socioeconomic status, as individuals with more economic resources at their disposal can better insulate themselves from exposure risk. Alongside socioeconomic status, one of the key forms of social differentiation connected with CERPs is digital (dis)advantage. Ceteris paribus, individuals who can more effectively digitize key parts of their lives enjoy better CERPs than individuals who cannot digitize these life realms. Therefore we believe that digital inequalities are directly and increasingly related to both life-or-death exposure to COVID-19, as well as excess deaths attributable to the larger conditions generated by the pandemic.

Digital inequalities 3.0: Emergent inequalities in the information age. First Monday (20200618). Volume 25, Number 7, July 6, 2020

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Marking the 25th anniversary of the "digital divide," we continue our metaphor of the digital inequality stack by mapping out the rapidly evolving nature of digital inequality using a broad lens. We tackle complex, and often unseen, inequalities spawned by the platform economy, automation, big data, algorithms, cybercrime, cybersafety, gaming, emotional well-being, assistive technologies, civic engagement, and mobility. These inequalities are woven throughout the digital inequality stack in many ways including differentiated access, use, consumption, literacies, skills, and production. While many users are competent prosumers who nimbly work within different layers of the stack, very few individuals are "full stack engineers" able to create or recreate digital devices, networks, and software platforms as pure producers. This new frontier of digital inequalities further differentiates digitally skilled creators from mere users. Therefore, we document emergent forms of inequality that radically diminish individuals' agency and augment the power of technology creators, big tech, and other already powerful social actors whose dominance is increasing.

Digital inequalities 2.0: Legacy inequalities in the information age. First Monday.(20200617). Volume 25, Number 7, July 6, 2020

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2020 marks the 25th anniversary of the "digital divide." Although a quarter century has passed, legacy digital inequalities continue, and emergent digital inequalities are proliferating. Many of the initial schisms identified in 1995 are still relevant today. Twenty-five years later, foundational access inequalities continue to separate the digital haves and the digital have-nots within and across countries. In addition, even ubiquitous-access populations are riven with skill inequalities and differentiated usage. Indeed, legacy digital inequalities persist vis-à-vis economic class, gender, sexuality, race and ethnicity, aging, disability, healthcare, education, rural residency, networks, and global geographies. At the same time, emergent forms of inequality now appear alongside legacy inequalities such that notions of digital inequalities must be continually expanded to become more nuanced. We capture the increasingly complex and interrelated nature of digital inequalities by introducing the concept of the "digital inequality stack." The concept of the digital inequality stack encompasses access to connectivity networks, devices, and software, as well as collective access to network infrastructure. Other layers of the digital inequality stack include differentiated use and consumption, literacies and skills, production and programming, etc. When inequality exists at foundational layers of the digital inequality stack, this often translates into inequalities at higher levels. As we show across these many thematic foci, layers in the digital inequality stack may move in tandem with one another such that all layers of the digital inequality stack reinforce disadvantage.

Cross-Cultural Nomological Network of Gratitude: Findings From Midlife in the United States (MIDUS) and Japan (MIDJA). Frontiers in Psychology, v11 (20200526)

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Gratitude enhances prosocial behavior and is considered a positive trait in most cultures, yet relatively little is known about its relationship to other psychological constructs, nor how it varies across diverse cultural contexts. To investigate the cross-cultural consistency of the benefits of having a grateful disposition, the current study examined the nomological network of gratitude in the United States and Japan, using data from two longitudinal studies: Midlife in the United States (MIDUS Refresher Biomarker Project) and Midlife in Japan (MIDJA). Results showed significant positive bivariate associations between trait gratitude and positive psychological functioning (Satisfaction with Life, Sympathy, Anger Control, Cognition Control, and Support/Affectual Solidarity Given to Relational Network) in both the United States and Japan. On the other hand, trait gratitude was negatively correlated with constructs associated with maladaptive psychological processes (Perceived Stress, Social Anxiety, Loneliness, and Anger-In) in both countries. The present findings provide valuable guidance for the development and implementation of future interventions that may lead to positive outcomes in individuals from diverse cultural and ethnic backgrounds.

We HaveEmotions but Can’t Show Them! Authoritarian Leadership, Emotion Suppression Climate, and Team Performance. Human Relations.

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How do authoritarian leaders in modern organizations influence work team emotional climate and performance? Defining authoritarian leadership as an ambient, demanding, and controlling leadership style, we conducted a survey study of 252 leaders and 765 subordinates matched in 227 work teams in three large public Japanese organizations. The results indicate that authoritarian leaders are more likely to create a team climate of emotion suppression, which induces a higher level of team emotional exhaustion that negatively impacts team performance. Furthermore, we found that authoritarian leaders' own emotion suppression enhances the above sequential mediation effects, i.e. the more emotion suppression the authoritarian leader him/herself exercises, the stronger the team climate of emotion suppression, the higher the level of team emotional exhaustion, and the lower the team performance. These findings suggest that leadership effectiveness may be improved if leaders can reduce their authoritarian behaviors and identify appropriate channels for employees to release emotions in the workplace.

The Impact of Multimarket Competition on Innovation Strategy: Evidence from the Korean Mobile Game Industry. Journal of Open Innovation: Technology, Market and Complexity, v6, n1 (2020)

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Multimarket contact (MMC) refers to the situation in which more than two firms simultaneously compete with each other in multiple products and/or geographical markets. Most studies on MMC have explored how the market overlap creates "mutual forbearance", which lessens the intensity of rivalry. While prior studies have mainly focused on how reduced rivalry from MMC influences market-related decisions, only a few have paid attention to its impact on innovation activities. The purpose of this research is to explore how multimarket competition influences different stages of innovation. Specifically, we focus on three stages of innovation: Content development, commercialization, and protection of IPs (Intellectual Property). This study is conducted as an exploratory case research based on the in-depth analysis of two leading Korean Mobile game companies. Based on our findings, we explain how mutual forbearance and observability of the rival's competitive action influence the choice of strategic decisions across different stages of innovation.

THE IMPACT OF MOOD AND EMOTION ON RISK PREFERENCE Academy of Management Annual Meeting Proceedings, 2007 (1): 1-6

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We propose to use affect research to enrich the dominant descriptive model of risk preference, prospect theory (Kahneman, & Tversky, 1979). We will pursue a discussion of 1) the mood's direct impact on probabilities, 2) the contrast effect between mood and anticipated emotion on perceived values, and 3) combined impacts. Finally, we will discuss the managerial implications of this theory.

From affect to action: How pleasure shapes everyday decisions in Japan and the U.S. Motivation and Emotion (20190723) Vol. 43 No.6 pp.948-955

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How do affective considerations shape people's everyday decisions around the world? To address this question, we asked 245 Japanese and 229 American adults to report what they did and how they felt on the previous day using the Day Reconstruction Method. We then examined how affective valence at a given time (time t) related to the types of activities people engaged in at a later time (time t + 1). While we found some cultural variation in the types of daily activities Japanese and American participants experienced as pleasant or unpleasant, time-lagged multilevel logistic regressions revealed that both groups displayed a remarkably similar propensity to engage in pleasure-enhancing activities when they felt bad and in less-pleasant activities that might promise longer-term payoff when they felt good. These results provide cross-cultural support for the hedonic flexibility principle of human motivation, according to which affective states help people prioritize between short- and longer-term well-being goals in their everyday life.

Corporate Innovation in the Age of Digital Research on Financial and Economic Issues 2019 Issue 3 pp.13-16

Exploring the Relationship between Stereotyping, Prejudice and Discrimination among Japanese. Intercultural Communication Studies 2019 Vol.28 No.1 pp.47-65.

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This study examines the relationship between stereotypes, prejudice and discrimination as they show up in the teaching of cross-cultural communication to Japanese college students. The study draws on a social psychology framework that relates affect, behavior and cognition to each other, and then applies this framework to teaching the more emotionally laden aspects of Yashiro's (2001) culture iceberg. Specifically, it examines the relationship between stereotype and prejudice, based on the premise that intercultural miscommunication starts from stereotypes (in the cognitive level), which are translated into strong feelings of prejudice (in the affective level) and in turn manifested in various forms of discriminatory actions (in the behavioral level). This study finds a relationship between prejudice (affect) and discrimination (behavior) that Japanese students have toward countries in particular, in a sample of 155 college students in Japan. Through studying the relationship between discrimination (behavior), prejudice (affect) and stereotyping (cognition) among Japanese college students, this study extends and deepens the literature on cultural awareness and processing as it relates to teaching culture in Japan.

Self-Compassion and Cultural Values: A Cross-Cultural Study of Self-Compassion Using a Multitrait-Multimethod (MTMM) Analytical Procedure. Frontiers in Psychology (20181221) Vol. 9

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Self-compassion is natural, trainable and multi-faceted human capacity. To date there has been little research into the role of culture in influencing the conceptual structure of the underlying construct, the relative importance of different facets of self-compassion, nor its relationships to cultural values. This study employed a cross-cultural design, with 4,124 participants from 11 purposively sampled datasets drawn from different countries. We aimed to assess the relevance of positive and negative items when building the self-compassion construct, the convergence among the self-compassion components, and the possible influence of cultural values. Each dataset comprised undergraduate students who completed the "Self-Compassion Scale" (SCS). We used a confirmatory factor analysis (CFA) approach to the multitrait-multimethod (MTMM) model, separating the variability into self-compassion components (self-kindness, common humanity, mindfulness), method (positive and negative valence), and error (uniqueness). The normative scores of the Values Survey Module (VSM) in each country, according to the cultural dimensions of individualism, masculinity, power distance, long-term orientation, uncertainty avoidance, and indulgence, were considered. We used Spearman coefficients (rs) to assess the degree of association between the cultural values and the variance coming from the positive and negative items to explain self-compassion traits, as well as the variance shared among the self-compassion traits, after removing the method effects produced by the item valence. The CFA applied to the MTMM model provided acceptable fit in all the samples. Positive items made a greater contribution to capturing the traits comprising self-compassion when the long-term orientation cultural value was higher (rs = 0.62; p = 0.042). Negative items did not make significant contributions to building the construct when the individualism cultural value was higher, but moderate effects were found (rs = 0.40; p = 0.228). The level of common variance among the self-compassion trait factors was inversely related to the indulgence cultural value (rs = -0.65; p = 0.030). The extent to which the positive and negative items contribute to explain self-compassion, and that different self-compassion facets might be regarded as reflecting a broader construct, might differ across cultural backgrounds.

Differential Construal of Exercise versus Diet and Implications for Weight Control. Journal of Consumer Research (20190901) Vol. 46 No.3 pp. 528-544

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Successful weight control is a challenge for many consumers, but in principle, it is a simple arithmetic combination of increasing caloric expenditure and/or decreasing caloric intake. We call the former "exercise" and the latter "diet." A field survey, three behavioral lab experiments, and a national weight loss field study show that (1) people tend to construe exercise at higher levels and diet at lower levels, (2) activating people's focus on the high-level purposes versus low-level processes of their behavior may improve the odds of weight control success by exercise and diet, respectively, and (3) people who effectuated exercise plans that were high in desirability in terms of bringing about greater net caloric cuts, and diet plans that were high in feasibility in terms of ease of compliance, had the greatest weight reduction over a three-month period. Understanding the theory of how contrasting mental models underlie exercise versus diet may help consumers control their weight with more success, and marketers position their weight control products and services more effectively.

Emotional fortification: Indulgent consumption and emotion reappraisal and their implications for well-being. Journal of Consumer Behaviour (20190101) Vol. 18 No.1 pp, 25-31

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This paper suggests that indulgent consumption could be used as an emotion regulation strategy and that it could have positive implications for well‐being. "Emotional fortification," where the use of one emotion regulation strategy is correlated with the use of another strategy, is confirmed in this study. People who frequently use emotion reappraisal are more likely to use indulgence than people who use this reappraisal strategy infrequently. Study 1 shows the correlation between indulgence and reappraisal. Study 2 examines the implications of indulgence and reappraisal for life satisfaction and personal well‐being. These findings suggest that indulgence is not always harmful for people and society. Top 10% Most Downloaded Papers (2018-2019)

Emergence of Value Co-creation: Agent-Based Modelling on Behavioral Patterns of Customer, Corporation, and Regulator. Joint International Conference on Service Science and Innovation and Serviceology Taichung, Taiwan November 13-15,2018

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The purpose of our research is to identify the mechanism by which value co-creation emerges on an open innovation platform. Our approach is a multi-method field study, combining quantitative analysis on customer behavior data on an open innovation platform "LEGO CUUSOO" and qualitative case analysis on LEGO products developed through the platform. Keywords: Value co-creation, open innovation platform, agent-based model 1 INTRODUCTION As a further development of Fujikawa, Oue and Nishiyama (2016), where an agent-based model (ABM) simulates voting patterns of customers on the open innovation platform, we extend the model to a multi-period and multi-product ABM and explicitly incorporate expected and realized values created on the platform. This research intends to reveal how actually observed macro dynamics emerge from individual expectations and decisions of many customers and how interventions by regulator may alter the voting patterns and thus the submission patterns of ideas. Research on value co-creation has identified how interactions between users and corporations emerge new value in corporate management context (Prahalad and Ramaswami 2003, 2004). User innovation research explained that source of innovation can be found outside of corporation and thus rational for innovators differ from that of corporations (von Hippel 1986). User driven innovation theory also explained how an online platform with voting mechanism allows users to participate to create a market and at same time suggest potential market opportunity to corporation (Ogawa 2005). While the extant research has clarified how the emergence of co-creation happens in a static state, there are limited explanations to explain the dynamism of emergence of value co-creation. In the real-world community, values are co-created not only by users and corporation but other actors as result of complex interactions (Lemons 1996). Research in service science attempted to explain the emergence of value co-creation in value constellation model (Vargo and Lusch 2008). Actor-to-actor model tries to simplify the interactions by limiting the interaction of an on online platform and by focusing the interactions amongst three actors; users, corporations and regulators (Nishiyama and Fujikawa 2016). The actor-to-actor model suggested that value co-creation on online platforms could be influenced by regulators, but it does not explain how regulators actually controls the outcome. Neither this research suggest the causal effect to the emergence of value co-created are conducted to date.

Self-Gifting in Interdependent Cultures: Lonely Mothers and Self-Compassion. European Association for Consumer Research 2018 Vol.11 pp.50-54

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Self-gifting consumer behavior, due to its nature of focus on self, its compatibility with interdependent cultures had always been questioned. Still, self-gifting is now prevalent in many interdependent cultures. This paper illuminates that self-gifting plays an important role of self-compassion for Japanese mothers feeling isolated from their family members. As demonstrated in its name and characteristics, one of the predominant aspects of self-gift consumer behavior (SGCB) is the focus on self. Hence, Mick and DeMoss (1990a) suggested that SGCB may depend on an individually-centered view of self, and questioned its existence in cultures dominant with a group-centered view of self. Thus, the investigation of SGCB in non-Western cultures has become to be one of the research agendas in the self-gift research. However, only very recently, the initiatives of exploring SGCB in the Eastern cultures have begun (e.g., Joy et al. 2006; Suzuki 2011; Tynan et al. 2010). Using the data gathered from the Japanese mothers on their SGCB, we explore how self-gifts play a role in interdependent cultures.

Nudge and Willingness to Work, Presented at the Japanese Economic Association Autumn Meeting September 8, 2018 Gakushuin University

Revisiting the Creation of Meaning by Media: A Perspective from Japan

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This paper revisits the role of media in the meaning-construction system. In consumer research, media are often regarded as gatekeepers in the system. This paper focuses on the media's other role -- as the creator of meanings. In this paper, an interpretive analysis of magazine articles regarding the 'jibun e no gohoubi' [self-reward] consumption since 1990 has been conducted. The findings indicate that the media had created the meanings of sacred and profane consumption acts, in the domain of self-reward consumption. In addition, the paper explores the influence of media in liberating and empowering Japanese women.

Career mobility in the embedded market: a study of the Japanese financial sector. Asian Business & Management (20200806) Vol. 17 No. 5 pp.339-365

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The coexistence of domestic and foreign firms in Japan provides a fascinating test bed through which to examine how local firms adapt to global pressures, and how employees navigate the changing institutional environment. I employ a mixed methods approach using in-depth interviews and two separate datasets of finance professionals in Japan. My analysis reveals that there is greater mobility and greater employee heterogeneity in the foreign firms. Mobility is a one-way transition from domestic to foreign firms, intermediated by status distinctions between firms. My findings also suggest that mobility in the foreign firms is constrained by local norms and conventions.

Because I’m afraid to be punished, I don’t give: The role of relational mobility and fear in charitable behavior　Proceedings for the 2018 International Conference of Asian Marketing Associations

Bicultural brand personality model: A case of Japan and the U.S. 2018 Global Marketing Conference at Tokyo Proceedings 2018, 174.

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This research was conducted to develop a brand personality model that could be used to measure and compare the brand personality of a same brand across cultures. The results suggest that for West (the U.S.) and East (Japan), the bicultural BPD have five distinct dimensions of Sincerity, Sophistication, Ruggedness, Excitement, and Peacefulness, represented by the 15 attributes (wholesome, warm, kind, upper-class, elegant, romantic, masculine, tough, rugged, trendy, exciting, imaginative, shy, naïve, and childlike). The results show that many global brands have different brand personality perceptions across cultures. Only four (Levi's, Nintendo DS, Shell, and Visa) out of 21 global brands had the same brand personality perceptions in two cultures. These results may be inconsistent with the definition of global brands--brands whose positioning, advertising strategy, personality, look, and feel are same or at least similar from one country to another. However, the results confirm the findings of Aaker et al. (2001) that brands have culturally specific meaning. The results also confirm the "the lure of global branding"--the goal of developing one strong global brand is often unrealistic (Aaker & Joachimsthaler, 1999). Still, in the business world, many companies are trying to globalize their own brands in order to enjoy the high economies of scale. Hence, it is important for the business managers to be able to measure the results of their global branding efforts. This research provides a tool, the bicultural brand personality model, the managers could use to measure their global brands in Western and Eastern cultures, and understand the similarity and differences across two cultures.

Marketing in the steady-state economy: Conceptual model and propositions. Proceedings for the 2018 Global Marketing Conference

Finding a Better Match for Creative Collaboration: A Dyad Level Analysis of Academic Co-Authorship. Academy of Management Proceedings Vol. 2018 No.1

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Why are some co-authorship interactions more successful than others to create novel research outcomes? We endeavor to investigate this research question by exploring how dyadic differences of collaboration characteristics affect collaborative outcomes (creative performance). While prior studies on creativity and innovation have provided ample evidence for understanding the individual or team-level determinants of successful collaboration, less attention has been paid to studying creative collaboration at the dyad level. We analyzed 235 joint academic research papers that were published in the twelve management journals during 1998-2007. Our findings indicate that at the dyad-level, knowledge diversity, knowledge overlap, the interaction between knowledge diversity and knowledge overlap, and previous collaboration experience strongly impact creative performance. We also find that dyadic differences in past creative performance is positively associated with creative performance.

Self-gifting in interdependent cultures: Japanese single women and self-compassion Proceedings for the EMAC Annual Conference 2018 pp.50-54

Preference and strategy in proposer’s prosocial giving in the ultimatum game　PLOS ONE 20180305 Vol.13 No.3

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The accumulation of findings that most responders in the ultimatum game reject unfair offers provides evidence that humans are driven by social preferences such as preferences for fairness and prosociality. On the other hand, if and how the proposer's behavior is affected by social preferences remains unelucidated. We addressed this question for the first time by manipulating the knowledge that the proposer had about the responder's belief concerning the intentionality of the proposer. In a new game called the "ultimatum game with ambiguous intentions of the proposer (UGAMB)," we made the intentionality of the proposer ambiguous to the recipient. We expected and found that the proposer would make more unfair offers in this new game than in the standard ultimatum game. This expectation can be derived from either the preference-based model or the strategy model of the proposer's giving decision. The additional finding that more unfair giving in the UGAMB was not mediated by the proposer's expectation that the recipient would be more willing to accept unfair offers provided support for the preference-based model. Using a psychological measure of cognitive control, the preference-based model received additional support through a conceptual replication of the previous finding that cognitive control of intuitive drive for prosociality in the dictator game, rather than mind reading in the ultimatum game, is responsible for the difference in giving between the two games.

Revisiting the Creation of Meaning by Media: A Perspective from Japan. Market, Globalization & Development Review 2018 Vol.3 No.1

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This paper revisits the role of media in the meaning-construction system. In consumer research, media are often regarded as gatekeepers in the system. This paper focuses on the media's other role -- as the creator of meanings. In this paper, an interpretive analysis of magazine articles regarding the 'jibun e no gohoubi' [self-reward] consumption since 1990 has been conducted. The findings indicate that the media had created the meanings of sacred and profane consumption acts, in the domain of self-reward consumption. In addition, the paper explores the influence of media in liberating and empowering Japanese women.

Why Do the Japanese Work Long Hours? Sociological Perspectives on Long Working Hours in Japan. Japan Labor Issues February-March 2018 Vol.2 No. 5 pp.35-49

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For some time now, shorter working hours have been at the core of efforts to improve work conditions in Japan. The government has passed legislation and policy measures, and corporations have modified compensation and incentive schemes to help employees strike better work-life balance. Yet, working hours (among regular full-time workers) in Japan have remained virtually unchanged since the 1990s. In this paper, I argue that the true causes of long working hours lie not in the "observable" barriers such as public policy and law, but rather are embedded in "unobservable" or "unmeasurable" attributes such as social norms and work conventions. Understanding this problem better requires an approach that accounts for both economic principles (focusing on rewards and incentives) and sociological perspectives, which pay closer attention to the social-institutional context. I argue that long working hours in Japan stem from the institutional complementarities of the Japanese employment system and the cultural particularities underlying it. In the analysis, I discuss the role of the input-driven society, work conventions that rely on signaling, internal labor market structure, group consciousness and hierarchy, ambiguous job functions, and the traditional gender division of labor. I close by proposing measures to reduce working hours that follow from my analysis.

Consumer evaluation of healthy, unpleasant-tasting food and the post-taste effect of positive information. Food Quality and Preference 2018 Vol.66 pp.107-110

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Previous research on taste evaluations has often featured tasty foods. However, some foods taste unpleasant, particularly those that are good for our health. In two experiments, we showed that for unpleasant-tasting foods, the effect of positive information on taste experiences differs from the findings in the previous literature. When positive information about the food was given after tasting, participants evaluated the product experience more positively than when the same information was given before tasting. Here, we propose the mobilization-minimization hypothesis as a potential explanation for this post-tasting positive information effect. Furthermore, mediation analysis revealed a significant indirect effect of information order on product evaluation through emotional change. Taken together, learning positive information about unpleasant-tasting foods, particularly about their health benefits, may minimize the negative emotional impact of that experience, thereby positively influencing product evaluation. The theoretical and practical implications of this research are discussed.

Making a Good Impression at Work: National Differences in Employee Impression Management Behaviors in Japan, Korea, and the United States, Journal of Psychology, 2018 Vol.152 No.2 pp.110-130.

Inter-linkages between Educational Institutions and White Collar Labor Mobility : A Comparative Study in Japan, Germany, and the U.S.A. Kindai Management Review 2018 Vol.6 pp.100-115

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In this study, we examine how institutions and business practices are interlinked within institutional systems, towards helping explain differences among business systems in Japan, Germany, and the USA. More specifically, we explore how educational institutions and institutionalized corporate practices are inter-related within each of these systems, drawing on data from 2993 managers from large firms in Japan, Germany, and the USA to explore the relationship between educational institutions and institutionalized career path trajectories in firms in these countries. Results showed that business practices and career paths vary in these three countries, and that they are linked with educational institutions, in that managers with various professional certifications are more likely to have worked for multiple firms over their careers, while those with university degrees are not.

Optimism and the Conserved Transcriptional Response to Adversity. Health Psychology : Official Journal of the Division of Health Psychology, American Psychological Association 2018 Vol.37 No.11 pp.1077-1080

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Dispositional optimism, a personality trait predisposing individuals to positive expectations, has been suggested to promote better health. However, little is known about the biological mechanism of the salubrious health effects of optimism. We hypothesized that by diminishing a sense of threat to the self, optimism will be associated with a healthier profile of gene expression in immune cells. Specifically, the "conserved transcriptional response to adversity" (CTRA) is activated by fight-or-flight stress responses and results in increased transcription of genes involved in inflammation and decreased transcription of genes involved in antiviral defense. In a sample of 114 male Japanese workers, we found that optimism was inversely linked to CTRA after controlling for demographic variables, health-risk factors, and indices of well-being. These results are consistent with the hypothesis that reduced activity of threat-related gene expression programs may contribute to the health effects associated with optimism. (APA PsycInfo Database Record (c) 2018 APA, all rights reserved)

Consumer evaluation of healthy, unpleasant-tasting food and the post-taste effect of positive information. Food Quality and Preference 2018 Vol.66 pp.107-110

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日本商品学会　奨励賞

The Impact of Collaboration Structure and Participant Attributes on Performance: Evidence from Korean Music Industry. Korean Management Review December 2017 Vol. 46 No. 6 pp.1713-1740

Relationships of collapse: network brokerage, opportunism and fraud in financial markets. International Journal of Social Economics (20171204) Vol.44 No.12 pp. 2097-2111

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Abstract Purpose This paper explores the social-behavioral aspects of financial markets. The purpose of this paper is to examine the role of social relations and networks which contributed to the market crash in the US telecommunications sector in the late 1990s. Design/methodology/approach A network theoretic approach is used to examine historical qualitative data. The authors suggest that the network characteristics of financial intermediaries allowed security analysts to control and manipulate information that was disclosed to the investing public. Findings The authors find evidence that brokerage locations in the network of actors within the telecommunications market allowed select individuals opportunities to engage in unethical behavior and malfeasance. The authors further highlight the harmful effects of over-embeddedness by illustrating that strong and dense network ties within the financial sector were exploited to distort the flow and reliability of information. The paper concludes with a note on the generalizability of this study and an examination of the current economic-legal structure of Wall Street. Originality/value Recently, some economists and network scholars have begun examining social relations more thoroughly in the financial sector. This paper is one of the first that focuses specifically on the role and network location of research analysts prior to a market collapse. Keywords Financial markets, Financialization, Social networks, Embeddedness

Relationships of Collapse: Structural Holes, Opportunism and Fraud in Financial Markets International Journal of Social Economics 2017 Vol.44 No.12 pp.2097-2111

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This paper explores the social-behavioral aspects of financial markets. The purpose of this paper is to examine the role of social relations and networks which contributed to the market crash in the US telecommunications sector in the late 1990s. A network theoretic approach is used to examine historical qualitative data. The authors suggest that the network characteristics of financial intermediaries allowed security analysts to control and manipulate information that was disclosed to the investing public. The authors find evidence that brokerage locations in the network of actors within the telecommunications market allowed select individuals opportunities to engage in unethical behavior and malfeasance. The authors further highlight the harmful effects of over-embeddedness by illustrating that strong and dense network ties within the financial sector were exploited to distort the flow and reliability of information. The paper concludes with a note on the generalizability of this study and an examination of the current economic-legal structure of Wall Street. Recently, some economists and network scholars have begun examining social relations more thoroughly in the financial sector. This paper is one of the first that focuses specifically on the role and network location of research analysts prior to a market collapse.

Kolon FnC's Global Expansion Strategy. Asian Case Research Journal 2017 Vol. 21 No.2 pp.253-280

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Korean fashion firms face difficulties in sustaining their growth momentum because of market stagnation and the aggressive entry of global luxury and SPA brands. To find a breakthrough, local fashion firms are adopting diverse strategies, including direct entry, licensing, and acquisitions, to successfully tap into the global market. Kolon FnC, which is among the five affiliates of Kolon Industries, focuses its business in the production and sales of fashion goods and clothing lines. Focusing on its strength as a leading brand power in the sports and outdoor segment, Kolon FnC is making strategic moves, such as diversifying its fashion portfolio, creating new value by collaborating with artists, and enhancing its R&D capability for new garment materials, which is led by one of its sister affiliates, Kolon Fashion Material. Under the leadership of the newly appointed CEO Dong-Mun Park, Kolon FnC is aggressively seeking talented young designers in Korea to differentiate itself from its global competitors. CEO Park strongly believes that talented young Korean designers can be a viable source of competitive advantage against global competitors. Since 2010, Kolon FnC has acquired several small-sized designer shops and fashion accessory shops to diversify its fashion portfolio and to create a young and vibrant brand image. This approach marks a departure from the strategic paths of its major local competitors, as Korean fashion firms typically focus on licensing or acquiring foreign brands. This case aims to identify the practical implications of global expansion strategies by analyzing how the Korean fashion industry has evolved and how Kolon FnC and its competitors have deployed different global expansion strategies in developing their resources and/or capabilities for future growth.

The Evolution of Inflation Expectations in Japan Journal of the Japanese and International Economies 2017 Vol.46 pp.53-68

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We model inflation forecasts as monotonically diverging from an estimated long-run anchor point towards actual inflation as the forecast horizon shortens. Fitting the model with forecaster-level data for Japan, we find that the estimated anchors across forecasters have tended to rise in recent years, along with the dispersion in estimates across forecasters. Further, the degree to which these anchors pin down inflation expectations at longer horizons has increased, but remains considerably lower than found in a similar study of Canadian and US forecasters. Finally, the wide dispersion in estimated decay paths across forecasters points to a diverse set of views across forecasters about the inflation process in Japan.

The Dual Influences for Authoritarian Leaders' negative Emotional Labor on Followers OCB and CWB.　Academy of Management Annual Meeting Proceeding 2017 Vol.1 No.14936

Alliance Portfolio Complexity and Order-ofEntry Learning Effects in Int’l Alliance Formations. Academy of Management proceedings Vol.2016 No.1

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This study sheds light into the various theoretical drivers of international alliance formation with special attention to the order-of-entry learning effects in increasing the benefits and mitigating the costs of alliance portfolio complexity. Evidence from the global airline industry from period 1982 to 2010 shows that order-of-entry of a focal firm moderates the relationship between the focal firm's alliance portfolio complexity and the firm's propensity to form new international alliances. Our findings suggest that the differing experiential learning effects of early and late entrants will partially account for the heterogeneity of how firms handle alliance portfolio complexity.

Revisiting Alliance Formation: The Moderating Effect of Alliance Portfolio Complexity and Alliance Termination. Academy of Management Proceedings Vol. 2017 No.1

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Building on alliance portfolio and alliance formation studies, I investigate how alliance portfolio characteristics - alliance portfolio complexity and alliance termination-accelerate or decelerate firms' propensity to form new alliances. I use comprehensive panel dataset of 47 global airlines and their alliances during the period of 1945 to 2010. The findings suggest that bounded pattern of alliance formation is stronger when the focal firm's alliance portfolio complexity is low or the number of alliance termination is high. The implications of this study calls for attention to the alliance portfolio configuration issues concerning the benefits and costs of engaging in multiple inter-firm cooperative strategies.

Leading with Emotional Labor:Gender Differences in Leader Emotional Labor and Employee Performance. Academy of Management Proceedings Volume 2017, Issue 1 01 Jan 2017

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In this paper, adopting the role congruity theory, we proposed that female leaders can be more effective in driving employee task performance than male leaders when they are high in emotional labor. Using a sample of 515 leaders and their corresponding 515 employees in three companies in Japan, we examined the joint effects of leader gender and leader emotional labor on employee task performance through employee trust in leader. Our results suggested that female leaders emotional labor had a stronger, positive effect on employee trust in leader than their male counterparts. In addition, we found that female leader's emotional labor had a stronger positive, indirect effect on employee task performance through employee trust in leader than male leaders. Our findings are consistent with the predictions of role congruity theory (Eagly, 1987), providing new theoretical lens to the gender and leader emotional labor research.

The Dual Inferences for Authoritarian Leaders’ Negative Emotional Labor on Follower OCB and CWB. Academy of Management Proceedings Volume 2017, Issue 1 01 Jan 2017

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Drawing from the emotions as social information model (Van Kleef, 2009; Van Kleef et al., 2009), we hypothesize that subordinates of authoritarian leaders make two different cognitive inferences of authoritarian leaders' negative emotional labor: one is that leaders intend to hurt, while the other is that leaders attempt to drive performance. As a result, they perform less organizational citizenship behavior (OCB) and more counterproductive work behavior (CWB) if the former inference is made but more OCB and less CWB when the latter is made. Data from 515 leader- subordinate dyads in three Japanese companies provided general support for our central hypothesis. Moreover, we found that leader deep acting was a contingent factor to affect how subordinates attribute authoritarian leaders' negative emotional labor. When authoritarian leaders were higher in deep acting, the injury initiation mediation path became more salient; meanwhile, the performance promotion mediation path became less salient. We discuss the theoretical and empirical implications of our findings in leadership effectiveness in organizations.

Globalization and Greater Flexibility in the Japanese Labor Market: Exploring the Macro-Micro Link. Journal of Asia-Pacific Business 2017 Vol.18 No.4 pp.242-261

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The author explores the missing links between globalization and greater flexibility in the Japanese labor market based on review of literature and available evidence. Understanding Japan's responses to globalization requires a nuanced approach, which accounts for its historical trajectory and social-institutional context. Along with globalization, Japan is experiencing a greater infusion of foreign capital, and an increasing presence of foreign firms. These foreign firms bring human resource practices that are more market driven and less socially embedded compared to the status quo. The diverging human resources practices of foreign firms have spillover effects that may destabilize the Japanese employment system in the long run.

The role of anger regulation on perceived stress status and physical health. Personality and Individual Differences (20171001) Vol.116 pp.240-245

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The purpose of this exploratory study was to cross-culturally examine associations among three different anger regulation strategies, namely, anger-in (AI), anger out (AO), and anger control (AC), perceived stress status as the psychological antecedent, and the number of claimed chronic medical conditions as the physical health. Large samples of American and Japanese adults participated in this study. The results show the cultural differences that are consistent with previous findings in the literature while extending them to the association with physical health. Consequently, culturally different path models were identified. In this study, we found that anger regulation affects perceived stress, which in turn, was associated with physical health. Discussion of these findings and their implications is provided. • We developed an integrated model that can examine anger regulation, stress, and physical health. • The results confirmed the cultural differences while also discovering new culturally different paths. • Anger regulation matters more when stress is a culturally condoned emotion (vs. condemned), which led to the physical health.

Globalization and the Erosion of Job Security in the Japanese labor Market: Exploring the Macro-Micro Link. Proceeding of the Emerging Trends in Marketing and Management International Conference, Bucharest 2017 p.43

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In this paper, I examine the effects of globalization on labor market institutions, with particular focus on Japan. The experiences of advanced Western nations do not necessarily set a precedent nor an exemplar for Japan. Understanding Japan's responses to globalization requires a more nuanced approach, which accounts for its historical and institutional trajectories. Along with globalization, Japan is experiencing a greater infusion of foreign capital, and an increasing presence of foreign firms. These foreign firms bring with them employment practices that are more short-term and market-driven and less socially embedded compared to the Japanese status quo. There is now growing evidence that the expansion of foreign firms is eroding job security in the Japanese employment system. The diverging employment practices of foreign firms have spillover effects into the domestic firms, which may disturb the Japanese status quo in the long-run. The co-existence of the foreign and the domestic provides a fascinating test bed through which to examine how local firms adapt to global pressures, and how workers navigate the changing institutional environment.

Effects of cultural orientation, self-esteem, and collective self-esteem on well-being. Psychological studies 2017 Vol. 62 No.3 pp241-249

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This study examined a model of independent and interdependent self-construal, individual and collective self-esteem, and subjective well-being in a sample of college students from the mainland USA, Hawaii, and Japan. Specifically, the mediation role of individual as well as collective self-esteem in the effects of independent and interdependent self-construal on subjective well-being was explored. Results indicated that the hypothesized model fit well. The study found the direct effects of independent self-construal on subjective well-being in all three cultural groups. Collective self-esteem was a significant mediator of the effects of both independent and interdependent self-construal on subjective well-being only in the mainland USA. The negative effect of interdependent self-construal on collective self-esteem was observed only in the mainland USA. Better understanding of both universal and culture-specific aspects of collective self-esteem in promoting subjective well-being seems essential for further theoretical development as well as effective prevention/intervention efforts across three cultural groups.

Self-expression and relationship formation in high relational mobility environments: A study of dual users of American and Japanese social networking sites. International Journal of Psychology : Journal International De Psychologie 2017 Vol. 52 No.3

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This study proposes that self‐expression motivation, an aspect of independent/individualistic psychological tendencies, aids in the formation of social relationships when social relationships are open and mobile. In societies characterised by high relational mobility (e.g., North America), which creates market‐like competition in social relationships, individuals must express their uniqueness and worthiness to form new social relationships. Self‐expression motivation has a relatively weak effect on relationship formation in low relational mobility societies (e.g., Japan), where social relationships are generally predetermined. This hypothesis was examined and supported through a study on dual users of two social networking sites--Facebook and Mixi (the "Facebook of Japan"). As expected, relational mobility was higher on Facebook than on Mixi. Moreover, the association between self‐expression motivation and the number of new friends met on Facebook/Mixi was more positive for Facebook than it was for Mixi. The social functionality of independent tendencies is then discussed.

Influences of Social Capital on Natural Disaster Research in Japan. Journal of Sustainable Development Vol.10 No.3 pp46-54

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The purpose of this study is to seek fresh insight into those aspects of social capital that increase individuals' health and well-being after a disaster such as the Great East Japan Earthquake of 2011. This paper is organized as follows. The theoretical development of the social capital is presented in a literature review. Then, the design and results of the free answers in the open-ended question is described. Finally, this study investigates whether previous findings on the bright and dark sides of social capital and psychological stress are confirmed and highlights how the bright and dark sides of social capital has affected psychological stress, health, and well-being in Japanese disaster context. In other words, the significant mechanisms and roles of social capital in a disaster context is explored. Based on the findings, the theoretical and practical contributions of this study to disaster research are discussed.

Influences of Social Capital on Natural Disaster Research in Japan Journal of Sustainable Development Vo. 10, No. 3, 2017 pp.46-54

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The purpose of this study is to seek fresh insight into those aspects of social capital that increase individuals' health and well-being after a disaster such as the Great East Japan Earthquake of 2011. This paper is organized as follows. The theoretical development of the social capital is presented in a literature review. Then, the design and results of the free answers in the open-ended question is described. Finally, this study investigates whether previous findings on the bright and dark sides of social capital and psychological stress are confirmed and highlights how the bright and dark sides of social capital has affected psychological stress, health, and well-being in Japanese disaster context. In other words, the significant mechanisms and roles of social capital in a disaster context is explored. Based on the findings, the theoretical and practical contributions of this study to disaster research are discussed. (1) (PDF) Influences of Social Capital on Natural Disaster Research in Japan. Available from: https://www.researchgate.net/publication/317280457_Influences_of_Social_Capital_on_Natural_Disaster_Research_in_Japan [accessed Jan 25 2022].

Effects of functional focus on bounded momentum: Examining firm- and industry-level alliances. Strategic Organization 2018 Vol.16 No.2 pp.167-191.

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Building on strategic momentum and alliance studies, we theoretically explain and test the non-monotonicity of the alliance momentum of same- or cross-functional-type alliances. We theorize about critical drivers that generate bounded momentum and further argue whether function-specific momentum occurs sequentially or simultaneously. We examine cross-border alliances of 32 international airlines from 1945 to 1994 and find that the inverted U-shaped pattern of alliance momentum holds for same-type but not for cross-type alliances at both the firm and industry levels. These findings imply that alliance momentum with a specific functional focus evolves sequentially rather than simultaneously.

How Outcome Agreement and Power Balance Among Parties Influence Processes of Organizational Learning and Nonlearning. Journal of Management Vol.45 No.3 pp.1252-1283

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The dominant model of behavioral learning may not apply to organizations because it assumes that the people involved agree in their outcome assessments of actions and have relatively equal power to engage in joint learning. We relax these assumptions of consensus and power balance in order to apply the model to organizational (as opposed to individual) learning. We examine what happens when parties from different organizational units and levels engage jointly in learning from recurrent events. We examine behavioral learning as recurrent cycles of action-outcome assessment-response on similar tasks (i.e., recurrent events) over time. We observe different patterns of organizational learning (adaptive and dialectical) and nonlearning (persistent and compulsory behavior) in our 8-year real-time field study of the recurrent events while integrating a large health-care system. These four processes are interdependent and explained by just two contingencies: (1) agreement on outcome assessments and (2) power balance among the parties engaged in actions. These findings expand our repertoire to include processes that heretofore have not been considered in the organizational learning literature and explore how they change with different degrees of agreement and power among parties; that is, how an imposition of power by more powerful parties leads to nonlearning, while an openness to conflict and an empowerment approach enables organizational learning.

Duality of independence and interdependence: An adaptationist perspective: Duality of independence and interdependence. Asian Journal of Social Psychology (201610) Vol.19 No.4 pp. 286-297

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We propose a new framework for understanding cultural differences in self‐construal by noting the duality of this construct. Based on the analysis of the adaptive roles of self‐construal, we predicted that a US-Japan difference in self‐construal exists in the contrast between self‐expression and rejection avoidance. We confirmed these predictions using newly constructed self‐construal scales. Compared to Japanese respondents, American respondents were higher on self‐expression and lower on rejection avoidance. Our findings regarding the contrast between distinctiveness of the self and harmony seeking, which are traditionally discussed as the core features of independence and interdependence, did not support the standard cultural psychological view. The two groups of respondents did not differ on distinctiveness of the self and the American respondents were higher on harmony seeking than were Japanese respondents.

A Study on the Impact of Branding, CEO, and Global Learning Capabilities on Export Sales Performance of Korean Fashion Firms. International Business Journal 2016 Vol.27 No.4 pp.41-68

Consuming“to have no self”: Kawaii consumption in Japanese women’s identity work. In P. Moreau & S. Puntoni (eds). Advances in Consumer Research 2016 Vol.44 pp. 348-352

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This paper explores consumption and identity using data collected in Japan. We find that consumptions are sometimes used to "eliminate" a sense of self contrary to past researches proposing "extended self." In the society where self-expression has less significance possessions don't necessarily define individuals or aid in maintaining their identity.

Value Co-creation on Open Innovation Platform: Agent-Based Modelling on Behavioral Patterns of Customer, Corporation, and Regulator Proceedings on International Conference on Service Science and Innovation 2016

The Effects of Self-Construals and Interactive Constraints on Consumer Complaint Behaviors Across Cultures. Psychological Studies, Vol. 61, No. 4, (2016): pp.267-278.

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This study predicts cross-cultural associations between task and face constraints in relation to consumer complaint behaviors. Participants comprised 1200 undergraduates from Kyoto City in Japan and 420 undergraduates from Las Vegas and Tennessee in the USA. The complaint methods studied include direct voice responses, private responses (negative word of mouth and exit action), and third-party responses. We found that complaints are usually made when service failures occur at the level of co-consumption, rather than at the level of the unaccompanied consumer. The results elucidate intrapersonal and interpersonal views regarding the role played by task constraints and face constraints in mediating the relationship between independent and interdependent self-construals and complaints expressed in various ways. Discussion of these results and their implications is provided, followed by suggestions for future research on culture and conversational constraints (task and face constraints), which leads to complaint behavior, and implications of such research.

Work, meaning, and gene regulation: Findings from a Japanese information technology firm. Psychoneuroendocrinology, v72 (201610): pp.175-181.

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The meaning in life, typically reflected in a sense of purpose, growth, or social embeddedness (called eudaimonic well-being, EWB), has been linked to favorable health outcomes. In particular, this experience is inversely associated with the conserved transcriptional response to adversity (CTRA), which involves up-regulation of genes linked to inflammation and down-regulation of genes linked to viral resistance. So far, however, little is known about how this transcriptome profile might be situated in specific socio-cultural contexts. Here, we tested 106 male workers at a large Japanese IT firm and found that the CTRA is inversely associated not only with general EWB but also with a more contextualized sense of meaning derived from the perceived significance of one's work and a sense of interdependence with others in the workplace. These results expand previous links between personal well-being and CTRA gene expression to include the socio-cultural determinants of meaning in life.

'Meso'-Foundations of Dynamic Capabilities: Team-Level Synthesis and Distributed Leadership as the Source of Dynamic Creativity. Global Strategy Journal, Vol. 6, Issue 3, August 2016, pp.168-182

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Plain language summary Globalization has transformed the international business environment into an increasingly more complex, uncertain, and diverse entity. Multinational enterprises are under greater pressure to develop their dynamic capabilities to not only adapt to, but also proactively cope with, the speed and complexities of the fast‐changing environment. Some research suggests that dynamic capabilities are closely correlated with top management functions, while counterarguments stress that dynamic capabilities are embedded in organizational activities. From the perspective of organizational knowledge creation, making a distinction between the creative and adaptive aspects of dynamic capabilities, this article argues that 'creative' dynamic capabilities are rooted in the activities of teams in middle levels of the organization. The article also presents leadership practices that are favorable to fostering dynamic capabilities. Technical summary This article examines the theoretical foundations of an organization's dynamic capabilities--sensing, seizing, and transforming--from the perspective of organizational knowledge creation. Making a distinction between the creative and adaptive aspects of dynamic capabilities, this article argues that the foundation of creative aspect is 'meso:' it stems from team‐level interactions of frontline workers' capabilities facilitated by middle managers, rather than from individual‐level (or micro‐level) capabilities. In this middle‐up‐down management model, top management sets the vision of the organization, but middle managers grasp and solve the gap between the top and the frontline by facilitating team‐level dialectic interactions of employees. The leadership practices of both top and middle management that facilitate this process are illustrated with four Japanese multinational companies--Fujifilm, Eisai, Mayekawa Manufacturing, and Toyota. Copyright © 2016 Strategic Management Society.

Prosocial Behavior Increases with Age across Five Economic Games. Plos One, v11, n7 (20160714)

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Ontogenic studies of human prosociality generally agree on that human prosociality increases from early childhood through early adulthood; however, it has not been established if prosociality increases beyond early adulthood. We examined a sample of 408 non-student residents from Tokyo, Japan, who were evenly distributed across age (20-59) and sex. Participants played five economic games each separated by a few months. We demonstrated that prosocial behavior increased with age beyond early adulthood and this effect was shown across all five economic games. A similar, but weaker, age-related trend was found in one of three social value orientation measures of prosocial preferences. We measured participants' belief that manipulating others is a wise strategy for social success, and found that this belief declined with age. Participants' satisfaction with the unilateral exploitation outcome of the prisoner's dilemma games also declined with age. These two factors--satisfaction with the DC outcome in the prisoner's dilemma games and belief in manipulation--mediated the age effect on both attitudinal and behavioral prosociality. Participants' age-related socio-demographic traits such as marriage, having children, and owning a house weakly mediated the age effect on prosociality through their relationships with satisfaction with the DC outcome and belief in manipulation.

Moral Bargain Hunters Purchase Moral Righteousness When it is Cheap: Within-Individual Effect of Stake Size in Economic Games. Scientific Reports, v6 (20160614)

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Despite the repeatedly raised criticism that findings in economic games are specific to situations involving trivial incentives, most studies that have examined the stake-size effect have failed to find a strong effect. Using three prisoner's dilemma experiments, involving 479 non-student residents of suburban Tokyo and 162 students, we show here that stake size strongly affects a player's cooperation choices in prisoner's dilemma games when stake size is manipulated within each individual such that each player faces different stake sizes. Participants cooperated at a higher rate when stakes were lower than when they were higher, regardless of the absolute stake size. These findings suggest that participants were 'moral bargain hunters' who purchased moral righteousness at a low price when they were provided with a 'price list' of prosocial behaviours. In addition, the moral bargain hunters who cooperated at a lower stake but not at a higher stake did not cooperate in a single-stake one-shot game.

Relationship between bicultural identity and psychological well-being among American and Japanese older adults. Health Psychology Open 2016 Vol. 3 pp.1-12

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In a large national sample of American and Japanese older adults, this study investigated how bicultural identity affects perception of health and well-being in 11 individual psychological variables (i.e. positive well-being: self-esteem, optimism, subjective well-being Japanese equivalent, gratitude, Positive and Negative Affect Schedule-positive adjectives, and satisfaction with life; negative well-being: depression, pessimism, social anxiety, Positive and Negative Affect Schedule-negative adjectives, and perceived stress). This sample consisted of 1248 Americans from the Midlife in the United States survey, 2004-2006, and 380 Japanese from the Midlife in Japan survey in Tokyo, Japan, 2008-2010. Results showed that bicultural individuals (having both highly independent and interdependent self-construals) in both countries tend to exhibit higher scores across most perceived health and well-being measures when compared to other groups (i.e. marginal, interdependent, and independent). Cultural-specific aspects of self-construal, health, and well-being are explained to support the findings. Discussion of these findings and their implications is also provided.

Self-Construals, Anger Regulation, and Life Satisfaction in the United States and Japan. Frontiers in Psychology, v7(20160531)

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Previous studies have reported evidence that indicates differences between Western and East Asian cultures in anger regulation and its psychological consequences. However, many of these studies have focused on a specific anger regulation strategy and its relation with a psychological consequence. Here, we developed an integrated model that can comprehensively examine three different anger regulation strategies (anger suppression, expression, and control), independent and interdependent self-construals as the psychological antecedent, and life satisfaction as the psychological consequence. We estimated the model using large samples of American and Japanese adults to examine the associations between the two self-construals, three anger regulation strategies, and life satisfaction. We compared the difference in the patterns of relationships among the key constructs between the American and Japanese samples. The results confirmed previously suggested cultural differences while also discovering new culturally different paths. The results generally suggest that individual-level self-construals matter more when anger is a culturally condoned emotion (vs. condemned). The implications and limitations of the integrated model are discussed.

Culture and group-based emotions: could group-based emotions be dialectical?. Cognition and Emotion 2017 Vol.31 No. 5 pp.937-949.

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Group-based emotions are experienced when individuals are engaged in emotion-provoking events that implicate the in-group. This research examines the complexity of group-based emotions, specifically a concurrence of positive and negative emotions, focusing on the role of dialecticism, or a set of folk beliefs prevalent in Asian cultures that views nature and objects as constantly changing, inherently contradictory, and fundamentally interconnected. Study 1 found that dialecticism is positively associated with the complexity of Chinese participants' group-based emotions after reading a scenario depicting a positive intergroup experience. Study 2 found that Chinese participants experienced more complex group-based emotions compared with Dutch participants in an intergroup situation and that this cultural difference was mediated by dialecticism. Study 3 manipulated dialecticism and confirmed its causal effect on complex group-based emotions. These studies also suggested the role of a balanced appraisal of an intergroup situation as a mediating factor.

Cortical thickness of the dorsolateral prefrontal cortex predicts strategic choices in economic games. Proceedings of the National Academy of Sciences of the United States of America, v113, n20 (20160517), pp.5582-5587.

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Human prosociality has been traditionally explained in the social sciences in terms of internalized social norms. Recent neuroscientific studies extended this traditional view of human prosociality by providing evidence that prosocial choices in economic games require cognitive control of the impulsive pursuit of self-interest. However, this view is challenged by an intuitive prosociality view emphasizing the spontaneous and heuristic basis of prosocial choices in economic games. We assessed the brain structure of 411 players of an ultimatum game (UG) and a dictator game (DG) and measured the strategic reasoning ability of 386. According to the reflective norm-enforcement view of prosociality, only those capable of strategically controlling their selfish impulses give a fair share in the UG, but cognitive control capability should not affect behavior in the DG. Conversely, we support the intuitive prosociality view by showing for the first time, to our knowledge, that strategic reasoning and cortical thickness of the dorsolateral prefrontal cortex were not related to giving in the UG but were negatively related to giving in the DG. This implies that the uncontrolled choice in the DG is prosocial rather than selfish, and those who have a thicker dorsolateral prefrontal cortex and are capable of strategic reasoning (goal-directed use of the theory of mind) control this intuitive drive for prosociality as a means to maximize reward when there are no future implications of choices.

When a smile does no good: Creativity reduction among avoidance- versus approach-oriented individuals in dyadic interactions. International Journal of Innovation Management, 2016 Vol. 20 No.4

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This study examined the influence of others' smiles on individuals' creativity. According to popular belief, individuals get motivated to be more creative when others smile at them. In contrast, we hypothesised that smiles would make avoidance-oriented (versus approach-oriented) individuals less creative, as they may lose the motivation to pursue further novelty once they gain social approval, as implied by a smile. Forty-two participants were paired with a same-sex stranger and randomly assigned to the role of either an "illustrator" or a "commentator." The illustrators performed the Alien Drawing Task and the commentators gave feedbacks regarding the drawing, which were repeated six times and video-recorded. As expected, the results showed significant interaction effects between others' smiles and avoidance orientation on creativity: participants high in avoidance orientation showed less creativity when others smiled at them. In addition, nodding had the same effect as a smile did, confirming that social approval decreases the creativity of avoidance-oriented individuals.

The Response of Tail Risk Perceptions to Unconventional Monetary Policy. American Economic Journal: Macroeconomics 2016 Vol.8 No.2 pp.111-136

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We examine the impact of unconventional monetary policy (UMP) on stock market tail risk and risks of extreme interest rate movements. We find that UMP announcements substantially reduced option-implied equity market tail risks and interest rate risks. Most of the impact derives from forward guidance rather than asset purchase announcements. Communication about the future path of policy rates reduced volatility expectations of long-term rates and the associated risk premia. The reaction of equity market tail risk, in turn, points to the risk-taking channel of monetary policy, as the commitment to low funding rates may have relaxed financial intermediaries' risk-bearing constraints.

Social niche construction. Current Opinion in Psychology, v8 (April 2016):pp.119-124

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Humans are niche constructors who create physical and social environments to which they adapt. The social niche construction approach to human behavior analyzes behavior as a strategy to further long-term self-interest given a specific institution--that is, a set of stable and predictable responses from others to one's own behavior. We illustrate the logic of social niche construction analysis using examples of individualist and collectivist institutions, and explain how independent and interdependent self-construal can be viewed as strategies adapting to and collectively sustaining individualist or collectivist institutions. We discuss how the social niche construction approach is related to similar approaches used in cultural psychology, namely the socio-ecological approach, intersubjective approach, equilibrium approach, and gene-culture co-evolution approach.

Contextual effect of wealth on independence: An examination through regional differences in China. Frontiers in Psychology, 2016 7:384,

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The current study disentangled two different effects of wealth on psychological tendency toward independence: one is an effect exerted at the individual level (i.e., being rich) and the other one is a contextual effect (i.e., being surrounded by rich individuals). Past research has found a stronger tendency toward independence among people in economically developed societies. This association has often been explained as a result of a greater amount of choices, and thus more opportunities to express individuality that wealth affords individuals. In addition to this individual-level process, theories in cultural psychology imply that the wealth-independence link also reflects social processes-living in a rich society, regardless of one's own wealth, promotes independence (contextual effect of wealth on independence). Through a large-scale survey in China, using multilevel analyses, we found that wealth had both the individual-level effect and contextual effect on independence as well as related psychological tendencies (influence orientation and generalized trust), suggesting that individuals are more likely to be independent with greater personal wealth and when surrounded by wealthy others. Possible processes through which independence is promoted by liing in a wealthy area are discussed.

Revisiting Individual Creativity Assessment: Triangulation in Subjective and Objective Assessment Methods. Creativity Research Journal　2016 Vol.28 No.1 pp.1-10.

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Compared to the significant development of creativity studies, individual creativity research has not reached a meaningful consensus regarding the most valid and reliable method for assessing individual creativity. This study revisited 2 of the most popular methods for assessing individual creativity: subjective and objective methods. This study analyzed 1,500 individuals to investigate whether the methods for assessing individual creativity affect the measurement outcomes of individual creativity. Findings indicated that subjective assessments have a smaller variance a higher mean and a moderate but significant correlation with objective assessment methods. Such differences can be motivated by social desirability, consistency motif, illusory superiority, and leniency biases. Based on these findings, this study highlighted the need to acknowledge how subjective and objective assessment methods may affect individual creativity assessment outcomes.

Representation of economic preferences in the structure and function of the amygdala and prefrontal cortex. Scientific Reports, v6 (20160215)

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Social value orientations (SVOs) are economic preferences for the distribution of resources - prosocial individuals are more cooperative and egalitarian than are proselfs. Despite the social and economic implications of SVOs, no systematic studies have examined their neural correlates. We investigated the amygdala and dorsolateral prefrontal cortex (DLPFC) structures and functions in prosocials and proselfs by functional magnetic resonance imaging and evaluated cooperative behavior in the Prisoner's Dilemma game. We found for the first time that amygdala volume was larger in prosocials and positively correlated with cooperation, while DLPFC volume was larger in proselfs and negatively correlated with cooperation. Proselfs' decisions were marked by strong DLPFC and weak amygdala activity and prosocials' decisions were marked by strong amygdala activity, with the DLPFC signal increasing only in defection. Our findings suggest that proselfs' decisions are controlled by DLPFC-mediated deliberative processes, while prosocials' decisions are initially guided by automatic amygdala processes.

Religious harassment in the workplace: An examination of observer intervention: Religious Harassment in the Workplace. Journal of Organizational Behavior 2016 Vol.37 No.2 pp.279-306

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Religious harassment claims in the United States have risen sharply over the past decade. However, victims of religious harassment may not always report harassment, and true rates may be higher. Hence, actions taken by third parties present (observers) are important in combating harassment in the workplace. The purpose of this paper is to extend a previous model of observer intervention and related research by testing it empirically in the context of religious harassment and identify factors that influence observers' decision to intervene (intervention), when they intervene (level of immediacy), and how much they intervene (level of involvement). Across two studies, we find evidence that verbal harassment, ambiguity of intent, relationship to target/harasser, recurrence belief, religious commitment, pro‐social orientation, and the interactive effect of shared religion and religious commitment predict intervention. Furthermore, individuals show higher levels of involvement and immediacy in intervention when costs are low and emotional reactions are high. Implications of these findings for engaging observers in combatting harassment are discussed. Copyright © 2015 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

Parochial altruism: does it explain modern human group psychology?. Current Opinion in Psychology, v7, (20160201): pp.39-43.

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Parochial altruism -- the human inclination toward costly intra-group cooperation and inter-group aggression without expectations of future returns -- requires group selection logic to explain its evolution. We examined experimental evidence for three implications of the group selection account: the unconditional nature of intra-group cooperation; the non-instrumental, non-retaliatory, and costly nature of inter-group aggression; and the positive relationship between intra-group cooperation and inter-group aggression. Laboratory experiments revealed no support for the unconditional nature of intra-group cooperation, mostly negative evidence for the non-instrumental, non-retaliatory, and costly nature of inter-group aggression, and mixed evidence for the positive relationship between intra-group cooperation and inter-group aggression. Caution against premature conclusions about the role of group selection in the evolution of parochial altruism is advised.

Relationship between bicultural identity and psychological well-being among American and Japanese older adults. Health Psychology Open, v3, n1(20160101)

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In a large national sample of American and Japanese older adults, this study investigated how bicultural identity affects perception of health and well-being in 11 individual psychological variables (i.e. positive well-being: self-esteem, optimism, subjective well-being Japanese equivalent, gratitude, Positive and Negative Affect Schedule-positive adjectives, and satisfaction with life; negative well-being: depression, pessimism, social anxiety, Positive and Negative Affect Schedule-negative adjectives, and perceived stress). This sample consisted of 1248 Americans from the Midlife in the United States survey, 2004-2006, and 380 Japanese from the Midlife in Japan survey in Tokyo, Japan, 2008-2010. Results showed that bicultural individuals (having both highly independent and interdependent self-construals) in both countries tend to exhibit higher scores across most perceived health and well-being measures when compared to other groups (i.e. marginal, interdependent, and independent). Cultural-specific aspects of self-construal, health, and well-being are explained to support the findings. Discussion of these findings and their implications is also provided.

Revisiting Individual Creativity Assessment: Triangulation in Subjective and Objective Assessment Methods. Creativity Research Journal 2016 Vol.28 No.1 pp.1-10

The Hierarchy Myopia of Organizational Learning. Seoul Journal of Business 2015 Vol. 21 No. 2 pp.71-104.

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Previous studies have been interested in how to maximize both the efficiency and the effectiveness of organizational learning. On the flipside, some studies have investigated the critical barriers to learning. We suggest organizational hierarchy as another cause and theoretically explore how it can deter learning performance. Specifically, we argue that the configuration of structure determines a prevalent form of learning method in an organization to consequently affect its learning performance. Using simulation modeling, we show that non-hierarchical organizations may be a better learning environment than hierarchical organizations. We also show that the contextual factors, such as problem complexity and member regrouping, may affect the base-line result. This study subsequently calls for further attention be paid to the key issues concerning the hierarchy and organization learning performance.

The Effect of Individual, Team Creativity and Vertical Integration on Performance: The Case of the Korean Music Industry. Journal of Strategic Management 2015 Vol.18 No.3 pp.97-124

Cultural Differences in Cobrand Preference: The Influence of Dialectical Thinking Japan Marketing Academy Conference Proceedings Vol.4, 2015 pp.135-136

The contradictory roles of ambiguity for innovation in an industry: how beneficial are standardisation and classification?. Technology Analysis & Strategic Management 2015 Vol.27 No.9 pp.1114-1128

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Studies on the influence of ambiguity on innovation show inconsistent understandings: it could be beneficial owing to flexibility, while it might be detrimental owing to distraction of information. Faced with the contradictory understandings, this study examines whether technological standardisation and industry classification could increase innovations of an industry. Using ISO9001 and the SIC codes in Korea from 1998 to 2010, the empirical tests illustrate inverted U-shaped relationships between industry-level innovation and standardisation/classification. Therefore, it is suggested that a moderate degree of standardisation and classification provides a positive infrastructure for innovation by providing the necessary guidelines for a firm's behaviour as well as maintaining its flexibility.

Effects of anger regulation and social anxiety on perceived stress. Health Psychology Open, Volume 2, Issue 2.

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The mediating role of social anxiety was explored within the effect of anger regulation on perceived stress in the national sample of American and Japanese older adults. Results indicated that anger suppression is a significant factor in perceived stress mediated by social anxiety. Anger suppression was also directly related to perceived stress. The correlation of anger suppression with social anxiety was stronger in Japan than in the United States. Understanding both universal and culture-specific aspects of emotion regulation and perceived stress will be essential for the development of sound theory, future research, and effective prevention and intervention efforts.

Service Employee Improvisation: Organizational Influence across Culture. The 24th Frontiers in Service Conference 2015 proceedings

Role of Regulator in Value Co-creation: Using Crowd Sourcing Technology on Open Innovation Platform The 24th Frontiers in Service Conference 2015 proceedings

Service Knowledge Transfer in Asia: Role of Centers of Excellence, Host-country Environment, and Subsidiary Competence ICServ 2015 The 3rd International Conference of Society for Serviceology proceedings

Effects of information toward taste evaluations: Effects of information presentation order for the bad taste products　Proceedings of the 66th Meeting on Japan Society for Commodity Science 2015　　

Cultural differences in the focus on goals versus processes of actions and their effect toward service recovery.　Proceedings of the 65th Annual Meeting on Japan Society of Marketing and Distribution　2015

Residential mobility and low-commitment groups. Archives of Scientific Psychology, v3, n1 (20150511): pp.54-61

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Why are megachurches (at least 2,000 attendees in weekend services) and Meetup groups (www.meetup.com) more popular in some cities or states than others? Our answer: residential mobility (when people move a lot, they like groups that are easy to join and easy to leave; they might move again soon, so they cannot commit to 1 group). As predicted, we found that there are more megachurches in residentially mobile states than in stable states. We also found that there are more Meetup groups in residentially mobile cities than stable cities (population and median income being equal). We also found that low-commitment, short-term Internet plans (low initial set-up fee, low penalty of breaking the contract, but higher monthly fee) are more popular in residentially mobile areas than in stable areas. In the final study, we also found that college students who had moved a lot joined low-commitment student clubs more than students who had not moved. We conducted 4 studies testing whether residential mobility can explain why some regions have more low-commitment social groups, such as megachurches. In Study 1, we found that there are more megachurches in residentially mobile states than residentially stable states, but no difference in traditional, more high-commitment churches (controlling for population size and median income). In Study 2, we found that mobile cities had more www.meetup.com groups (controlling for population size and median income), which tend to be low-commitment groups. In Study 3, we analyzed subscription data from a large Internet service provider in Japan and found that more people in mobile prefectures ordered a low-commitment Internet plan than in less-mobile prefectures (controlling for total population and median income, the relation became marginal). In Study 4, we found that American college students who had moved more before college joined more low-commitment clubs on campus than nonmovers.

Digital inequalities and why they matter. Information. Communication and Society, v18, n5,(20150504): pp. 569-582.

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While the field of digital inequality continues to expand in many directions, the relationship between digital inequalities and other forms of inequality has yet to be fully appreciated. This article invites social scientists in and outside the field of digital media studies to attend to digital inequality, both as a substantive problem and as a methodological concern. The authors present current research on multiple aspects of digital inequality, defined expansively in terms of access, usage, skills, and self-perceptions, as well as future lines of research. Each of the contributions makes the case that digital inequality deserves a place alongside more traditional forms of inequality in the twenty-first century pantheon of inequalities. Digital inequality should not be only the preserve of specialists but should make its way into the work of social scientists concerned with a broad range of outcomes connected to life chances and life trajectories. As we argue, the significance of digital inequalities is clear across a broad range of individual-level and macro-level domains, including life course, gender, race, and class, as well as health care, politics, economic activity, and social capital.

Construal Based Marketing Tactics for High Quality versus Low Price Market Segments. Journal of Product and Brand Management Vol. 24, no. 2 (Feb. 2015), pp.172-181

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The purpose of this study is to propose differential marketing tactics for high-quality products versus low-price products by building on construal level theory. Two studies were conducted, one using students and another using data collected from more than 7,000 online auctions. When consumers consider high-quality products, they use more abstract mental models, and when they consider low-price products, they use more concrete mental models. Differentiation based on primary features product is more effective for products that are positioned on quality, while differentiation based on the secondary features is more effective for products that are positioned on price. Also, marketing efforts to attract attention are more effective for products positioned on quality than those positioned on price. This research focused on how consumers use different mental models for considering high-quality versus low-price product offerings but did not examine whether a given segment/consumer uses different models in considering high-quality versus low-price alternatives. Managers wishing to reinforce a high-quality position should focus on marketing efforts compatible with consumers' high level construal by enhancing and highlighting the primary features, and drawing consumers' attention to their product offerings. Managers wishing to reinforce a low-price positioning should focus on marketing efforts that are compatible with consumers' low level construal by enhancing and highlighting secondary features. This research makes an important theoretical link between construal theory and brand positioning.

Two-Component Model of General Trust: Predicting Behavioral Trust from Attitudinal Trust. Social Cognition, Vol.33, No. 5, (2015) : pp.436-458.

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General trust constitutes a critical aspect of social capital that facilitates democratic governance and economic prosperity of a society. Despite its theoretical importance, attitudinal measures of general trust often fail to predict actual trusting behavior in laboratory testing. We suspected that the failure of currently available measures of trust in predicting behavioral trust stems from the overly consequentialist approach to defining trust. We proposed that measures of attitudinal trust succeed in predicting behavioral trust when they tap both the responder's belief that his/her trust will be honored and his/her preference to be a trusting person. We constructed a new measure of general trust that includes both of these aspects. Using a non-student sample of trust game players (N = 470), we demonstrated that the newly constructed measure better predicts behavioral trust in a trust game and other related games, especially when the participant's social-value orientation is controlled.

The Hierarchy Myopia of Organizational Learning. Academy of Management Proceedings Vol.2015 No.1, 11673.

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Previous studies have been interested in how to maximize both the efficiency and the effectiveness of organizational learning. On the flipside, some studies have investigated the critical barriers to learning. We suggest organizational hierarchy as another cause and theoretically explore how it can deter learning performance. Specifically, we argue that the configuration of structure determines a prevalent form of learning method in an organization to consequently affect its learning performance. Using simulation modeling, we show that non-hierarchical organizations may be a better learning environment than hierarchical organizations. We also show that the contextual factors, such as problem complexity and member regrouping, may affect the base-line result. This study subsequently calls for further attention be paid to the key issues concerning the hierarchy and organization learning performance.

Cultivating Foreignness: How Organizations Maintain and Leverage Minority Identities. Journal of Management Studies. Vol. 53, no. 1 (2016) pp.55-88

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Scholars increasingly recognize that organizational fields contain minority identities, linked to alternative logics. Extant work has been largely silent on how such minority identities are maintained, and what their implications are for organizational agency. I contribute to filling this gap by examining how organizations cultivate minority identities, and how such identities both enable and constrain agency. Employing the foreignness of multinational enterprise subsidiaries as a particular case of minority identity, I find that managers actively cultivate minority identities by embedding into niche networks, reinforcing alternative expectations, and categorizing themselves into distinct collective identities. These elements of the minority identity enable particular forms of agency - internal experimentation and an external license to deviate - while constraining others - adaptation to the dominant logic and positioning in mature market segments. The findings extend theory by highlighting how minority identities are generated and sustained, as well as their implications for agency.

Preference-expectation reversal in the ratings of independent and interdependent individuals: A USA-Japan comparison: Preference-expectation reversal. Asian Journal of Social Psychology, v18, n2(June 2015): pp.115-123.

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We predicted and supported the prediction that a 'preference-expectation reversal' would occur among Japanese but not among Americans. American and Japanese participants evaluated ideal-typical independent and interdependent persons on the negative-positive dimension, and estimated how others would evaluate these persons. They also indicated their preference for acting like each of the target persons; that is, which of the two target persons they would prefer to act like. Both the American and Japanese participants wanted to act like the typical independent person rather than the typical interdependent person. However, the Japanese participants expected that others would evaluate the interdependent person more positively than the independent person. This preference-expectation reversal was not observed among the American participants. Further analysis demonstrated that the American participants' personal evaluations of the two targets were consistent with their preferences. The Japanese participants' personal evaluation represented a compromise between their preferences and the expected responses of others. These results suggest that the culturally shared belief in Japan that interdependent persons would receive more positive evaluations than independent persons created an incentive for them to behave interdependently despite their preferences.

To Be Perceived as Altruistic: Strategic Considerations That Support Fair Behavior in the Dictator Game. Letters on Evolutionary Behavioral Science, Volume 5, No. 2 (2014) pp.17-20.

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We successfully replicated Dana, Cain, and Dawes' study (2006) using a dictator game with an exit option with a Japanese sample. The exit option allowed the dictator to leave the recipient with nothing by paying a small fee, while also ensuring that the recipient never noticed that the dictator game was being played. If the dictator was motivated by fairness, or even self-interest, there would be no reason to choose the exit option. However, our study, as well as the original study, demonstrated that approximately 40% of participants chose the exit option. Based on these results, we argue that the altruistic behavior exhibited during the standard dictator game represents a default strategy for reputation management.

The effects of self-construals, self-criticism, and self-compassion on depressive symptoms. Personality and Individual Differences, Volume 68, October 2014, pp.65-70

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The purpose of this exploratory study was to cross-culturally examine associations among self-construals, comparative vs. internalized self- criticisms, self-compassion, and depressive symptoms. 1200 undergraduates in the city of Kyoto, Japan, and 420 college students in Tennessee and Michigan participated in this study. The results indicated that both independent and interdependent self-construals were negatively related to comparative self-criticism while positively related to internalized self-criticism. Both forms of self-criticism negatively affected self-compassion, while self-compassion lowered depressive symptoms. In the U.S., independent (vs. interdependent) self-construal had stronger impact on both types of self-criticism, while in Japan, interdependent (vs. independent) self-construal had stronger impact on both types of self-criticism, indicating that culturally dominant self- construal has a larger influence on self-criticism. In both cultures, internal (vs. comparative) self-criticism has a less negative impact on self-compassion. Cultural specific tests are described to support the findings.

The Role of Cognitive and Emotional Perspective Taking in Economic Decision Making in the Ultimatum Game. Plos One, 9.(20140925)

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We conducted a simple resource allocation game known as the ultimatum game (UG) with preschoolers to examine the role of cognitive and emotional perspective-taking ability on allocation and rejection behavior. A total of 146 preschoolers played the UG and completed a false belief task and an emotional perspective-taking test. Results showed that cognitive perspective taking ability had a significant positive effect on the proposer's offer and a negative effect on the responder's rejection behavior, whereas emotional perspective taking ability did not impact either the proposer's or responder's behavior. These results imply that the ability to anticipate the responder's beliefs, but not their emotional state, plays an important role in the proposer's choice of a fair allocation in an UG, and that children who have not acquired theory of mind still reject unfair offers.

Co-creation Orientation: Individual Difference across Firms and Customers ICServ 2014, The 2nd International Conference on Serviceology proceedings

Service Globalization: Cultural Context, De/Re-contextualization Capabilities, and Knowledge Transfer Behavior ICServ 2014, The 2nd International Conference on Serviceology proceedings

Spending Time versus Spending Money. Journal of Consumer Research 2004 Vol.31 No. 2 pp.313-323

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We find systematic differences in the way that people spend time versus money. Ex post, people are able to more easily accommodate negative outcomes by adjusting the value of their temporal inputs. Ex ante, people are willing to spend more time for higher risk, higher return options whereas when spending money the pattern is reversed and the more standard pattern of increasing risk aversion is observed. Although accurate assessment of the opportunity costs of time is key to making good decisions, ambiguity in the value of time promotes accommodation and rationalization.

Wisdom, management and organization. Management Learning Volume 45, Issue 4, September 2014 pp.365-376

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The last three decades have witnessed a spate of spectacular failures in the management of established and well-known financial institutions. The collapse of Barings Bank where directors were eventually ruled to be unfit to run a company; the spectacular demise of Long Term Capital Management, a brain-child of two Nobel prize winners, where after purporting to have discovered a fail-safe, scientific method for calculating derivative prices, lost US$4.6 billion in the first few months of 1998 and threatened a bank run that required active intervention on the part of the Federal Reserve in the United States, and of course, the slow and silent crescendo of headless and reckless decisions that climaxed in the financial crisis of 2008 where a significant number of established financial institutions had either to be nationalized or file for bankruptcy after being in independent existence for over a century. We continue to experience the long-drawn after-effects of this latest financial crisis, and there is much concern expressed in the media daily that little seems to have been learnt from this financial debacle.

In Search of Homo economicus. Psychological Science, 2014, Vol. 25, No. 9, pp.1699-1711.

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Homo economicus, a model for humans in neoclassical economics, is a rational maximizer of self-interest. However, many social scientists regard such a person as a mere imaginary creature. We found that 31 of 446 residents of relatively wealthy Tokyo suburbs met the behavioral definition of Homo economicus . In several rounds of economic games, participants whose behavior was consistent with this model always apportioned the money endowed by the experimenter to themselves, leaving no share for their partners. These participants had high IQs and a deliberative decision style. An additional 39 participants showed a similar disregard for other people's welfare, although they were slightly more altruistic than those in the Homo economicus group. The psychological composition of these quasi- Homo economicus participants was distinct from that of participants in the Homo economicus group. Although participants in the latter group behaved selfishly on the basis of rational calculations, those in the former group made selfish choices impulsively. The implications of these findings concerning the two types of extreme noncooperators are discussed.

Cross-border gatekeeper of foreign creative industry products: The case of manga (Japanese comics) and sushi in French market. 2014 Global Marketing Conference at Singapore Proceedings, 149- 152, DOI: 10.15444/GMC2014.01.07.04

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Needless to say, selling creative industry products in foreign markets is not easy. Exporter/importer always faces the gaps between two countries due to cultural, institutional (administrative), geographical, and economic barriers (Ghemawat 2007). To fill those gaps, exporter/importer of creative industry products needs to take various measures, including an adaptation to the local markets. Recent research has identified that there are key players, namely cross-border gatekeepers (CBGs), who function to better adapt foreign creative industry products to the local markets (Matsui, Uehara, & Washida 2014). However, there has been no research that explains the specific roles played by these CBGs. Hence, this paper aims to fill the gap in literature by clarifying the CBGs' roles. Based on the case study of two successful cases, manga (Japanese comic books) and sushi in France, we propose conceptual framework of CBG's roles in exporting creative industry products.

Co-creation orientation of customers: Its effects on co-creation activities　AMA SERVSIG 2014 proceedings　

Physical attractiveness and cooperation in a prisoner's dilemma game. Evolution and Human Behavior, v. 35, no. 6 (2014), pp. 451-455.

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The modulating role of age on the relationship between physical attractiveness and cooperativeness in a prisoner's dilemma game (PDG) was investigated. Previous studies have shown that physical attractiveness is negatively related to cooperative choices among young men but not young women. Following the argument that the negative relationship between physical attractiveness and cooperation is a product of short-term mating strategies among attractive men, we predicted that this relationship is unique to young men and absent among women and older men. We tested this hypothesis with 175 participants (aged 22-69 years). The results showed that physical attractiveness was negatively related to cooperative behavior among young men but not among women or older men. We further observed that the negative relationship between physical attractiveness and cooperation among young men was particularly strong when attractiveness was judged by women.

After pain comes joy: identity gaps in employees' minds. Personnel review 2014 Vol.43 No. 3 pp.419-437

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Abstract Purpose The purpose of this paper is to bridge the theory of organisational identity and the practice of HR management. Design/methodology/approach This conceptual paper starts from the fundamental questions about employees ' defining-self in workplaces. Specifically, this paper examines the organisational identity by adopting a process model of sensemaking which assumes a dynamic cycle between the sensebreaking and sensegiving activities. Based on this, this paper develops and provides a practical framework for HR practitioners and a theoretical implication for academic researchers. Findings The author introduces the concept of identity gaps, a relatively under researched area in the social identity literature and HR management. Then, three types of identity gaps are identified: individual-individual gaps, organisational-organisational gaps, and individual-organisational gaps. Based on this categorization, this paper shows the matching HR practices for each type one by one. Originality/value Today ' s practices of HR seem to underestimate the importance of employees ' activities of defining self-identities even though academic research on employees ' identity is flourishing. By providing clear and structured framework for managing employee ' s identity, this paper can bridge the theory of identity and the practice in HR management.

Dynamic fractal organizations for promoting knowledge-based transformation - A new paradigm for organizational theory: European Management Journal. Volume 32, Issue 1, February 2014, pp.137-146

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How can a company become sustainably innovative? We propose that the company needs to have organizational forms that achieve a dynamic synthesis of knowledge exploration and exploitation. In this paper, we present the "dynamic fractal organization" as a new organizational model. This model departs from the conventional information processing paradigm. Instead, we present a new frontier in organizational theory: the "dynamic fractal organization based on dynamic 'ba'." Dynamic fractal organizations build and utilize a triad relationship of knowledge that integrates and synthesizes tacit and explicit knowledge and creates a third type of knowledge, phronesis. The triad relationship is an upward spiraling process of converting tacit and explicit knowledge, and propels sustainable knowledge transformation across the diverse boundaries within and between organizations, and their environments.

MNE institutional advantage: How subunits shape, transpose and evade host country institutions. Journal of International Business Studies, Vol.45, No.3, pp.275-30 (2014)

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Scholars increasingly emphasize the impact of institutions on multinational enterprises (MNEs), but the opposite relationship has attracted less research - that is, MNE agency in relation to institutions. Based on a comparative case study of six MNEs from the United States and Sweden, this paper remedies this. It explores and explicates MNE subunits' strategic responses to host country institutional constraints and opportunities in five different regions. A new-institutional approach is adopted, which allows for an investigation of MNE subunit agency in relation to normative and cognitive institutions, as well as regulative ones. This fine-grained analysis reveals not only what kinds of responses MNE subunits invoke, but why and how they are able to respond.

We identify four strategic responses by which subunits shape, transpose and evade institutions in the pursuit of competitive advantage: Innovation, Arbitrage, Circumvention and Adaptation. These responses are driven by three key enablers: multinationality, foreignness and institutional ambiguity - that serve to enhance and heighten three mechanisms: reflexivity, role expectations and resources. By linking the enablers and the mechanisms to specific types of strategic responses in a framework and typology, the paper not only contributes to emerging research on the interplay between MNEs, institutions and strategy, but to strategy practice.

Welfare states and the redistribution of happiness. Social Forces, Volume 92, Issue 2, pp. 789-814

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We use data from the 2002 International Social Survey Programme, with roughly 42,000 individuals nested within twenty-nine countries, to examine the determinants of happiness in a comparative perspective. We hypothesize that social democratic welfare states redistribute happiness among policy-targeted demographic groups in these countries. The redistributive properties of the social democratic welfare states generate an alternate form of "happiness inequality" in which winners and losers are defined by marital status, presence of children, and income. We apply multilevel modeling and focus on public social expenditures (as percentage of GDP) as proxy measures of state intervention at the macro level, and happiness as the specific measure of welfare outcome at the micro level. We find that aggregate happiness is not greater in the social democratic welfare states, but happiness closely reflects the redistribution of resources in these countries. Happiness is redistributed from low-risk to high-risk individuals. For example, women with small children are significantly happier, but single persons are significantly less happy in the welfare states. This suggests that the pro-family ideology of the social democratic welfare states protects families from social risk and improves their well-being at the cost of single persons. Further, we find that the happiness gap between high- versus low-income earners is considerably smaller in the social democratic welfare states, suggesting that happiness is redistributed from the privileged to the less privileged.

The creation of consumption practices: Framing contests among multiple firms across multiple industries. Proceedings of the European Sociological Association 2013 Turin, Italy August 28-31, 2013 p. 254

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Drawing on social movement research on framing, this paper develops a model of framing contests at the social level (between multiple firms across multiple industries) to elucidate how cognitive frames influence the creation of consumption practices. This paper is based on Goffman's (1974/1986) frame theory. By using the content analysis of firm advertisements and press releases, the author examines the ways firms construct the frames and influence consumers to adopt the consumption practice. Frames are the means by which consumers make sense of new consumption practice and rely on to decide its adoption. The findings are two-folds. First, predominant frames within an industry are constructed through the imitative behavior of firms. Where the specific frame about the consumption practice is successful in mobilizing consumers, the firms imitate and use the same frame in their advertisements. Through such imitative behaviors, the frame becomes predominant frame of the industry. Second, the collective action frames are constructed through the framing contests among multiple industries. Where predominant frame is congruent, it becomes the collective action frame that prevails in the society. Collective action frame inspires and legitimates the new consumption practice. Where predominant frame about the consumption practice is not congruent, the firms engage in framing practices to make their frame resonate with consumers and to mobilize actions. The findings contribute to a theoretical understanding of the creation of consumption practices and the social dynamics among multiple firms across multiple industries.

Consequences of Beliefs about the Malleability of Creativity. Creativity Research Journal, v25,n2, (201304): pp155-162

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Attempts to maximize creativity pervade corporate, artistic, and scientific domains. This research investigated how individual's lay beliefs about the malleability of creativity affect several measures of creative potential. Two correlational and 1 experimental study examined the relationship between malleability beliefs about creativity and creative problem-solving and prior creative achievement. In Study 1, incremental beliefs in creativity were associated with interest in creative thinking, self-reported creativity, and creative problem-solving. In Study 2, incremental beliefs were associated with prior creative achievement in a cross-cultural, professional sample. In Study 3, incremental primes of creativity led to improved creative problem-solving. All studies provide discriminant validity and domain-specificity for malleability beliefs in creativity. Specifically, Studies 1 and 2 controlled for individual differences in beliefs about the malleability of intelligence, suggesting that malleability beliefs of creativity and intelligence are meaningfully distinct. Meanwhile, Study 3 found that incremental beliefs of creativity enhance creative problem-solving but not problem-solving more generally.

Reverse knowledge diffusion: Competitive dynamics and the knowledge seeking behavior of Korean high-tech firms. Asia Pacific Journal of Management 2014 Vol.31 No.2 pp.355-375

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This paper endeavors to enrich the existing knowledge acquisition literatures by specifically highlighting downsides of external ties of individuals. We introduce the concept of reverse knowledge diffusion (RKD) through external ties of individuals, and develop theoretical propositions to explain how the risks of RKD vary based on competitive dynamics and status of firms as innovation market leaders or market followers. We develop the construct of RKD to help explain why rivals may pursue contrasting knowledge seeking strategies with regards to leverage external ties of individuals, the timing of establishing these ties, and ex ante control mechanisms designed to regulate these relationships. We also discuss how our propositions advance the theory of knowledge seeking behaviors and generate future research opportunities.

Bank-Firm Relationships and Accounting Conservatism: Evidence from Japan. The Journal of Management Accounting, Japan 2013 Volume Supplement 2 pp.99-119

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Banks play a central role in corporate governance in many economies around the world. We compare the extent of conditional and unconditional conservatism between firms with and without close working relationships with their banks in order to gain insights into how bank-firm relationships affect the conservatism of financial reports. When bank-firm relationships are strong, we posit that investors will be less concerned about the timely recognition of economic losses (i.e., conditional conservatism should be weaker) because these investors can rely on the banks to monitor management. However, Japanese banks have incentives to direct managers to report lower earnings (i.e., to be unconditionally conservative) so that managers can benefit when negotiating payouts to the other takeholders. As predicted, empirical analyses reveal that firms with close bank-firm relationships recognize economic losses in a less timely manner, consistent with less conditional conservatism. and that these firms' accruals are more income-decreasing, consistent with greater unconditional conservatism.

Family Flexibility and Children’s Time Involvement with Parents　Journal of Comparative Family Studies 2013 Vol.44 No. 2 pp.137-156　

Open Innovation and Innovation Performance: The Role of Managers in Partner Diversity, Technology Protection and Creativity. The Journal of Professional Management 2013 Vol.16 No.1 pp.41- 6

Context Management Approach to Value Co-Creation: Toward Developing a Dynamic and Emergent Process Model. Organizational Science. 2012 Volume 46 Issue 2 pp.38-52

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In this paper, we take a service-dominant logic perspective to discuss value co-creation process by which both a firm and its customers engage in value creation activities. We first compare and contrast the "simple, linear, and pre-deterministic" process typically described in the existing research and the "complex, dynamic, and emergent" process observed in our exploratory qualitative research. We then extend insights from our research toward developing a dynamic and emergent process model, based on such key concepts as "affordance," "context," and "culture."

Marriage, Cohabitation, and Happiness: A Cross-National Analysis of 27 Countries Journal of Marriage and Family 2012 Vol.74 No.5 pp.953-972

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The authors investigated how the reported happiness of married and cohabiting individuals varies cross-nationally with societal gender beliefs and religious context. They used the 2002 International Social Survey Programme data from 27 countries (N = 36,889) and specified hierarchical linear models with macro - micro level interactions in order to examine how the social - institutional context affects happiness at the individual level. Consistent with previous research, they found a happiness gap between married and cohabiting persons. In the case of women, this gap was moderated by the gender climate and the religious context in the country. This suggests that, at least for women, this gap is not intractable but is rather an outcome of the social context. For men, the relationship between marital status and happiness was less variable across the different social contexts studied.

Changing Organizational Designs and Performance Frontiers. Organization Science, Vol.23, No.4, pp.1055-1076.

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This paper develops and tests a multilevel organizational contingency theory for designing headquarters--subsidiary relations. We use frontier analysis to overcome problems that have hampered advancements in organizational contingency theory in general and headquarters--subsidiary relationships in particular. Based on a longitudinal study of a large medical group practice of 32 local community clinics, we compute the relative distance of clinics from a best-performance frontier, determine what proportions of changes in clinic performance are due to factors that are endogenous or exogenous to the clinics, and examine the organizational factors that may explain these performance changes. We find that uniform headquarters policies have differing effects on the performance of subsidiary units, benefiting some and hindering others through no fault of their own. We also find significant performance volatility with different types of unit designs, suggesting the need to examine the risks of changing organization designs.

Examination on the effect of cultural self-views towards consumer behavior: Dialectical self. Japan Marketing Journal 125 Vol. 32 No.1 (2012) pp.75-88

Dynamic Updating Process of Customer's Motivation for Participating in Value Co-Creation The 21st Frontiers in Service Conference 2012

Leadership in Organizational Knowledge Creation: A Review and Framework. Journal of Management Studies January 2012 Volume 49 Issue 1 pp.240-277

Corporate Governance and its Impact on the Type of Corporate Spin-off Choice in Korea. Journal of Strategic Management 2012 Vol.15 No.1 pp.65-87.

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The purpose of this study is to investigate the relationship between corporate governance and the type of spin-off--a business portfolio restructuring strategy to improve management efficiency--choice in Korea. Spin-off in Korea typically takes the form of either equity or captive, which is different from the spin-offs observed in the United States. Although the number of spin-off cases in Korea has shown a steady increase since the 2000s, it has received less attention in the academia and is in need for a further in-depth investigation. In particular, very little research has been conducted on the investigation of the determinants of choosing the captive spin-off strategy under family ownership structures. Using the binary logistic regression, this research investigates the types of corporate governance structure and its relationship with the firm's choice of spin-off strategy by looking at the share proportion of the controlling shareholder, existence of an outside blockholder, appointment of a CEO who is the controlling shareholder or a family-related member of the controlling shareholder, and outside board representation. Our findings suggest that as the share of controlling shareholder increases, the tendency to prefer equity spin-off strategy increases whereas, when the CEO is the controlling shareholder or a family-related member of the controlling shareholder, the tendency to prefer captive spin-off strategy increases. However, we found no empirical evidence of the outside blockholder and outside board member's impact on the firm's decision to choose any type of spin-off strategy.

I don't need an agreement on my inconsistent consumption preferences: Multiple selves and consumption in Japan. Advances in Consumer Research,2012, Vol. 40, pp.469-474.

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This paper explores multiple selves and their inconsistent consumption preferences among East-Asians. The findings from 28 depth-interviews in Japan illustrate that East-Asians, contrary to Westerners, experience less psychological tension facing their inconsistent consumption preferences. They therefore have less need to find an agreement among inconsistencies. Dialectical thinking theory is employed to understand cultural differences towards contradictions. East Asian cultures tend to more tolerate psychological contradiction, whereas Western cultures are less comfortable with contradiction. Our research also suggests the absence of consumers' need for a coherent identity narrative in Japan, whereas in Western cultures, particularly in North America, consumers seek to reconcile identity contradictions. From the childhood, Japanese learn to shift between multiple selves. This norm is called kejime, the ability to make distinctions. Hence, Japanese consumers are culturally accustomed to shifting among multiple selves than to pursuing a consistent global self-concept. Today, it has become common to view consumers' selves as involving multiplicity (Gergen 1981; Markus and Wurf 1987). We now have a great deal of information and choices about who we want to be. Multiple selves often involve inconsistent views and affect consumer behavior. Hence, many consumer studies have examined multiple selves and consumption (e.g., Ahuvia 2005; Bahl and Milne 2010; Firat and Shultz 2001; Firat and Venkatesh 1995; Schenk and Holman 1980; Schouten 1991; Tian and Belk 2005). Yet, little attention has been focused on the issue of whether the findings apply to consumers around the globe. Although consumers from different cultures may vary in their response to inconsistent consumption preferences, the majority of research has been conducted in the U.S. Indeed, recent studies in cultural psychology have identified that cultures differ in the tolerance towards contradiction (Peng and Nisbett 1999). More particularly, East Asian cultures tend to more tolerate psychological contradiction (Spencer-Rodgers, Williams, and Peng 2010), whereas Western cultures are less comfortable with contradiction (Festinger 1957; Lewin 1951). In this article, we explore the various implications of multiple selves and consumption among Japanese. This article is organized as follows. In the first section, we review the existing literature on the multiple selves and consumption; then we discuss synthetic versus dialectical thinking. In the second section, we describe our methodology used in this study. In the third section, based on the data gathered from the Japanese participants, we argue that Japanese consumers experience no significant psychological tension facing own inconsistent consumption preferences. In the fourth section, we discuss our findings. Finally in the fifth section, we provide limitations in our study and suggestions for future directions.

Breakdowns in Implementing Models of Organization Change. Academy of Management Perspectives, Vol. 25, No. 3, pp. 58-74.

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Practice theories of implementing change are lagging behind process theories of organizational change and development. To address this gap, this paper examines common breakdowns in implementing four process models of organization change: teleology (planned change), life cycle (regulated change), dialectics (conflictive change), and evolution (competitive change). Change agents typically respond to these breakdowns by taking actions to correct people and organizational processes so they conform to their model of change. Although this strategy commands most of the attention in the literature, we argue that in many situations managers and scholars might do better if they reflected on and revised their mental model to fit the change journey that is unfolding in their organization.

Context Management Approach to Value Co-Creation (VCC): Toward Dynamic Process Model of Customer as Value Co-Creator　The 20th Frontiers in Service Conference 2011 proceedings

Surfacing important but invisible issues in American companies in Japan Process-oriented Dialogue around Cultural Conflicts Journal of Business Economics, Volume 81, No. 3, pp.73-99, May 15, 2011

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This paper explores cross-cultural conflict between Americans and Japanese working together in Japan. Drawing on participant observation, this study develops and pilot tests an application for facilitating group dialogue around organizational conflict, based on Arnold Mindell's Process Work model of group facilitation.

The model proposes several major concepts: (1) rank awareness and how people in authority use their authority; (2) roles and polarities, including primary and secondary identities; and (3) how the marginalization of views can spawn conflict. The application of this model to several conflicts between Americans and Japanese suggest three sources of conflict that often stem from unvoiced cultural assumptions.

First, the case findings here suggest that the freedom to speak up is often taken for granted by Americans, but not by Japanese. Second, Japanese are more aware and constrained by social norms than are Americans. Third, Americans in positions of authority in this case are relatively unaware of how the way they use their authority impacts the Japanese around them.

Foreign ownership, human capital, and the structure of wages in Japan. The International Journal of Human Resource Management, 2011 Vol. 22 No.15 pp. 3036-3050

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We examine the differences in the structure of wages between domestic and foreign-owned establishments in Japan. We use high-quality datasets from the Japanese government and construct a large employer-employee matched database consisting of 1 million workers in 1998. Our results confirm that foreign-owned establishments in Japan pay higher wages. We estimate that one percentage increase in foreign-ownership share of equity raises wages by 0.3%. We surmise that this foreign-ownership wage premium can be explained, at least in part, by compensating wage differentials. Workers in foreign-owned establishments are not protected by lifetime employment. They receive higher compensation for being exposed to higher risk and forfeiting their employment security. We also find that in foreign-owned establishments, wages are determined more by general skills, and less by firm-specific skills. These effects become more pronounced among establishments with a higher share of foreign ownership. The gender wage gap is considerably smaller among foreign establishments. Given the lack of long-term prospects for women in the Japanese labor market, foreign-owned establishments may be one source of 'brain drain' for highly skilled women there.

Regulatory Focus as a Determinant of Brand Value. Journal of Product and Brand Management 2010 Vol.19 No.7 pp.512-517

Framing the Green Alternative for the Environmental Conscious Consumer. Sustainability, Accounting, Management and Policy Journal 2010 Vol.1 No.2 pp.222-234

Lifetime employment in Japan: Concepts and measurements. Journal of the Japanese and International Economies, 2010 Vol. 24 No.1 pp.1-27

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This paper addresses three questions: (1) How big is lifetime employment in Japan? (2) How unique is it? and (3) How is it changing? Through the use of multiple data sets and methods, I find that no more than 20% of workers in Japan are likely to be employed under informal lifetime employment contracts, a far smaller percentage than has been reported. Job mobility remains considerably lower in Japan than in other advanced economies (particularly the US). Evidence regarding changes in lifetime employment is mixed. The share of workers in the core is declining, but the probability of job separations has remained stable for those who are already in the system. There is also evidence that the economic stagnation of the 1990s disproportionately affected females and younger workers. *James G.Scoville Best International Paper Award of the Labor and Employment Relations Association, 2011

Why do people give? The role of identity in giving. Journal of Consumer Psychology, Vol.19, No. 3, pp.267-270.

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Why do people give to others? One principal driver involves one's identity: who one is and how they view themselves. The degree to which identities are malleable, involve a readiness to act, and help make sense of the world have significant implications determining whether and how much people give. Drawing on the Identity-Based Motivation model (IBM; Oyserman, D. (2009). Identity-based motivation: Implications for action-readiness, procedural-readiness, and consumer behavior. Journal of Consumer Psychology, 19.), we provide a tripartite framework to help advance the research on the psychology of giving.

Uncertainty, Risk Aversion and WTA versus WTP. Marketing Science, 2010 Vol.29 No. 1

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We examine a previously unstudied category of exchange items in which the true value is unknown to both the buyer and seller at the time of exchange but becomes known to both at a future time after the exchange. Real-world examples of such exchange items as in our study include forward contracts and fixed-fee turnkey contracts. We demonstrate that the discrepancy between the seller's willingness to accept (WTA) and buyer's willingness to pay (WTP) increases with (1) the level of uncertainty about the exchange item's value and (2) the exchange parties' level of risk aversion. In a series of studies, we manipulate and measure the level of uncertainty of the exchange item, measure the level of risk aversion of the exchange parties, and study the respective effects on decreasing the WTP while increasing the WTA.

Tacit Knowledge and Knowledge Conversion: Controversy and Advancement in Organizational Knowledge Creation Theory. Organization Science 2009 Vol.20 No.3 pp.635-652

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Nonaka's paper [1994. A dynamic theory of organizational knowledge creation. Organ. Sci. 5(1) 14-37] contributed to the concepts of "tacit knowledge" and "knowledge conversion" in organization science. We present work that shaped the development of organizational knowledge creation theory and identify two premises upon which more than 15 years of extensive academic work has been conducted: (1) tacit and explicit knowledge can be conceptually distinguished along a continuum; (2) knowledge conversion explains, theoretically and empirically, the interaction between tacit and explicit knowledge. Recently, scholars have raised several issues regarding the understanding of tacit knowledge as well as the interaction between tacit and explicit knowledge in the theory. The purpose of this article is to introduce and comment on the debate about organizational knowledge creation theory. We aim to help scholars make sense of this debate by synthesizing six fundamental questions on organizational knowledge creation theory. Next, we seek to elaborate and advance the theory by responding to questions and incorporating new research. Finally, we discuss implications of our endeavor for organization science.

Perspective on the productivity dilemma, Journal of Operations Management, 2009: Vol.27 No.2 pp.99-113.

The Quality of Group Tacit Knowledge. Journal of Strategic Information Systems, 2008 Vol. 17 No. 1 pp.4-18

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Organizational knowledge creation theory explains the process of making available and amplifying knowledge created by individuals as well as crystallizing and connecting it to an organization's knowledge system. What individuals get to know in their (working) lives benefits their colleagues and, eventually, the wider organization. In this article, we briefly review central elements in organizational knowledge creation theory and show a research gap related to the quality of tacit knowledge in a group. We advance organizational knowledge creation theory by developing the concept of "quality of group tacit knowledge." Based on this concept, we further develop a comprehensive model explaining different levels of tacit knowledge quality that a group can achieve. Finally, we discuss managerial implications resulting from our model and outline imperatives for future theory building and empirical research.

Organizational Diversity, Integration and Performance. Journal of Organizational Behavior, 2008 Vol. 29 No. 3 pp.335-354

Does examination hell pay off ? A cost-benefit analysis of "ronin" and college education in Japan. Economics of Education Review, 2007 Vol.26 No.3 pp.271-284

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College-bound students in Japan undergo a process of intense preparation known as examination hell. An extreme manifestation of examination hell is the ronin phenomenon. Typically 30% of students choose the ronin option under which they spend years in addition to high school preparing for the next year's college entrance examinations. Using the mean scores of the entrance examinations as a measure of college quality, I find that college quality significantly improves the internal rate of return (IRR) to college education among the sample of male graduates in Japan. Ronin increases earnings indirectly by improving the quality of the college attended. I also show that the IRR with respect to ronin is one of diminishing returns. On average, the number of ronin years which maximizes the IRR is found to be somewhere between 1 and 2 years.

Strategic Management as Distributed Practical Wisdom (phronesis). Industrial and Corporate Change 2007 Vol.16 No.3 pp.371-394

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This article claims that effective strategic management requires distributed wisdom (which the philosopher Aristotle called "phronesis"). Strategy is created out of one's existential belief or commitment to a vision of the future, the ability to interpret one's environment and resources subjectively, and the interaction between subjectivity and objectivity. These abilities need to be distributed among organizational members. Strategy as distributed phronesis thus emerges from practice to pursue "common goodness" in each particular situation since a firm is an entity that pursues a universal ideal and a particular reality at the same time. Such idealistic pragmatism means that in a specific and dynamic context knowledge can be created and refined to become wisdom.

Careers in Foreign-Owned Firms in Japan. American Sociological Review, 2007 Vol.72 No.2 pp.267-290

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This article examines how organizational environments affect labor market processes in Japan. I hypothesize that labor market inequality is generated through workers being "positioned" in either domestic or in foreign firms. I apply the concept of social versus economic exchange to distinguish the nature of transactions between domestic and foreign firms. I argue that foreign firms operate under an institutional context that is conducive to the economic mode of exchange, which has enormous consequences for their personnel practices and reward systems. Using a dataset of Japanese workers collected in 2000, I examine the extent to which employment practices in foreign firms deviate from the benchmark features observed in the Japanese labor market. My results confirm that employment in foreign firms significantly affects career outcomes. The highcommitment culture commonly associated with the Japanese workforce is an outcome of the organizational environment. I find little evidence of Japanese employment practices (e.g., seniority and lifetime employment) operating within foreign firms. I also find that workers in foreign firms trust their employers less and have a higher propensity to quit their jobs. My findings suggest that workers in domestic and foreign firms are subject to vastly different sets of institutional constraints.

NTT DoCoMo's launch of I-Mode in the Japanese Mobile Phone Market: A Knowledge Creation Perspective. Journal of Management Studies January 2007 Vol. 44 No. 1 pp.50-72

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While innovation and knowledge creation processes and context are interlinked in the real world, scholars frequently ignore or separate context from knowing due to an entrenched sense of ontological and analytical dualism. This paper builds on the organizational knowledge creation theory (Nonaka, 1994) to provide a holistic view of contextual innovation and knowledge creation processes. The phenomenon is demonstrated by a longitudinal case description of i-mode mobile Internet innovation at NTT DoCoMo, a Japanese mobile communications company. This case explains how three key managers created and organized an interlinked system of shared contexts, called "ba", that enabled the combination and open flow of diverse knowledge and led to the creation and launch of the i-mode mobile Internet, which unites novel technologies and services. Managerial implications and limitations are discussed.

The Toyota way of global knowledge creation the 'learn local, act global' strategy International Journal of Automotive Technology and Management 2007 Vol.7 No.2/3 pp.116-134

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This paper presents insights from two case studies of Toyota Motor Corporation and its way of strategic global knowledge creation. We will show how Toyota's knowledge creation has moved from merely transferring knowledge from Japan to subsidiaries abroad to a focus of creating knowledge in foreign markets by local staff. Toyota's new strategy of 'learn local, act global' for international business development proved successful for tapping rich local knowledge bases, thus ensuring competitive edge. In fact, this strategy finally turned Toyota from simply being a global projector to a truly metanational company.

Upgrades and New Purchases. Journal of Marketing, 2006 Vol. 70, No.4 pp.92-102

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In many industries, firms introduce successive generations of new and enhanced product models to remain competitive. Product enhancements target first-time purchasers and consumers who already own an existing product and are considering upgrading to a new and enhanced product. Upgrade decisions differ from new purchase decisions because they are hindered by the psychological costs associated with the purchase price spent on the existing product. This research examines how the enhanced product can be positioned relative to the existing product to mitigate the psychological costs and facilitate upgrade purchases. A series of studies demonstrate that consumers with existing products are more likely to upgrade when the enhanced product is generally dissimilar to the existing product. Upgraders have stronger preferences than first-time purchasers for enhanced products with new features rather than for improvements on existing features, and they prefer enhancements that focus on a few key features rather than a general enhancement of all features.

Japanese Corporate Restructuring: CEO Priorities as a Window on Environmental and Organizational Change. Academy of Management Perspectives, 2006 Vol.20 No.3 pp.44-75

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This study explores how larger Japanese firms, and in turn the Japanese economy, has restructured since the burst of Japan's asset-inflated economic bubble in 1989. Based on interviews, surveys, and analysis of the appointment calendars of 79 Japanese CEOs, this research examines changes in CEO priorities since 1989 and how these changes reflect larger shifts in the way business is conducted in larger Japanese firms. The authors find that Japanese CEOs and their firms are becoming much more focused on investor relations than on bank relations, more focused on media relations and promoting their firm to the market, and less focused on government relations as Japan undergoes deregulation. The authors also find that Japanese CEOs are focusing more on external factors, with greater emphasis on shareholders and less attention to employees. Within the firm, Japanese decision-making is becoming more top-down than middle-up-down, as well as less hierarchical with fewer levels of management. In addition, Japanese CEOs and their firms are focusing more on outsourcing and hiring non-regular workers. The most surprising finding, however, is the absence of radical change in terms of personnel-related priorities and practices, in light of the length and degree of Japan's recession.

Organizational Knowledge Creation Theory; Evolutionary Paths and Future Advances. Organization Studies 2006 Vol.27 No.8 No.1179-1208

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Organizational knowledge creation is the process of making available and amplifying knowledge created by individuals as well as crystallizing and connecting it to an organization's knowledge system. In other words, what individuals come to know in their (work-)life benefits their colleagues and, eventually, the larger organization. The theory explaining this process -- the organizational knowledge creation theory -- has developed rapidly in academia and been broadly diffused in management practice over the last 15 years. This article reviews the theory's central elements and identifies the evolving paths taken by academic work that uses the theory as a point of departure. The article furthermore proposes areas in which future research can advance the theory of organizational knowledge creation.

Visionary Knowledge Management: The Case of Eisai Transformation. International Journal of Learning and Intellectual Capital 2006 Vol.3 No. 2 pp.109-129

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In many companies, the implementation of Knowledge Management (KM) practices amounts to upgrading information technology. We propose that a successful movement to KM practices requires more: the dynamic synthesis of visions, driving objectives, dialogues, practice, supporting contexts (ba), and phronetic leadership. Our case study of a pharmaceutical company, Eisai Co., Ltd., shows that it is visions aimed at the |common good|, in combination with phronetic leadership and appropriate enabling processes, that increase employee commitment to organisational knowledge creation rather than those based on objective market analyses and top-down-implemented KM practices.

Objectivity and subjectivity in knowledge management: a review of 20 top articles. Knowledge and Process Management 2006 Vol.13 No.2 pp.73-82

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In recent years knowledge management (KM) has received increased attention from academics and practitioners. There are several challenges to establishing KM as a separate discipline one of the most central being conceptual plurality. The purpose of this paper is to review and position 20 of the most frequently cited KM articles in management journals. More specifically, this paper classifies the KM publications on the subjectivity-objectivity continuum, discusses the strengths and weaknesses of the publications drawing from positivism and interpretative philosophies, and further discusses the challenges in KM, and how objectivity and subjectivity can be used to provide both product and process orientations in future research. Copyright © 2006 John Wiley & Sons, Ltd.

The theory of the knowledge-creating firm: subjectivity, objectivity and synthesis. Industrial and Corporate Change 2005 Vol.14 No.3 pp.419-436

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The theory of the knowledge-creating firm explains the differences among firms not as a result of market failure, but as a result of the firm's visions of the future and strategy. This paper proposes a framework to capture the dynamic process of knowledge creation in which knowledge is created through the dynamic interaction between subjectivity and objectivity. Knowledge is created through the synthesis of thinking and actions of individuals, who interact with each other within and beyond the organizational boundaries.

The Theory of the Knowledge-creating Firm; Subjectivity, Objectivity and Synthesis. Industrial and Corporate Change 2005 Vol.14 No.3 pp.419-436

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The theory of the knowledge-creating firm explains the differences among firms not as a result of market failure, but as a result of the firm's visions of the future and strategy. This paper proposes a framework to capture the dynamic process of knowledge creation in which knowledge is created through the dynamic interaction between subjectivity and objectivity. Knowledge is created through the synthesis of thinking and actions of individuals, who interact with each other within and beyond the organizational boundaries

Strategic knowledge creation: the case of Hamamatsu Photonics. International Journal of Technology Management = Journal International De La Gestion Technologique 2005 Vol.30 No. 3 pp.248-264

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Strategic management can be viewed as a mechanistic or an organic process. In the former, strategic formulation is based on environmental analysis. In the latter, managers are advised to frame strategies on the unique inimitable internal resources. While both heuristics are feasible, the ontological and epistemological foundations of strategic management can be elaborated. A knowledge-based view posits that both indigenous and exogenous factors need to be considered in strategy formulation because companies are in a dialectic environmental interaction. The integral components of the knowledge-based strategy are knowledge vision, driving objectives, dialogues, creative routines, and shared context of interaction (Ba). The space-time specific interaction of these components is illustrated in the example of Hamamatsu Photonics, Ltd., a Japanese company that has recently received attention for its production of the large photoelectron cell. Professor Koshiba was awarded the 2002 Nobel Prize in Physics for his research aided by the photoelectron cell.

Monthly Residual Income Valuation Analysis

Justification Effects on Consumer Choice of Hedonic and Utilitarian Goods. Journal of Marketing Research, 2005 Vol.42 No.1 pp.43-53

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People want to have fun, and they are more likely to have fun if the situation allows them to justify it. This research studies how people's need for justifying hedonic consumption drives two choice patterns that are observed in typical purchase contexts. First, relative preferences between hedonic and utilitarian alternatives can reverse, depending on how the immediate purchase situation presents itself. A hedonic alternative tends to be rated more highly than a comparable utilitarian alternative when each is presented singly, but the utilitarian alternative tends to be chosen over the hedonic alternative when the two are presented jointly. Second, people have preferences for expending different combinations of time (effort) and money for acquiring hedonic versus utilitarian items. They are willing to pay more in time for hedonic goods and more in money for utilitarian goods. The author explores the topic through a combination of four experiments and field studies. By nature, people are motivated to enjoy themselves. However, having fun also raises such issues as guilt and need for justification. Therefore, people will be more likely to consume hedonic goods when the decision context allows them the flexibility to justify the consumption. This research examines how hedonic versus utilitarian consumption can vary in typical purchase situations, depending on the decision context. Hedonism and utilitarianism are not necessarily two ends of a one-dimensional scale (Voss, Spangenberg, and Grohmann 2003). Different products can be high or low in both hedonic and utilitarian attributes (Crowley, Spangenberg, and Hughes 1992). This research takes a more holistic approach and conceptualizes hedonism and utilitarianism as summary constructs. I characterize hedonic (utilitarian) alternatives as being primarily or relatively more hedonic (utilitarian). This approach is consistent with work by Dhar and Wertenbroch (2000) and O'Curry and Strahilevitz (2001) and is more appropriate for the topic of the research. I do not examine the measurement of hedonism and utilitarianism per se but rather study how the aggregate perception of a good as either hedonic or utilitarian affects behavior in ways that are theoretically explainable and predictable. A similar but different pair of constructs to hedonism and utilitarianism is the "wants" and "shoulds" (Bazerman, Tenbrunsel, and Wade-Benzoni 1998). The wants are more affectively and experientially appealing than the shoulds, just as hedonic alternatives are more affectively and experientially appealing than utilitarian ones. However, the difference is that Bazerman, Tenbrunsel, and Wade-Benzoni (1998) conceptualize the wants as vices, exemplified by risky sexual behavior, smoking, and drinking, which infers a strong link between an immediately gratifying payoff and an obvious harm that can be reasonably anticipated in the long run. In his research, Wertenbroch (1998) takes a similar approach and uses the term "vices," which by definition connotes negative payoffs, and compares them with "virtues," which connotes positive payoffs. The distinction made in the current research is that hedonic and utilitarian alternatives are both goods, in the sense that both are expected to offer benefits, and neither is reasonably expected to directly cause any obvious harm. This is consistent with Dhar and Wertenbroch's (2000) conceptualization, in which both hedonic goods, such as audio tapes and apartments with a view, and utilitarian goods, such as computer diskettes and apartments close to work, are expected to deliver positive payoffs, but of different types. Hedonic (utilitarian) alternatives can be likened to relative vices (virtues). However, a fundamental difference is that the payoffs from both hedonic and utilitarian consumption lie primarily in the gain domain, and any harm that may ensue in the future is speculative, ambiguous, and indirect. In contrast, the payoffs from consuming the wants (vices) versus shoulds (virtues) explicitly straddle the gain and loss domains. Differences in judgment and behavior in the gain versus loss domains are well documented (Kahneman and Tversky 1979; Thaler 1980; Thaler and Johnson 1990). Furthermore, the wants and shoulds (vices and virtues) are defined explicitly in terms of the temporal trade-offs of benefits and costs. In contrast, although there may be a difference in the timing of the accrual of benefits for hedonic versus utilitarian goods, the temporal element is not critical in the definition. Between the wants and shoulds (vices and virtues), the costs and benefits that accrue in the future may be less salient, but after they are considered, the shoulds (virtues) emerge as the superior choice. That more reflection, and thus contexts that encourage more reflection, would result in a relative preference for the shoulds (virtues) is therefore intuitive. Between hedonic and utilitarian goods, however, there is no superior choice, even after all the costs and benefits are considered. Therefore, how the relative preferences for each differ across contexts requires a stronger explanation, which I propose is justification. Although reflection is the main explanation for the reversal of relative preferences for the wants and shoulds (vices and virtues), my justification-based theory can apply to those cases as well and make the same predictions. Both hedonic and utilitarian goods offer benefits to the consumer, the former primarily in the form of experiential enjoyment and the latter in practical functionality (Batra and Ahtola 1990; Hirschman and Holbrook 1982; Mano and Oliver 1993). Because of this difference, there is a sense of guilt associated with hedonic consumption (Kivetz and Simonson 2002a, b; Strahilevitz and Myers 1998). In part because of this guilt, it is more difficult to justify spending on hedonic goods and easier to justify spending on utilitarian goods (Prelec and Loewenstein 1998). Intuitively, guilt and justification are interrelated concepts, not competing theories for explaining the choice of utilitarian over hedonic goods. A sense of guilt may arise in anticipation or as a result of making an unjustifiable choice. An alternative may seem unjustifiable if there is a sense of guilt associated with it. The premise of this research is that people are motivated to consume hedonic goods but will be less likely to do so when the situation makes it difficult for them to justify it. I analyze how this drives two effects that are observed in typical purchase situations. First, I demonstrate a reversal in the relative preferences for hedonic versus utilitarian alternatives. When a hedonic alternative and a utilitarian alternative of comparable value are each presented singly for evaluation, the hedonic alternative tends to elicit a higher rating. However, when the two are presented side by side, the utilitarian alternative is more likely to be chosen. If a consumer sees a new DVD player with a built-in MP3 player in a store, he or she might buy the DVD player before buying a new food processor. However, if the consumer goes to an electronic appliance store with $100 to spend and can buy either the DVD player or the food processor, he or she may end up purchasing the food processor. Second, the difference in the need for justification also affects the combination of time (effort) and money that people choose to expend to acquire hedonic versus utilitarian items. I demonstrate that people have a relative preference to pay in time for hedonic goods and in money for utilitarian goods. In general, consumers pay a premium for convenience and go the distance for a bargain. Given a choice between paying in time versus money, consumers are more likely to go the extra mile and find a good deal on the DVD player (i.e., pay in time) and more likely to pay the higher price at a convenient location for the food processor.

Spending Time versus Spending Money. Journal of Consumer Research 2004 Vol.31 No.2 pp.313-323.

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We find systematic differences in the way that people spend time versus money. Ex post, people are able to more easily accommodate negative outcomes by adjusting the value of their temporal inputs. Ex ante, people are willing to spend more time for higher risk, higher return options whereas when spending money the pattern is reversed and the more standard pattern of increasing risk aversion is observed. Although accurate assessment of the opportunity costs of time is key to making good decisions, ambiguity in the value of time promotes accommodation and rationalization.

College quality and earnings in the Japanese labor market. Industrial Relations Berkeley-, 2004 Vol.43 No.3 pp.595-617

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The motivations underlying the pursuit of college prestige in Japan presumes a labor market that rewards workers according to the quality of the college that they attended. Yet studies that examine the relationship between college quality and earnings in Japan remain few and are riddled with shortcomings. This article examines the returns to college education among Japanese men using a 1995 cross‐sectional data set. I find that college quality significantly improves earnings. My findings confirm that college quality plays a crucial role in shaping incentives and earnings in the Japanese labor market.

The Social Embeddedness of Japanese HRM Practices: The Case of Recruiting, Human Resource Management Review 2003 Vol.13 No.3 pp.439-465

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This paper examines Japanese recruiting practices to illustrate how Japanese personnel practices are embedded in the social structure and norms of Japan. It approaches embeddedness from two angles. First, it argues that Japanese recruiting practices have been slow to adapt to the dramatically changing job market of the 1990s, because these practices have been embedded in social structures that have been slow to change. Second, it argues that the social structure underlying these practices is so firmly rooted that even powerful foreign firms have had no success in bringing about change, but have been forced to conform to Japanese practices.

The knowledge-creating theory revisited: knowledge creation as a synthesizing process. Knowledge management research & practice 2003 Vol.1 No. 1 pp.2-10

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This paper is a part of our attempt to build a new knowledge-based theory of the firm and organization to explain the dynamic process of knowledge creation and utilization. For this, we revisit the theory of knowledge creation through the SECI process and ba, and try to advance them further by incorporating the dialectic thinking. In this paper, knowledge creation is conceptualized as a dialectical process, in which various contradictions are synthesized through dynamic interactions among individuals, the organization, and the environment. With the view of a firm as a dialectic being, and strategy and organization should be re-examined as the synthesizing and self-transcending process instead of a logical analysis of structure or action. An organization is not an information-processing machine that is composed of small tasks to carry out a given task, but an organic configuration of ba. Ba, which is conceptualized as a shared context in motion, can transcend time, space, and organization boundaries to create knowledge.

A firm as a dialectical being: towards a dynamic theory of a firm. Industrial and Corporate Change 2002 Vol.11 No,5 pp.995-1009

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Today, firms are facing many contradictions: efficiency versus creativity; exploitation versus exploration; speed versus time‐consuming resource building. This paper argues that a firm's capability to synthesize such contradictions is the key to understanding why a firm can be more efficient at producing knowledge than market. A firm can create new knowledge and capability that go beyond the balancing point in the existing frontier with its synthesizing capability, which is embedded in its knowledge vision, its ba, its creative routines, its incentive systems and its distributed leadership.

Safety in Numbers: Downsizing and the Deinstitutionalization of Permanent Employment in Japan. Administrative Science Quarterly, 2001 Vol.46 No.4 pp.622-654

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This study examines the role of downsizing in the deinstitutionalization of permanent employment among publicly listed companies in Japan between 1990 and 1997. We found that although economic pressure triggered downsizing, social and institutional pressures shaped the pace and process by which downsizing spread. Large, old, wholly domestically owned, and high-reputation Japanese firms were resistant to downsizing at first, as were firms with high levels of human capital, as reflected by high wages, but these social and institutional pressures diminished as downsizing spread across the population. We argue that this breakdown of social constraints was due to a safety-in-numbers effect: as downsizing became more prominent, the actions of any single firm were less likely to be noticed and criticized, and the effect of the institutional factors that once constrained downsizing diminished.

Analysis of Credit Spread in Japan’s Corporate Bond Market. The Changing Shape of Fixed Income Markets: A Collection of Studies by Central Bank Economists, BIS Papers 2001 No. 5 pp.113-146

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This paper analyses the determinants of variation in the yield spread (credit spread) between government bonds and corporate bonds in Japan's bond market after 1997. The authors conduct empirical tests on the relationship between credit spreads and several economic and financial variables. A key finding is that default risk and the overall financial situation in Japan were the most significant factors in explaining the credit spread. The ratio of corporate bond issuance to government bond issuance is also an important determinant of the spread, a result that preceding studies had been unable to either prove or disprove conclusively. Notably, some of the factors that market participants claim to focus on in their bond dealing activities, in particular duration risk and the crowding-out effects of higher government debt, did not appear to have a significant impact on credit spreads.

Making the Most of Your Company’s Knowledge: A Strategic Framework. Long Range Planning 2001 Vol. 34 No. 4 pp.421-439

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This paper develops a framework of four strategies for managing knowledge. Companies can leverage their knowledge throughout the organisation, expand their knowledge further based on existing expertise, appropriate knowledge from partners and other organisations, and develop completely new expertise by probing new technologies or markets. The two core processes of knowledge creation and transfer are central to the execution of these strategies, as is the company's domains of knowledge. The framework is based on conceptualisation about knowledge management practices at Unilever, a multinational fast-moving consumer goods company.

Trade-ins, Mental Accounting, and Product Replacement Decisions. Journal of Consumer Research 2001 Vol.27 No.4 pp.433-446.

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When a consumer who already owns a durable‐type product in a category faces the opportunity to upgrade to a new, higher‐quality product, the replacement purchase decision is driven by both normative economic factors and psychological factors. As a normative decision maker, s/he considers the purchase price of the new alternative, but s/he additionally considers the mental cost of retiring the old product before s/he has gotten his/her money's worth out of it. During ownership of a product, a consumer mentally depreciates the initial purchase price, thus creating a "mental book value" for the product. The write‐off of this mental book value is felt as the mental cost of a replacement purchase. Based on the principles of mental accounting and mental depreciation, I provide a theoretical explanation for this mental cost and why an individual's replacement purchase decision may be more sensitive to the mental cost than the marginal cost. When applied appropriately, mental accounting can serve a useful purpose to the utility‐maximizing consumer in the long run, but when misapplied, it results in a misallocation of resources that does not add any value from the perspective of utility maximization. Through three experiments, I measure the negative effect of the write‐off on a replacement purchase decision and demonstrate ways in which it can be mitigated. Trade‐ins are examined as one way in which a consumer can be guided to make replacement purchase decisions that are more aligned with normative choice.

Statistical Methodologies for the Market Risk Measurement. Asia-Pacific Financial Markets 7 2000 pp.305-319

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This paper classifies statistical methodologies available for the marketrisk measurement. With the help of the weighted likelihood, a broad class ofnon-normal distributions, which are not generally considered so far, areapplied to possibly hetero-scedastic financial variables. The approach is compared with popular procedures such as GARCH and J. P. Morgan's using daily dataof 12 financial variables.

SECI, Ba and Leadership: a Unified Model of Dynamic Knowledge Creation. Long Range Planning Vol.33 No.1 pp.5-34

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Despite the widely recognised importance of knowledge as a vital source of competitive advantage, there is little understanding of how organisations actually create and manage knowledge dynamically. Nonaka, Toyama and Konno start from the view of an organisation as an entity that creates knowledge continuously, and their goal in this article is to understand the dynamic process in which an organisation creates, maintains and exploits knowledge. They propose a model of knowledge creation consisting of three elements: (i) the SECI process, knowledge creation through the conversion of tacit and explicit knowledge; (ii) 'ba', the shared context for knowledge creation; and (iii) knowledge assets, the inputs, outputs and moderators of the knowledge-creating process. The knowledge creation process is a spiral that grows out of these three elements; the key to leading it is dialectical thinking. The role of top management in articulating the organisation's knowledge vision is emphasised, as is the important role of middle management ('knowledge producers') in energising ba. In summary, using existing knowledge assets, an organisation creates new knowledge through the SECI process that takes place in ba, where new knowledge, once created, becomes in turn the basis for a new spiral of knowledge creation.

A firm as a knowledge-creating entity: a new perspective on the theory of the firm. Industrial and Corporate Change Vol.9 No.1 pp.1-20

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The knowledge-based view of the firm views a firm as a knowledge-creating entity, and argues that knowledge and the capability to create and utilize such knowledge are the most important source of a firm's sustainable competitive advantage. Knowledge and skills give a firm a competitive advantage because it is through this set of knowledge and skills that a firm is able to innovate new products/processes/services, or improve existing ones more efficiently and/or effectively. The raison d'être of a firm is to continuously create knowledge.

Statistical Methodologies for the Market Risk Measurement. Asia Pacific Financial Markets 2000 Vol. 7 No.4 pp.305-319

Japanese Organizational Knowledge Creation in Anglo-American Environments. Prometheus, Dec. 1998, Vol. 16 No. 4 pp.421-439

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Notwithstanding contemporary Western images of 'changing Japan', expectations of lifetime employment within a remarkably stable population of leading firms continue to underpin a distinctive style of Japanese management based on high levels of inter-employee trust and extensive transactions in tacit knowledge. After reviewing some factors that distinguish Japan's national innovation system from its Anglo-American counterparts, we develop an 'inside the black box' model of Japanese organizational knowledge creation. This highlights some aspects of Japanese management which do not sit easily amidst Anglo-American organizational turbulence and predilections for explicit knowledge. The second part of our paper uses two case studies to explore factors limiting the 'transferability' of Japanese management to Anglo and American innovation environments. These case studies illustrate differences between Japanese and Western systems, together with processes by which their respective advantages can combine to produce synergic benefits.

The 'ART' of knowledge: Systems to capitalize on market knowledge. European Management Journal, December 1998, Volume 16, Issue 6, pp.673-684

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The authors argue that current knowledge management practice, which focuses on managing explicit data and information technology, is not enough. Tacit knowledge, such as subjective insights or emotions must also be considered. Converting between these forms of knowledge is important, and the concept of ART (action-reflex-trigger) systems is introduced to enable this to take place. ART systems enable companies to implement a multi-dynamic approach to knowledge management. The complex concept of `ba' is introduced--a shared mental space for knowledge creation--which provides a foundation for knowledge creation. The authors explore the nature, context and enabling conditions for ART systems and show how ba can be employed in ART systems. A case study--of the Seven-Eleven Japan corporation is presented, whose outstanding success is based on the capitalization of market knowledge, striking a balance between supportive IT and human insight, to achieve a multi-dynamic approach to knowledge management. The company integrates several interlinked ba and ART systems.

Organizational Capabilities in Product Development of Japanese Firms: A Conceptual Framework and Empirical Findings. Organization Science Vol. 9 No. 6 (Nov. - Dec., 1998) pp. 699-718

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Using a large-scale data set on product development organizations of Japanese manufacturing firms, this paper explores the effects of organizational capabilities on product development performance. We present a conceptual framework assuming that organizational capabilities consist of multilayered knowledge. Based on the idea, we classify organizational capabilities into "local," "architectural," and "process" capabilities along two dimensions: modularity and designability. The empirical analysis demonstrates differential effects of different types of organizational capabilities on different types of product development performance, and compares the differential effects between two types of industries that differ in terms of their product characteristics: system based and material based. The central message from our analysis is that the process capabilities emerging from dynamic interaction of knowledge play a crucial role as core capabilities for product development of Japanese firms in the system-based industries in which Japanese firms are relatively competitive. In the material industries, however, local capabilities have major effects on performance while effects of process capabilities are limited, which underlies the relative weakness of Japanese firms in developing material-based products. Our results raise some intriguing implications on the competitive advantages and challenges of Japanese firms' product development.

The Concept of ‘Ba’ : Emerging Foundation of Knowledge Creation. California Management Review 1998 Vol.40 No.3 pp.40-54

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This article introduces the Japanese concept of "Ba" to organizational theory. Ba (equivalent to "place" in English) is a shared space for emerging relationships. It can be a physical, virtual, or mental space. Knowledge, in contrast to information, cannot be separated from the context--it is embedded in ba. To support the process of knowledge creation, a foundation in ba is required. This article develops and explains four specific platforms and their relationships to knowledge creation. Each of the knowledge conversion modes is promoted by a specific ba. A self-transcending process of knowledge creation can be supported by providing ba on different organizational levels. This article presents case studies of three companies that employ ba on the team, division, and corporate level to enhance knowledge creation

Managing Cross-divisional Interconnections to Create Knowledge-based Competence in a Multi-divisional Firm. Proceedings of the Strategic Management Society New York: John Wiley and Sons 1998, pp.151-166.

Develop knowledge activists! European Management Journal Vol. 15, No. 5 October 1997 pp.475-483

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Ikujiro Nonaka, Georg von Krogh and Kazuo Ichijo introduce the knowledge activist as a knowledge enabler. A knowledge activist is someone, some group or department that takes on particular responsibility for energizing and coordinating knowledge creation efforts throughout the corporation. Therefore, he acts in three roles: as a catalyst of knowledge creation, as a connector of knowledge creation initiatives and as a merchant of foresight. To catalyze social processes of knowledge creation, a knowledge activist formulates 'process triggers' and creates space or context for knowledge creation. The concepts of microcommunities of knowledge, imagined communities and shared maps of cooperation help the knowledge activist to connect knowledge creation initiatives: since there are limits to the number of participants in microcommunities, the knowledge activist establishes imagined communities, whereby shared maps of cooperation are important. As a merchant of foresight, the knowledge activist finally provides overall direction to the knowledge creation taking place in various microcommunities. The authors warn of three possible misconceptions and pitfalls of knowledge activism. First, the task of a knowledge activist is to enable, not control knowledge creation. Second, knowledge activism is not only about connecting others, but also about ensuring self-connections. Finally, lack of knowledge creation should not be covered up by establishing a knowledge activist. Knowledge activism finds different sources in different companies. As possible options, the corporate R&D center, strategists, knowledge and technology transfer units are discussed as well as individuals or departments as knowledge activists. The 'TORIDAS' project at Maekawa serves as an illustration of the knowledge activist concept.

Creating Knowledge in the Process Organization. European Management Journal 1997

Approximate single linkage cluster analysis of large data sets in high-dimensional spaces. Computational Statistics & Data Analysis1997 Vol.23 No.1 pp.29-43

A theory of organizational knowledge creation. International Journal of Technology Management 1996 Vol. 11 No. 7/8 pp.833-845

Dynamic Three-Dimensional Display of U.S. Air Traffic. Journal of Computational and Graphical Statistics 1995 Vol.4 No.4 pp.261-280

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We describe methods developed to interpolate and project flight paths of aircraft in controlled airspace over the continental United States from aperiodic position reports. There are a number of unusual features of the dynamic displays we have developed. Our visualizations can be viewed from either a fixed or moving viewpoint. The direction and distance of the focal point from the viewing point is under program control (allowing viewing in a direction other than the direction of motion of the viewpoint). The maximum and minimum depth of field is under program control (allowing viewing of selected local subsets of the data).

A Dynamic Theory of Organizational Knowledge Creation. Organization Science 1994 Vol.5 No.1 pp.14-37

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This paper proposes a paradigm for managing the dynamic aspects of organizational knowledge creating processes. Its central theme is that organizational knowledge is created through a continuous dialogue between tacit and explicit knowledge. The nature of this dialogue is examined and four patterns of interaction involving tacit and explicit knowledge are identified. It is argued that while new knowledge is developed by individuals, organizations play a critical role in articulating and amplifying that knowledge. A theoretical framework is developed which provides an analytical perspective on the constituent dimensions of knowledge creation. This framework is then applied in two operational models for facilitating the dynamic creation of appropriate organizational knowledge.

Managing innovation as a self-renewing process. Journal of Business Venturing, 1989 Vol. 4 No. 5 pp.299-315

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In order to remain competitive, a firm must constantly create new strategies, products and features as well as new ways of manufacturing, promoting and distributing its products. The process of new product development can serve as a catalyst for the self-renewal of an organization. Developing a new product forces members of an organization to create innovative approaches to problems which may then lead to shifts in the thinking of the firm. Most studies have regarded the organization as a machine for information processing. However, a view in which humans are likened to parts of a machine overlooks a very important aspect in considering the process of organizational self-renewal. Although humans have a finite ability to process information, they also have the ability to create information by looking at things in a new way or adopting a different point of view. This change in thinking can lead to a new awareness throughout the organization, and can help to solve the problems which seem to have no traditional solution. Information which arises in this process competes with and complements other information in the organization. Eventually, the new and the existing information may be integrated to produce a change in organizational cognitive and behavioral patterns. This results in the self-renewal of the organization. This study examines the process of new product development through a case study of the creation of the Canon personal copier, and outlines a series of stages for promoting innovation and organizational self-renewal. The analysis of the process used by Canon in creating the personal copier indicates that the self-renewal of the firm may result from deliberately creating a climate of turbulence and constructive conflict within the organization. In such an environment, dynamic cooperation between different divisions or task forces is encouraged and new solutions to complex problems are found. The viewpoint presented in this study--that the self--renewal of an organization is a process of information creation-could be extended to create new theoretical frameworks. While Canon's approach to fostering information creation was effective, however, other methods of organizational self-renewal should be explored.

Culture and Strategic Issue Categorization Theory. Management iIernational Review 1988 Vol. 28 No. 3 pp.6-10

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A key hypothesis of strategic issue categorization theory is that the labeling of issues as threats or opportunities influences organizational approaches to information processing. Research conducted with senior American and Japanese executives offered support for the hypothesis. The source of labeling for the Japanese executives was in cultural values. American labeling sources were less clear.

Self-renewal of the Japanese firm and the human resource strategy. Human Resource Management Spring 1988 Volume 27 Issue 1 pp.45-62

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Traditional "Japanese personnel management" that has long been considered as the key for Japan's competitive success now needs fundamental restructuring in order to meet the challenges of a stagnant economy, matured domestic market, and the rise of NICs (Newly Industrialized Countries) in international markets. The self‐renewal of Japanese firms can be achieved by a paradigm shift at the corporate strategy level: from a production orientation to a product orientation. In accordance with this paradigm shift, leading Japanese firms have started reforming their Human Resource Management (HRM) function from a productivity‐centered to a creativity‐centered one-- creative HRM. Creative HRM has three pillars: (1) the creation of the strategic vision through commitment of the employees, (2) an entrepreneurial middle management as a key strategic node, and (3) multi‐dimensional personnel management. Creation and realization of the strategic vision through the active commitment of an entrepreneurial middle management is necessary for the self‐renewal of the firm. "Japanese Personnel Management" that might have been overadapted to the traditional strategic paradigm is now transforming itself from a "group‐centered" personnel administration to an "individual‐centered" one. While Western companies have been adopting Japanese "groupism" to reconstruct their production systems, Japanese companies have started introducing Western "individualism" to encourage creative self‐transformation. But no system or technique is truly effective without human commitment, and this requires a fundamental paradigm shift for Japanese firms.

The Application of Organizational Learning Theory to Japanese and American Management. Journal of International Business Studies 1986 Vol. 17 No. 3 pp. 127-147

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Karl Weick, in The Social Psychology of Organizing, theorized in effect that organizational learning must be governed by a theory of action. Such a theory can be described in terms of variety amplification by senior managers and variety reduction by junior managers. In a study of senior American and Japanese executives, the Japanese showed a stronger commitment to this theory of action than the Americans did. Implications for strategy-setting behavior in both cultures are discussed.

Assessing the Impact of Country of Origin on Product Evaluations: A New Methodological Perspective. Journal of Marketing Research November 1985 Vol. 22 No. 4 pp.388-396

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A new methodological approach for examining the impact of country of origin on product evaluations is proposed. It takes the form of a multiattribute attitudinal model analyzed by means of a system of simultaneous equations. This approach makes possible examination of the impact of other attributes as well as country of origin on evaluations, and takes into consideration the effect of familiarity and knowledge about the product class. Differences between respondents of two different national origins are also investigated because previous research indicates differences in country stereotyping by nationality

Japanese Management: What About the "Hard" Skills? The Academy of Management Review April 1985 Vol. 10 No. 2 pp. 181-191

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Many writers on Japanese management emphasize the importance of "soft" skill, staff, style, and superordinate goal factors in managing successful organizations. It is argued here that Japanese firms face turbulent environments, making the "hard" factors of strategy, structure, and systems necessary for success. The idea of organizational learning is used to explain how Japanese firms' hard skills have equalled and sometimes surpassed those of Western firms, despite the limited professional education of Japanese managers.

Japanese Export Marketing: structures, Strategies, Counterstrategies. International Marketing Review 1983 Vol. 1, No. 2 pp.12-25

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Against the success of Japanese exporting companies during the last decade, a brief but comprehensive review of the factors behind their performance is presented. Based on a combination of secondary and primary data, the structures within which the exporting companies operate are spelled out and integrated. The integration is shown to lead naturally to a particular strategic posture dominated by a long‐run perspective and a high quality/price ratio in products meticulously adapted for very specific market segments. Potentially valuable counterstrategies drawing upon the Japanese experiences and military analogies are developed.

Marketing management, its environment, and information processing: a problem of organizational design. Journal of Business Research 1979 Vol. 7 No. 4 pp.277-300

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The marketing literature has overlooked the problem of designing optimal organizational structures for marketing management. The study of this problem is crucial and pressing. Some relationships are proposed between the information generated by the market environment and the ability of the organization of a marketing department to process this information. Insights and opportunities for future conceptual and empirical work are provided.