Urasa Conference Program

Urasa Conference Program



10:30 - 10:40	Opening Remarks President Yasuma Sugihara

10:40 - 11:15	Session 1	The Innovations of ICT and their Strategic Use in Governance, Society, and Globalization
Coordinator: Professor Jay Rajasekera
This PLATFORM examines how ICT innovations can be used for the greatest benefit in governance, societies, and globalization. Additionally, we explore the most effective ways in which ICTs can benefit Small and Medium Enterprises (SME), particularly within developing countries. As a case of the use of ICTs for development purposes, we will provide a brief overview of entrepreneurial opportunities created as a result of Grameen Phone, founded by, Dr. Muhammad Yunus, last year’s Nobel prize winner. Then we will propose a mobile-based business plan for very small entrepreneurs, mostly women, and show how it can be made into a sustainable business. And if time permits, we will show a small video clip related to this case. PDF:

11:15 - 12:00	Session 2	The Impact of Mobile Technologies on Markets and Societies
Coordinator: Associate Professor Philip Sugai
As the world reaches the milestone of 3 billion mobile phone subscribers this year, the study of the impact of these devices and the services made available through them has become an essential element of both academic and business research. This PLATFORM focuses on the impact of mobile and wireless technologies on consumers, markets and societies. We have three presentations in the Urasa conference to explain the current focus in our Lab. The first presentation will be made by Jap Satria P. Winata, who will explain his analysis of User Generated Content (UGC) and its potential impact on mobile and wireless business ventures. Next, Sirilak Manawongcharoen will present her research of Web 2.0, specifically highlighting the business case of the Tokyo-based company Naviblog. And finally, Bryan Copeland will explain the evolution of Web 3.0, or the semantic web, and provide a high-level overview of his development of a semantic web for Mobile TV. PDF:

12:00 - 12:40	Break

12:40 - 13:25	Session 3	Toward Value Co-Creation through New Forms of Customer Relationships
Coordinator: Assistant Prof. Ozcan Kerimcan
From R&D to marketing, from services to manufacturing, key premises of the industrial system are being fundamentally challenged. Producers and consumers can create and realize actual value simultaneously and together. The ultimate source and determinant of value is personalized experience, which cannot be designed, packaged, and delivered through products. What a firm can do, along with other firms in an expanded network, is to provide environments for the consumer to co-create experiences, along with other consumers in communities. Based on the foregoing motivation and framework, three student members, Benjamin Pekaric, Nguyen Viet Hung and Christine Palacpac will present cases of Disney’s Online Newsgroups, LG Electronics and government agencies in the Philippines. PDF:

13:25 - 14:00	Session 4	Studies in East Asia Community
Coordinator: Former President Ippei Yamazawa
While an East Asian Community is a long-term goal shared widely in East Asia, economic, political, diplomatic, and other conditions need to be addressed in order for such plans to be achieved. Individual members have different expectations for the East Asian Community. Integrating the viewpoints of the multi-national participants of this PLATFORM, we have tried to correctly identify these expectations and search for a roadmap to realize the maximum benefits for as many members as possible. In this session, a student representative will present findings based on our PLATFORM discussions. PDF:

14:00 - 14:35	Session 5	Migration and the Transformation of Japan into a Multicultural Society
Coordinator: Professor Shinichi Watanabe
This PLATFORM is concerned with migration issues and has a strong policy orientation toward developing coherent policies and institutions that can govern the international flow of peoples in the world. In this session, Allan Cledera reports the results of his Participatory Action Research (PAR) on the issues and problems faced by Filipino residents in Kyoto. 12 seminars were organized with 300 Filipino residents in Kyoto through the Society of Franciscan Missionaries of the Catholic Church. He analyses the successes and failures of the approach and presents major findings that suggest the possibility of institutional reforms that benefit both Filipino migrants and Japanese citizens. PDF:

14:35 - 14:40	Break

14:40 - 15:15	Session 6	New Leadership in Japan and Asia under Globalization
Coordinator: Associate Professor Yoshitaka Yamazaki
The purpose of this PLATFORM is to investigate cross-cultural leadership and management across six Asian countries: Japan, China, Taiwan, Thailand, Malaysia, and Myanmar. We focused on the examination of differences in Cross-cultural competencies and learning styles. In addition, our study dealt with how gender, management levels, and leadership training experiences impact them. For this study, we analyzed a total of 741 questionnaires from the above-mentioned countries. PDF:

15:15 - 16:00	Session 7	Corporate Restructuring and M&A
Coordinator: Visiting Professor Takato Hiraki
This PLATFORM consists of two projects related to corporate restructuring at AEON and NTT. The first project highlights AEON’s recent acquisition of Mycal. The case represents one of the most successful turnarounds during the post-bubble period in Japan. The second project deals with NTT’s group reformation under a pure holding company in 1999 and its implications. It presents the most ideal experiment of the theory of “internal capital markets” in an advanced economy. It was only partially successful. The case in each project was developed through corporate visits for interviews with key managers at each company. Overall, we as a team have learned from the project that value can be created differently in Japan than in the U.S. faced with different internal and external constraints in corporate governance. PDF:

16:00 -16:45	Session 8	Corporate environmental Strategy and Management
Coordinator: Assistant Professor Masachika Suzuki
This PLATFORM handles corporate environmental strategy and management. As a research project under this Platform, we are presently studying a resource recycling system called IRRS (International Resource Recycling System) proposed by Fuji Xerox Co., Ltd. We have two presentations in this session to introduce this project to the audience. The first presentation is by Yasuo Saito who graduated from IUJ last year. Yasuo will discuss the results of his Thai research in this Platform last year. Ricky Tagar Risnauli will conduct the second presentation. Ricky is a Research Assistant under this Platform this year. He will discuss our research plan and progress this year in Indonesia, Malaysia and Singapore. PDF:

16:45 - 16:50	Closing Remarks

17:00 - 18:00	Reception IUJ Research Institute 1F Lobby