Thinktank | Research
Good trade promotion in Hong Kong Japan, Greater China and Asia, which is projected to grow the most in the world in the coming decades, is essential for peace and prosperity in the region. We are promoting research to understand the definition of goodness and its promotion theoretically and systematically.
World trade history has proved that unbalanced trade is a distant cause of interstate conflict and thus war. It is necessary to make efforts to achieve balanced trade on a macro scale, and to make it an international business that enhances mutual benefits between companies and, by extension, the local communities of both regions and enhances their sense of well-being.
The Hong Kong Japan Business Study Center conducts a lot of research to better understand the partner country, aiming for companies of Hong Kong, Japan and China to smoothly achieve the international trade and investment business, and as a think tank, we will disseminate it not only to academic societies but also to the business world.
Research Projects
International Alliance Strategy for SMEs
— Research Name: SME International Alliance Strategy
— Period: December 2000-June 2001
— Purpose: Comparison of the results of direct entry in the business with China and indirect entry through alliances with Hong Kong (or Taiwan etc.) Overseas Chinese companies. Consider which is more advantageous for Japanese SMEs.
— Method: Questionnaire survey of SMEs in the Kansai region. 6,000 Kansai SMEs (Hong Kong Trade Development Council, Osaka Chamber of Commerce DB)
— Conclusion: Many managers were aware that the indirect entry strategy would produce results rather than the direct entry. The top item of the advantage that Japanese SMEs was found that they have acquired through alliances with Hong Kong companies the transfer of management know-how with China. After a certain period of time after knowledge transfer, they will shift to direct entry.
Business Survey of Hong Kong Companies Operating in China
— Research Name： Chinese Business Management and China Business Strategy Research "Hong Kong Enterprises operating in China and the Chinese Standards" ~Interviews with Hong Kong Chinese Enterprises
— Period: December 2003 in Hong Kong
— Purpose: Interview with the key points of how Hong Kong companies do business with China. Recognize the existence of the implicit mechanism and structure of Chinese business, and extract effective countermeasures useful for China business.
— Method: Questionnaire distribution and interview survey to Hong Kong-registered companies with ongoing business with China
— Sample: 17 cases of ongoing Chinese business of Hong Kong companies participating in the 2003 Hong Kong SME Exhibition in Hong Kong
— Conclusion: The risk management and treatment methods of Hong Kong companies for financial foreign currency management, sales management, and legal management, which had been clarified as business risks for Japanese SMEs to China, used unique methods beyond the imagination of Japanese companies.
Chinese Standard Research:
Beijing / Wuhan / Shanghai Survey
— Research Name: Beijing / Shanghai / Wuhan Chinese Standard Research
— Period: 2003-2005
— Purpose: Verification of whether Chinese corporate organizational behavior exhibited in Chinese business are based on the tacit knowledge appeared as the Chinese Standard from the preceding research on HK companies operating in China and existing academic resources.
— Method: Conducted a questionnaire survey of businessmen enrolled in Guanghua School of Business in Beijing,, Shanghai Fudan University, and Wuhan University of Technology. Questions are divided into "Confucian values", "Chinese Art of War", and "National Condition(guo jing)" according to Professor Tony Fan's three paradigm categories, and related question design within each category. Approximately 360 valid responses
— Conclusion: Standards such as "Guanxi", "Renqing", and "Face", which are classified as "Confucian values", are predominantly functioning in the business phase. Various competitive strategies classified as “Chinese Art of War (Sunzi Bingfa)” varied in each region. In the "Chinese Legalism", "Reward and Punishment" showed high dominance. In the "National Condition", "Guoqing" shows high control over the decision-making influence of business with China.
Study on the Business Education Effect of the Compass for Entering Greater China
— Research Name: Challenges and methods of business education for China and Greater China
— Period: 2003-2006
— Purpose: The set of Chinese Standards found in the preceding researches such as the behaviors of Hong Kong enterprises operating in China. Then, those were tested in Beijing, Shanghai, and Wuhan whether the attitude and decision makings of the Chinese businessmen would be influenced by these Chinese standards. The result was positive and realized some of those Chinese standards are predominantly utilized in their attitudes and decision makings. The hypothesis was set as if the knowledge of the Chinese standards be transferred sufficiently to Japanese businessmen, their China business would become smoother. A business education curriculum incorporating those set of Chinese standards systematically were created and named as “Chinese Management & Marketing School (CMMS) and offered to the set of Japanese businessmen operating China business.
— Method: The creation and implementation of the Chinese Management and Marketing School (CMMS) incorporating the Chinese standards. The course included 30 lessons X 2 hours/each within six months. At the end of the course, survey was done on those who took lessens on their awareness change before and after through interview survey with 11 of the 43 enrolled businessmen who obtained the full completion certificate.
— Achievements: The remarkable result was gained that the ability to explain Chinese corporate behavior was cultivated and the ability to predict the future was enhanced. Conference presentation paper "Problems and methods of business education for China and China-Economics-Essay" was presented to the Japan Association of Chinese Economy and Management Studies in Sept. 2005.
Comparative Study on Century-old Companies in Japan and China
— Research Name: Japan-China longevity company comparison joint research
— Period: 2016-2021 - Purpose Searching for a universal longevity management model through comparison between Japan and China based on research on corporate survival strategies that contribute to China's economic development.
— Method: Both wheels of quantitative and qualitative analysis. Analyzed a total of 900 valid responses from Teikoku Databank, Kyoto's long-established association, and the Ministry of Commerce of China. Feature extraction and modeling of the management model of Japanese-Chinese longevity companies. He made two visits to Japan in 2016 and 2017, and the second visit to Japan was theorized by conducting a qualitative analysis (case study) after staying in Japan for three weeks.
— Outcome: <Published Books>
"Century Old Japanese Enterprises-Tradition and Innovation" Li Xinchun, Zhongshan Univesity, Japanese translation by Shigemi Furuta, 2021,
"Comparative Study of Japanese-Chinese Old lived Enterprises" edited by Wang Xiao, written by Shigemi Furuta et al., Chuo Keizai Publishing Co., Ltd., March 2021
— Outcome: <Academic Presentation>
"The cause of longevity of long-established Japanese companies" presented at The 5th East Asian Economic Forum (March 8, 2021) ,Online Conference, University of Kitakyushu.
"Japanese-Chinese long-established comparative joint research-Tsumura's case study", by Shigemi Furuta, "Kitakyushu University Chinese Business Research Center Book" 2019 1st Edition
" Comparative Study on Japanese-Chinese long-established companies-viewed from China" Sekimon Shingaku ”, by Shigemi Furuta,“ The University of Kitakyushu Chinese Business Research Center Monographs ”, Phase 1 of 2018
"Three Factors of Longevity of Japanese Long-established Enterprises", by Shigemi Furuta, "Family Enterprises", China Management Bulletin, 2017 07th Vol.27 (Chinese Academic Journal)