Venture Review

Article

Jyun Matsuda
「The Chracteristics and roles of Innovation in Mid-sized Pharmaceutical Corporations」

　For revitalizing Japanese industry, we observe the roles of mid-sized enterprises which have achieved sustained growth over several decades against large and start-up firms.
This paper focuses on three pharmaceutical companies and identifies the characteristics and roles of their innovations.
　The characteristics and roles of innovation in these corporations can be summarized as follows: Innovations come in two types: breakthroughs, which occur every 10 or 15 years, and improvements. There are more innovations in product development and improvement innovations than production technology (process improvement).
　In addition to the above technical innovations, managerial and marketing innovations are important in product introduction and subcontracting of sales.
　In stimulating of innovation, the roles of technical development and cooperation between industry and academia have contributed to the selection of research subjects and ideas for solution. Also cooperation with other companies has been an important factor in innovation and building human networks.
　We have identified the characters of mid-sized enterprises. These are close relationships between corporate management and ownership, employees holding a sense of belonging, clear identification of their business domain and mission of the founder and aims to achieve sustained growth, inheritance of the entreprenurship of the founder. Also, business fields are, limited in related fields (not so diversified).

Key words:mid-sized enterprises, breakthrough innovation, improvement type innovation, mission of firm, stimulating of innovation and human network

Noriko Taji
「Technology Stock for Commercialization in Radical Innovation」

The technological resources is considered to be the most significant of all internal resources in high-tech field. It is called”technology stock.”Our research project corresponds to radical innovation in the semiconductor field in Japan. And the firm developed R&D through internal resource accumulation independently before commercialization. This study clarifies that investing hastily for commercialization cannot cover insufficiencies of technology stock. And a considerable initial investment was necessary to accumulate enough technology stock. Therefore a radical innovation project practiced by internal resource accumulation over a long period of R&D was not reasonable from the view point of investment efficiency.

Key words:Technology stock, radical innovation, commercialization, R&D alliance

Kiichiro Kobayashi
「Innovation in the 21st Century:Intrapreneurs Promoting Innovation in the New Era」

　In tuday’s rapidly chanjing business environment,innovative companies consider changes not as risks but as risks but as opportunities for further growth. Through case studies concerning business innovation, the author categorized innovation into three types　:”Global Standard Innovation,”　”Collaborative innovation,”　and　”Value Chain Remodeling Innovation.”　Global Standard Innovation aims primaritily at establishing a de facto standard of product and service models in order to build acompetitive advantage globally, and is charactarized by several key strategic such as defining core competencies,promoting long-termism in knowledge accumulation, and maintaining strategy consistency for business incubation. This type of innovation is mainly promoted and managed by intra-company innovators who are internally-cultivated　”intrapreneurs.”　Collaborative innovation means innovations resulting from established companies’intrapreneurs’collaboration with small business venture leaders. The video game and pharmaceutical industries exemplify this type of innovation. It is indespensable for big compane intrapreneurs to balance and adjust benefits for both sides. Value Chain Remodeling Innovation is mainly attained by rebuilding or rebunding the existing value chain styucture of an industry by taking advantage of information technology or by shifting its buisiness focus.Due to the necessity for managers to adapt their styles to the rapid evolution of an organization, leadership changes sometimes occur with this type of innovation.
　Based on the analysis of each type of innovatiton, the authoe has defined three important new roles) “Intrapreneur Accelerators” give emotionak and financial support to intrapreneurs, 2) “Intrapreneur Collaborators” are intrapreneurs who interact wth venture businesses to achieve mutual advantage, and3) “Outsider Intrapreneurs” aer those who become intrapreneurs from outsaide companies by offering their professional management expertise through challenging conventional in that industry.

Key words:Global Standard innovation, Collaborative innovation, Value Chain Restructuring innovation, intrapreneur Accelrator, Intrapreneur Collaborator

Motohiro Nakauchi
「The Form of Technological Knowledge Transfer and Competitive Advantages」

　In this paper, I set out to reconsider the history of Japanese and U.S. semiconductor industry from the analytical perspective of knowledge. I also attempt to present a theoretical basis for the differences in the knowledge transfer form between Japanese and U.S. semiconductor industry. This paper uses the case study method, and finally presents the information stickiness hypothesis for explaining the differences in innovation related knowledge transfer between Japan and the U.S. Following the information stickiness hypothesis, I expect that the transfer form varies depending on the size (i.e., large firms or ventures) of information senders and receivers. The results of the study can be summarized as follows. The U.S. semiconductor industry uses the lowest stickiness (cost) form which most fits each transfer pattern. Also, the U.S. venture businesses have higher mobility in human resources than Japanese counterparts. This might be one of the factors which facilitated the knowledge transfer in the U.S. semiconductor industry.

Key words:knowledge transfer, information stickiness, patent, semiconductor, venture

Tetsuo Kadowaki
「Confict of Interests for Venture Capital Firms in Japan」

　Management of Venture Capital Fund operated by venture capital companies in Japan is not transparent to their shareholders as well as fund investors, because the VC Investment Partnership Agreement has lack of articles avoiding conflicts of interests. Particularly, there exist 5 listed venture capital companies, which have serious conflicts of interests between fund investors and VC’s shareholders. This paper investigates conflicts of interests for listed VC companies.

Yongju Kang
「Theoretical Consideration of Influencing Factors in Venture Performance」

　This paper asks the following question: supposing the environment which surrounds venture business in South Korean venture differs from that of other foreign countries, doesn’t a certain difference exist in the factor which influences the performance of a venture business?
　In order to analyze whether a difference exists and where the difference is from, the factor which affects the performance of venture businesses was classified into three categories: a founder, strategy, and resources and network capability. Many previous research of some foreign countries were compared with South Korean research.
　Consequently, it was discovered that several unexpected differences existed in some factors, and analysis about the cause of differences was attempted.

Key words:South Korea, venture business, performance influence factor

Case Study

Masayuki Kondo
「Upstage of University Spin-off Venture Businesses in Japan」

　Many expect that university spin-off venture businesses will lead Japan’s high-tech in the 21st century. The number of university spin-off venture businesses in Japan is increasing rapidly these days. The Government has launched a plan to create 1,000 university spin-off venture businesses in the next three years.
　This paper first discusses their needs, definition and types. Then, it clarifies their current situation based on the first survey on university spin-off venture businesses in Japan. It reveals:
1) National universities spin off comparatively many venture businesses despite their constraints,
2) Half of the founders are faculty members,
3) The initial capital and staff size are larger than German counterparts,
4) The major motive is to put invented technologies to practical use and many of Japanese university spin-off venture businesses are in manufacturing,
5) The largest issue is financing at the time of start-up but the issues of staff recruiting and patent protection increase their importance later, and
6) Japanese university spin-off venture businesses receive assistance from their home universities even after spin-off.
Finally, some policy recommendations are made.

Key words:University Spin-off, Japan, University-industry Collaboration, Entrepreneur education, Start-up supports

Etsuko Tsutsumi
「A Comparative Study between America and Japanese Entrepreneurs」

　This study explores entrepreneurs’ decision-making process regarding start-ups using the behavioral science decision model. The findings tentatively suggest that almost all the results of the American survey were the same as the Japanese one. We examined what kinds of elements lowered risk perception. Using previous American studies, several control valuables were tested. Based on these surveys, we decided to check three typical cognitive bases; over confidence, illusion of control and belief in the law of small numbers. The results showed that overconfidence is not significantly related to risk perception, as in the US. The significance of the latter two cognitive biases, however, unlike the US, was denied. Therefore, Japanese entrepreneurs’ decision-making is influenced by other complex factors, which should be further explored. Potential entrepreneurs’ traits, such as risk propensity, optimism and flexibility have already been denied in US surveys, but this test shows a significant relation between risk propensity and the decision to start a venture. Ordinary Japanese people think that ventures are only for extraordinary people. That belief still holds. We conclude that more entrepreneurial education and PR measures are necessary to raise the numbers of start-ups.

Key words:Entrepreneur, risk perception, cognitive biases, decision, risk propensity

Yuji Nonagase
「A Study of Entrepreneurial Spirit among」

　Varied regional programs recently have started to produce entrepreneurs in succession. Although the programs mainly aim at industrial promotion, a few young entrepreneurs with great vitality appear in the many local cities.
　Young entrepreneurs have a tendency to set their sights high, so it is very important for every local city to make good use of their vitality. Veteran entrepreneurs usually have skill, property, experience and useful connections.
　They also possess the wisdom to avoid overworking or waste. Young entrepreneurs are apt to fail, but they achieve a great success every now and then. The purpose of this paper is to consider the means to multiply the numbers young persons with entrepreneurial spirit in the local cities. To attain my aim, I investigated the students in the study region and analyzed their entrepreneurial spirit, way of thinking and so on.
　In the existing circumstances, a lot of young promising persons leave the local cities after graduation or try to find a secure means of making their living.
　However, the lifetime employment system is now in the process of collapsing in Japan.
　It has become necessary to introduce the concept of selfemployment, self-reliance and entrepreneurial spirit into regional education systems. New programs to build up a closer connection between schools and regional entrepreneurs are needed.

Key words:young entrepreneur, industrial promotion, entrepreneurial spirit

Toru Tanigawa
「Research of ‘Networking Associations’ in Silicon Valley」

　So many seminars about high-tech startup take place in Silicon Valley every day. They are very popular events for high-tech startups and entrepreneurs because such seminars provide them not only business and technology information, but also networking opportunities to get contacts with fund, human resources, potential clients and so on, which are critical for their business. So called “Networking Association” host that type of seminars and is steadily growing and become more important in venture arena in America, especially in Silicon Valley. Most people think venture capital firms or business incubators are playing very important role for supporting startups. However, Networking Associations are useful for far more startups and entrepreneurs than venture capital firms or business incubators, because they in principle accept any type of entrepreneurs as the member which can enjoy their services. We call them as “Business Incubator without wall”. We, Japan should have social and cultural background which ease existence of Networking Associations.

Hongzhou Li
「The Formation of Zhongguancun Technopolis and the Technopolis Wheel Model」

　This paper attempts to make clear the formational mechanism of Zhongguancun Technopolis and test the validity of Technopolis Wheel Model, focusing on the role of government. Zhongguancun Technopolis, being called “Beijing Silicon Valley”, is a cluster of high-tech ventures and is functioning as R&D center of Chinese IT industry. Similar with the role of Silicon Valley, this area is usually viewed as the origin and the model of Chinese Technopolis. Zhongguancun, one of the most famous knowledge centers in China, began its transfer to the Technopolis from the early of 1980s and became the center of public attention in 1990s.
　As a successful Technopolis in transition economy like china, the Zhongguancun case provides fertile area for academic study from various points of view. However, this study is focusing on the role of governments. Our investigation shows that, in the formation of Zhongguancun Technopolis, governments including local, regional and central ones, have been playing an important role, through promoting the commercialization of academic R&D results, channeling risk capital to the qualified ventures, increasing flexibility of the labor market. In particular, local government’s initiative measures provided a supporting environment for the entrepreneurial activities in Zhongguancun and laid the groundwork for the formation of this technopolis. Our inspection also releases that, with some modifications, Technopolis Wheel Model is consistent with the Zhongguancun case.
　Although some scholars oppose the governments’ intervention in economic fields, our case shows that during the early stage of the economic development, especially in its transition period, like China, productive and effective intervention by the government in economy may be possible and necessary.

Key words:Zhongguancun Technopolis, Technopolis Wheel Model, transition economy The role of government

Nobuyuki Harada／Kyoichi Kijima
「Decision Making for Entrepreneurial Activity Highlighting the Income-Leisure Tradeoff」

　The purpose of this paper is to develop a decision-making model for entrepreneurial activity, highlighting the problem of aspiring entrepreneurs’ income-leisure tradeoff, and to examine the relationship between the tradeoff and the entrepreneurial activity. First, we construct the model and determine the conditions for business start-up with or without liquidity constraints. Next, we present some of the important results of the model–for example, entrepreneurs without liquidity constraints reduce their capital investment and increase their leisure in proportion to their own assets, and entrepreneurs with liquidity constraints take more leisure than do entrepreneurs without liquidity constraints. Further, by plotting graphs and using numerical simulations, we validate these findings and obtain some additional information about the model and the nature of solutions.

Key words:Entrepreneur, Entrepreneurship, Entrepreneurial Ability, Income-Leisure Tradeoff, Liquidity Constraints

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