To navigate today’s complex business environments, Japanese business entities should find ways to innovate and survive while leveraging their advantages in terms of global CSR, social investment, and competition on a global scale. Regarding my vision, for Japan, achieving these interconnected purposes should involve maintaining leadership in Global Reporting Initiative (GRI) adoption on a global scale. Particularly, the active utilization of the GRI standards in order to set process improvement targets might assist Japanese businesses in fostering innovation by shedding light on recurrent flaws capable of affecting foreign customers’ feedback.
Importantly, Japan’s unique philosophical merits and organizational models can also assist businesses in surviving and innovating. The sanpo-yoshi principle, which promotes satisfaction for the provider, the consumer, and wider society, can be helpful in emphasizing clients’ feedback, integrating it into business practices, and using it as a source of innovative ideas. The mottanai philosophy, which emphasizes responsible and moderate consumption, can support companies in achieving environmentally responsible innovation. The keiretsu model can emphasize mutual dependence between various companies and require exceptional levels of accountability and responsibility to commercial partners and the community. Continuous reliance on this approach to activity organization might assist Japanese businesses in keeping innovative initiatives tied to the entire society’s interests.
Another component that the businesses may consider for survival and innovation purposes pertains to using Japan’s pre-existing advantages, such as excellent social infrastructure and high-quality university education, to enhance multiperspectivity in research and development endeavors. Having a substantial number of qualified scientists, Japan can foster more active partnerships between industry players and universities, thus challenging closedness in innovative strategies. With more collaboration, Japanese businesses can ensure that the outcomes of research/development activities are more representative of a wider society’s values and allow for meaningful innovation.