Collaborative robots can be the next big thing – and robot market leaders ABB and Kawasaki Heavy Industries are moving quickly to make that happen. Just a few days back, the two heavyweights announced in Tokyo a formal cooperation. Shortly after, also in Tokyo, ABB launched its latest YuMi collaborative robot at iRex International Robot Exhibition 2017. Also known as […]
Almost two million jobs have been created since Prime Minister Shinzo Abe took office in 2012. This is good news for employees, but companies are having difficulties finding the people they need. “With 1.5 jobs per seeker, Japan is now facing the most extreme labor market since 1974,” said Hays Japan Managing Director Marc Burrage while presenting the recruitment specialist’s […]
This is the fifth in a series of columns about Japan Inc.’s ultimate global challenge: marketing (if you came here from somewhere else, read this, this, this and this first). Developing a marketing communications strategy carries over to religious, charitable, environmental, non-profit, social and governmental agencies, or any organization or group that has a particular cause to promote, needs to […]
After invoking Article 50 on March 29, the United Kingdom is set to leave the European Union by March 2019. Yet with only 18 months to go and after a third failed round of negotiations, it looks increasingly possible that the parties may miss reaching a deal. Such a scenario is problematic for non-European multinationals, many of which steer their […]
Germany’s Industry 4.0 is a well-known buzzword. Japan has now introduced Society 5.0. Is this a mere one-step-ahead game, or is there more behind? Industry 4.0 As the name already indicates, Industry 4.0 is looking mainly into industrial production. Its main idea is the information exchange between companies down to the machines and processes. Nowadays, not only machines but virtually […]
By Hiroyuki Arie, General Manager, Business Stream Systems at TÜV Rheinland Japan Fire, typhoon and earthquake resistance of buildings has long been of paramount importance in Japan. This is partly because for a long period of time, the majority of structures were lightly made of wood. If a house caught fire in the Edo period (1603–1868), firefighters often chose […]
Japan’s trade balance last year marked its first surplus in six years, according to the recently released Global Trade and Investment Report 2017 by the Japan External Trade Organization (JETRO). At the same time, the country’s outward FDI stood at record highs, while inward FDI from Asia to Japan continued to grow. Global trade declines 3.1%, downturn for two straight […]
The Japanese Cabinet is setting aside 46 billion yen ($416 million) in planned subsidies for SMEs, small enterprises or other entities in fiscal 2017, according to the Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry (METI). The subsidies are part of the government’s Small Business Innovation Research (SBIR) program and geared toward business activities based on R&D results. Subsidies for SMEs The […]
On the eve of the G20 summit in Hamburg, the European Union and Japan reached a political understanding about a new comprehensive free trade agreement. During the EU-Japan Summit, Shinzo Abe, Japan’s prime minister, hailed the agreement as “the birth of the world’s largest, free, industrialized economic zone.” EU officials proclaimed it “the most important bilateral trade agreement ever concluded […]
This is the fourth in a series of columns about Japan Inc.’s ultimate global challenge: marketing (if you came here from somewhere else, read this, this and this first). There is a lack of understanding (or training) in marketing basics within many companies. How can you execute Marketing 4.0 if you never learned Marketing 1.0? Consider the military… Anyone who […]
Japanese investors are now setting their eyes on developing countries, particularly India, for fledgling tech startups that have potential for growth. Currently, India’s economy is the seventh largest in the world measured by nominal GDP, and the third largest by purchasing power parity. Asuka Corporation, REAPRA Ventures, GREE Ventures, Mistletoe Capital, and Incubate Fund are just some of the Japan-based […]
This is the third in a series of columns about Japan Inc.’s ultimate global challenge: marketing (if you came here from somewhere else, read this and this first). Marketing is the process involved to sell a product and brand. It addresses how a product or brand should be perceived by the customer to be more desirable (positioning); where and how […]
Artificial Intelligence, or AI, has recently become a buzzword around the globe. The processing power of microchips is now strong enough for machines to do very complex tasks. In 2015, Google’s AlphaGo defeated the best human players in the board game Go, which was considered the last bastion of human advantage. It did not use pure computing power, but deep […]
Underway since 2013, it looks as if trade negotiations are coming to a close toward an EU-Japan Free Trade Agreement (FTA), as the European Union calls it, or Economic Partnership Agreement (EPA), the term used by the Japanese side. This is important as together, the economies of Japan and Europe account for a third of global GDP. Moreover, the EU […]
By Hiroyuki Arie, General Manager, Business Stream Systems at TÜV Rheinland Japan Twenty years have passed since the 1996 establishment of ISO 14001, the standard for environmental management systems (EMSs). By now, there are over 25,000 ISO 14001-certified organizations in Japan. This is second only to the number in China, and demonstrates that the concept of the environmental management […]
