For Hiroaki Otani, president of YKK Corporation (YKK), the year 2024 began with uncertain challenges. Though YKK had been leading the zipper industry for decades with a large global market share, highly integrated production capability, and advanced technology, the zipper market’s competitive environment was gradually changing, especially within the emerging Asian markets. Furthermore, the global apparel market had slumped due to the COVID-19 pandemic .....more

Metacore, a Finnish mobile game company, achieved global success with its puzzle game Merge Mansion but struggled to replicate this success in Japan. Shuhei Watanabe, the product marketing manager, led efforts to address this challenge. Japan’s gaming market was highly competitive, with consumers valuing trust and local familiarity. Watanabe’s team debated how much to localize the game and brand to resonate with Japanese players. They faced a key .....more

In 2019, Starbuck Corporation (Starbucks) launched Deep Brew, a platform driven by artificial intelligence (AI) designed to enhance personalization, optimize operations, and manage inventory across its vast global retail network. By leveraging AI, Starbucks aimed to improve customer engagement, streamline store efficiency, and strengthen its data-driven decision-making. However, the adoption of Deep Brew introduced significant challenges, including .....more

Founded in 1973 and operating over 16,000 stores in Japan and 7,000 overseas, FamilyMart Co. Ltd., was one of Japan’s leading convenience store chains and a staple in Japanese retail. In 2017, FamilyMart embarked on a journey to integrate diversity, equity, and inclusion initiatives in its corporate strategy. One of the company’s key strategies was to create value for employees and customers through initiatives that supported LGBTQ+ issues. At the .....more

Despite the supply chain disruptions caused by the COVID-19 pandemic, Toyota Motor Corporation (Toyota) managed to increase its sales and retain its title as the world’s top-selling carmaker for three consecutive years from 2020. However, the gradual shift in global market trends toward battery electric vehicles (BEVs) threatened to leave Toyota lagging behind, particularly in China, the United States, and Europe. In response to the threats from BYD .....more

The Japanese sake market witnessed a 40-year decline, fueled by shifting consumer preferences and an aging customer base. Asahi Shuzo Co. Ltd. (Asahi Shuzo), a once-struggling brewery from Yamaguchi, defied the trend with the success of its singular brand of sake, Dassai. By 2022, under the leadership of the founder and chairperson of the company, Asahi Shuzo’s sales surpassed ￥ (yen) 16.5 billion, marking a phenomenal 165-fold increase since 1984. .....more

In March 2023, Daikin India had reached the milestone of US$1 billion in turnover. It aimed to surpass $2 billion in the next three years. It had fared poorly in the Indian market since its entry in 2000, but after joining the company in 2010, Kanwal Jeet Jawa, the first Indian and inpatriate on the Japanese board of directors, had turned around Daikin’s Indian subsidiary. Did Daikin’s decision to make India an export hub and to replicate the Indian .....more

In 2021, Hitachi Limited was reconsidering its ownership of Hitachi Construction Machinery (HCM). The decision about HCM’s future was one of the last steps in a more than decade-long effort to reorient Hitachi from a manufacturing conglomerate to a service-oriented company. HCM was a global player in the construction and mining equipment business, and although it no longer relied on Hitachi for product technology, Hitachi’s technological capabilities .....more

Kyro Distillery Company (Kyro), founded in 2012 in Isokyro, Finland, focused on producing rye whisky from Finnish rye. However, it took an average of three years for one batch of whisky to be produced and ready for sale, so, to cover their costs and stay afloat, the founders decided to start producing gin, which could be produced faster. As luck had it, in 2014, Kyro’s rye-based Napue Gin was named the best gin in the gin-and-tonic category in the .....more

STEPN was a one-year-old lifestyle app designed to incentivize routine physical activities like walking, jogging, and running by providing individual financial rewards for participants. The app was part of the move-to-earn (M2E) category of blockchain games. Within a short time, STEPN had established an exceptional track record of both financial performance and enterprise valuation and had achieved unicorn status. However, by January 2023, the Web .....more