著者
Atsushi Akiike Tohru Yoshioka-Kobayashi Sotaro Katsumata
出版者
Global Business Research Center
雑誌
Annals of Business Administrative Science (ISSN:13474464)
巻号頁・発行日
pp.0190908a, (Released:2019-10-26)
参考文献数
29
被引用文献数
1

Eisenman (2013) argues that the importance of design innovation increases in the early and late stages of an industry and is lowest in the middle stage. In response, this study empirically examines her proposition through an examination of mobile phones during the feature phone era (1999–2008) when various types of designs were being generated using design patent data. We analyze the number of mobile phone design patents registered before the current advent of smart phones as well as examining the yearly averages of forward citations (the number of times a particular design patent is cited in later design patents) and backward citations (the number of times a particular design patent cites previous design patents). Further, to shed light on interactions with an accumulation of design-related technology, the study also analyzes the number of design-related patent applications per year. Results reveal that while there was an increase in the number of design patents registered in the late stage of the industry, especially between the years of 2007–2008, the average number of forward citations drops below the average number of backward citations from 2003 onward. In other words, although at the late stages of the industry many design innovations emerged, most of these were incremental changes that followed past designs. In contrast, design-related patent applications reached a peak in 2004 and fell thereafter. It is hypothesized that this trend was influenced by the growing number of design-related patents that facilitated the easy generation of new variations in design. These results show the dilemma: Although design innovations continue to be generated over time by accumulating design-related technology, creating genuinely impactful design innovation becomes more difficult as time progresses. The study therefore demonstrates the difficulty of realizing Eisenman (2013)’s theoretical proposition.
著者
Atsushi Akiike Sotaro Katsumata
出版者
Global Business Research Center
雑誌
Annals of Business Administrative Science (ISSN:13474464)
巻号頁・発行日
pp.0180912a, (Released:2018-10-13)
参考文献数
47
被引用文献数
4

The word “Galapagos” has garnered attention in Japan as an explanation for the loss of global competitiveness by the Japanese economy and Japanese companies, even while the Japanese companies are competitive domestically. The term has particularly been used with mobile phones in Japan, which are known as “Galapagos ke-tai.” An analysis of newspaper articles showed that discussions on Galapagos mobile phones were primarily about technology, technology standards, and features. However, smartphones that looked like Galapagos ke-tai came to be called “Garaho” later, and the term Galapagos then took on the meaning of appearance.
著者
WonWook Song Atsushi Akiike Young Won Park
出版者
Global Business Research Center
雑誌
Annals of Business Administrative Science (ISSN:13474464)
巻号頁・発行日
pp.0180813a, (Released:2018-10-10)
参考文献数
15
被引用文献数
1

Prior research on customized component transactions asserts that from a manufacturer’s perspective, customization costs can be reduced by creating collaborative relationships. However, there are few researches on the supplier’s perspective. In this paper, a survey of Japanese suppliers revealed that (a) supplier performance improves when there are more proposals both from and to customers, and that (b) supplier performance deteriorates when proposals only come from the customer. In other words, in case of the top-down relationship in (b), supplier performance deteriorates, but in the bidirectional relationship in (a), supplier performance improves.
著者
Atsushi AKIIKE Shumpei IWAO
出版者
Global Business Research Center
雑誌
Annals of Business Administrative Science (ISSN:13474464)
巻号頁・発行日
vol.14, no.5, pp.231-246, 2015-10-15 (Released:2015-10-15)
参考文献数
60
被引用文献数
5 4

The Innovator's Dilemma (Christensen, 1997) has been cited in many studies since Christensen published it in 1997. Some of these studies have advocated that concepts such as “dynamic capability,” “ambidexterity,” and “market orientation” can be used to overcome the environmental changes caused by the innovator's dilemma. However, these studies are categorized into two general types that are not logical refutations: (a) those which merely suggest the concept without suggesting an opposing example, and (b) those which do not demonstrate that a trajectory disruption has occurred even when suggesting an example. We must demonstrate that a trajectory disruption has occurred and then suggest a case in which the environmental changes were mitigated to suggest an example of overcoming the innovator's dilemma. However, arguments exist that doubt Christensen's concept of trajectory disruption, indicating that the arguments are not facile.
著者
Atsushi AKIIKE
出版者
Global Business Research Center
雑誌
Annals of Business Administrative Science (ISSN:13474464)
巻号頁・発行日
vol.12, no.5, pp.225-236, 2013-10-15 (Released:2013-10-15)
参考文献数
24
被引用文献数
9 15

The Abernathy-Utterback model (A-U model) has significant impacts on innovation studies and is adopted by many scholars. Although many studies quote Abernathy and Utterback (1978), the dominant design idea was not explicitly shown in the model. Thus, the model used in Abernathy and Utterback (1978) differs from the A-U model imaged by us. The A-U models, adopted by many scholars, are actually formulated through the accumulation of the three critical works of Utterback and Abernathy (1975), Abernathy and Utterback (1978), and Abernathy (1978). The A-U models were finally completed by Abernathy (1978), becoming the A-U models that were imaged by us. However, Teece (1986) and Utterback (1994), who significantly popularized the A-U model, quoted the model in Abernathy and Utterback (1978) as a completed model. This was re-quoted, and the misconception that the A-U model was the same as the model in Abernathy and Utterback (1978) was disseminated. Abernathy and Utterback's (1978) original paper is a strange compilation that independently introduces a diagram of the A-U model even before the title page. Moreover, there is neither an explanation nor a reference to the diagram in the paper. In fact, many researches quoting these works are unaware of this fact.
著者
Atsushi AKIIKE Sotaro KATSUMATA
出版者
グローバルビジネスリサーチセンター・東京大学MERC
雑誌
Annals of Business Administrative Science (ISSN:13474464)
巻号頁・発行日
vol.15, no.3, pp.149-161, 2016-06-15 (Released:2016-06-15)
参考文献数
18
被引用文献数
2

The mobile phone market in Japan has a particular type of user, called a “dual product user,” who uses multiple mobile phones. Compared with other mobile phone users, dual product users possess a high level of consumer knowledge regarding mobile phones. Their ability to process information based on their high level of consumer knowledge may enable them to use multiple products. In fact, during our survey, the mobile phones (iPhones, other types of smartphones, and feature phones) had quite diverse characteristics. In addition, dual product users tended to use mobile phones for gaming. This is likely due to the high telecommunications fees levied on smartphones in Japan as well as the complicated structure of these fees. In assessing these characteristics, users with a high level of consumer knowledge consider their own patterns of usage when using multiple mobile phones for different purposes. These findings will increase the potential for marketing to target those with a high degree of such knowledge.
著者
Atsushi AKIIKE
出版者
グローバルビジネスリサーチセンター・東京大学MERC
雑誌
Annals of Business Administrative Science (ISSN:13474464)
巻号頁・発行日
vol.13, no.3, pp.169-181, 2014-06-15 (Released:2014-06-15)
参考文献数
31
被引用文献数
1 6

There are two types of innovation: technology innovation and design innovation. Each type has a positive effect on corporate performance. However, results of our analysis on the appearance, user friendliness, and technological functionality of cellular phones between 2005 and 2010 show that in the years 2005–2007, when TV functionality was introduced in cellular phones, cellular phone manufacturers sacrificed appearance instead of improving functionality. However, this issue was resolved in 2008–2010, and companies succeeded in simultaneously attaining appearance and user friendliness. In other words, it has become clear that companies in the Japanese market first tend to prioritize functionality through technology innovation than appearance (i.e., industrial design), and then later tend to simultaneously pursue both appearance and user friendliness through design innovation.