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Research Projects in 2003
(PART 2)
I. Global Strategy of
Japanese Eco-Business
II. Assessment of Corporative Performance in Environmental
Issues
III. Industry Measures
to Enhance the Competitiveness of Tourism Industry
I.Global
Strategy of Japanese Eco-Businesses
1. Background
As the technology transfers to developing countries have shown
unsatisfactory progress, the presence of Japanese eco-businesses
is shrinking in overseas market. In order for Japan to regain
the top position of eco-businesses in the East Asian region, we
need to build a global strategy. The Committee was established
in December 2002 to study this subject, and its members had many
heated discussions throughout five sessions held in the fiscal
2002, culminating to several excellent proposals. The Committee
addressed mainly the agenda such as: the ways to localize, to
solve issues completely, to study needs, to improve the presence
of Japan, and to promote governmental aids. The study of
these agenda was made in views of outer circumstances and inner
situation, while reviewing the existing problems.
2. Contents of research activities in fiscal 2003
The Committee is to study different approaches that will contribute
to the sustainable development of the East Asian region.
In addition to the surveys conducted in the last fiscal year,
the Committee will further deepen the studies in view of the following
items: environmental networks, greening of financial institutions,
public-private coordination in capacity building activities, greening
of supply chains, public relationship strategies, cost reduction,
and the establishment of relevant markets.
3. Outline of the Committee and Committee meetings
The Committee is chaired by Prof. Ryoichi Yamamoto, Director of
Center for Collaborative Research at the University of Tokyo,
and consisted of eco-business experts from private companies,
including trading companies, manufacturers, and plant business
companies, government institutions, and research institutes such
as universities. Meetings will be held five times from November
2003 till February 2004.
4. Output of the Committee
The Committee will prepare its report of fiscal 2003, by summarizing
the result of this year’s study on top of the contents of last
year’s report, for the purpose of submitting policy proposals
to relevant authorities.
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II. Assessment of Corporative Performance in Environmental Issues
1. Brief history
To indicate the corporative performance in environmental issues,
few indicators are available such as ISO 14000 series and “Environmental
Performance Index,” and we find the increasing number of companies
starting to introduce environmental management based on these
indicators. The move toward the environmental rating of
companies is gaining momentum, also. For example, in Japan,
there are “Environmental Management Rate Assessment” by Nikkei,
and the “Assessment Rating of Environmental Management” by the
Sustainable Management Rating Institute (SMRI), and similar ratings
are done by Innovest Co., and Dow Jones Co., in the US and Europe.
However, the ratings done by these organizations tend to cover
only a part of corporative performance in environmental issues,
and not necessarily provide comprehensive assessment. Therefore,
GISPRI conducted the comparison study and current status analysis
of these existing standards of environmental performance assessment.
2. Study contents for
the fiscal 2003
For the fiscal 2003, the Committee for the above study is to review
the standards that can provide the comprehensive and equitable
assessment of corporative environmental measures based on the
analysis, and make a policy proposal for determining the way of
assessment standards on environmental performance, which can become
a driving force for promoting environmental measures in industries,
such as machinery industry.
3. Committee members
Chairperson:
Hisashi Ishitani, Professor, Graduate School of Media and Governance,
Keio University
Committee members:
Shuzo Aoki, Director, Sustainable Management Forum of Japan
Hirotoshi Kunitomo, Director, Environmental Industries Office,
Industrial Science and Technology Policy and Environment Bureau,
Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry
Masamitsu Furumuro, President, Deloitte Touche Tohmatsu
Yoshito Nakamura, Manager, Environmental Management Department,
Asahi & Co.
Mitsutsune Yamaguchi, Professor, Faculty of Economics, Keio University
Hiroshi Yokoyama, Chief Engineer, Research and Development, Hitachi
Ltd.
4. Committee’s output
In its Fiscal 2003 Report, the Committee will summarize its findings
including the contents of Fiscal 2002 Report, and plans to provide
a policy proposal.
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III.Industry
measures to enhance the competitiveness of tourism industry
In the 21st century, the tourism industry is expected to
grow into a market of a significant scale, leading the world
into the age of fierce global competition over this market.
Tourism (receiving visitors = attracting and gathering tourists)
will bring economic vitality to rural and urban areas as
well as nations. How each nation or region explores
such business opportunities may determine the vitality of
that nation or a region.
Under such global trend, we have seen many policy proposals
for the last few years on how to promote sightseeing and
tourism in Japan, and the Government of Japan itself is
developing and implementing the Action Plan, which aims
to attract 10 million foreign guests by 2010, and to realize
Japan as the tourism country in the future.
Japan only started to address the measures to promote tourism
in this new era, and there still remain many issues, which
must be addressed and reviewed in the future.
This Research Committee will examine these measures of tourism
promotion in the future, in terms of enhancing the competitiveness
(power to attract visitors), with a focus on the ways of
industry measures (industry strategies) to support tourism
from business aspects.
(Major review items)
1. Tourism competitiveness (power to attract visitor) in
this new age
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(i) Bases of competitiveness – What
attracts people (magnetism)?
a. Attractiveness of contents
b. Tactics (stage effects, presentation of
themes, etc.)
(ii) Related factors affecting the competitiveness
and infrastructure requirement – socio-economic
infrastructures to support tourism competitiveness
a. Pricing (costs of transportation and accommodation),
regulatory and institutional factors
b. Infrastructures to support smoother transportation,
public infrastructure for safe and comfortable accommodation,
etc.
(iii) Abilities to commercialize, and marketize tourism
Abilities to design and develop attractive commercial
products, to marketize, and to provide quality services,
will support tourism competitiveness from business
aspects. |
2. Current situation and problems in Japanese tourism industry’s
competitiveness (power to attract visitors)
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(i) Current situation of Japanese tourism
industry’s competitiveness in views of locality and
regions (as urban and rural areas, and a nation)
(ii) Weak points of Japanese industry’s competitiveness
from business aspects
a. Supplier-oriented and not customer-oriented
(insufficient measures in response to increasingly
diversified needs of tourism)
b. Prioritize tour business for Japanese guests
c.Lack of market-oriented marketing strategy
d.Weaker ability to remit information to potential
foreign tourists (Does Japan have potentials for attracting
foreign visitors?) etc. |
3. Key points of industry strategies to enhance competitiveness
in tourism (power to attract visitors)
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(The Committee will select themes from those
listed below.)
(i) The (brand) image of Japan’s attractiveness
a. Increasing the values of the region through
the strategies to emphasize uniqueness and differences
b. Creating new values of Japan as a nation
by the fusion of modern culture and traditional customs
(ii) Developing the functions to convey the message
of Japan’s attractiveness
a. Emphasize customer-oriented marketing strategies
b. Develop sophistication in expressing Japan’s
attractiveness
c. Association with the emerging “contents”
industry
(iii) Power-up the responsiveness to the diversified
needs of today’s tourism and address social issues,
such as environment and aging society
a. Tourism for everyone (focus on the tours
of individuals, families, aged people, and handicapped)
b. Sustainability in tourism industry (eco-tourism
and green tourism)
c. Tourism for experiences and learning
(iv) Closer association with event/conventions
Measures to enhance the synergy effects in attracting
guests
(v) Innovative tour businesses in Japan
a. Building a new and more competitive business
model (use of IT etc.)
b. Revitalizing the tourism industry by new
entries from other industries and venture businesses
(vi) How to develop human resources who can support
sustainability in attracting visitors
a. Human resource development to support new
tourism industry (more hospitality-oriented industry)
b. Development of human resources who can convey
the attractiveness of Japan to foreign visitors (making
good use of volunteers and NPOs). |
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