FUKUYAMA Kimihiro | APU RESEARCH SEEDS - Ritsumeikan Asia Pacific University

Identifying new communication theories across academic disciplines, developing "better management," and tackling the issues facing modern society

In contemporary society, situations that cannot be handled by conventional management are emerging one after another. This is because the forms of communication for management are changing rapidly. Communication has expanded from one-to-one in-person communication to one-to-many and many-to-many communication via social media, and new technologies like AI and the metaverse are now being added to the mix. I want to understand these kinds of communication styles and build new forms of management for them.
In this study, we systematize a new form of communication called "Topological Communication Activities." I am trying to establish a new communication theory by harnessing all academic disciplines, including business administration, economics, mathematics, engineering, and information science, as well as sociology and psychology, and utilizing the latest technologies in an interdisciplinary manner. Based on this, we aim to develop a style of management suited to the new era.
Underlying this focus on management research is the desire to promote Diversity, Equity, Inclusion & Belonging (DEI&B) in society. Creating a society in which a diverse array of human resources can participate and play active roles is expected to stimulate new communication and create better management. Conversely, better management will lead to the creation of a society in which a diverse array of human resources can participate and play active roles. These human resources will have a sense of belonging in their respective communities and seek to improve upon them. Aiming for this kind of future, I will forge ahead with research that can be practically applied in the real world, driven by unconventional ideas and actions.

The concept developed by the principal investigator in a paper entitled “Research on Topological Communities’ Communication Activities Cycle regarding COVID-19 Control Policy Information during Lockdown in Shanghai, People’s Republic of China.” In China, the exchange of information in the form of TCCAC was very rapid and rotated many times in short cycles with information being fed back numerous times, which was the driving force behind the application of a strict zero-COVID policy to a population of 1.3 billion.

Innovative management research that transcends disciplines and combines practice and theory

The main feature of this research is to explore better management through the lens of a novel communication theory.
When I try to investigate various management issues in today's society, I may arrive at questions such as "What kind of communication is being used?” or “What can I do to achieve the kind of communication I should adopt?”
To develop a new communication theory, I cannot break free from the traditional frameworks by relying on existing academic research fields and methods.
Therefore, in this study, I take a unique multifaceted and integrated approach. For example:

• I take an interdisciplinary approach from a variety of academic fields, while maintaining an awareness of the need to feed our findings back into business administration and economics. Transcending categories like the arts and the sciences, I integrate all different kinds of knowledge.
• The scope of this research includes the rapid and significant changes in communication due to the latest technologies such as AI, the metaverse, and quantum computing, with a focus on understanding management in this context and exploring what constitutes better decision-making.
• Adopting a basic stance of "Think Globally, Act Locally," we aim to generate innovation by mobilizing global perspectives and cutting-edge technologies to practically tackle local issues and the concerns of small and medium-sized enterprises.

This research stance is greatly influenced by my past experiences and activities. I worked at the Development Bank of Japan and in the business world for many years, and possessing expertise in management and new business creation among people from various national, ethnic, racial, and religious backgrounds. In addition, I have practical overseas experience (and the resulting multicultural understanding skills in four languages: Japanese, English, Chinese, and Indonesian) in various areas throughout Asia, including postings to Taipei, Beijing, Manila, Jakarta, Hong Kong, and Shanghai.
Another important feature of this research is that it is not limited to any specific area. For example, one of the areas we are currently focusing on is higher education support (university and graduate school classes) for students with mental and developmental disabilities. The goal is to provide new learning opportunities for students who have traditionally had difficulty participating with new forms of communication that utilize the metaverse and AI. This study aims to serve as a model case for new communication and management practices that maximize the abilities of diverse human resources.
This research can be conducted anywhere where better management, decision-making, and strategy formulation can be explored through new forms of communication.

Another research area that we explore is family business management (FBM). We analyze the characteristics of universal management methods that have survived for generations in Japan from multiple perspectives to examine better management, corporate continuity, and contributions to the local community. The figure shows the SAGE framework used for this analysis.

Realization of global expansion with local roots

This study emphasizes the advancement of practical research through a variety of collaborative partnerships.
First, we focus on collaboration with small and medium-sized enterprises, and in particular with companies in Oita Prefecture, where APU is located, and the Kyushu-Okinawa region. In the past, many companies were able to conduct business entirely within Japan, led by Japanese personnel, and therefore, they gave little thought to globalization; however, more recently, as companies begin to feel the challenges and limitations of this approach, exposure to diverse human resources and values has allowed them to gain new perspectives, thus enabling them to solve problems and explore new business opportunities.

Examples of practices already underway include the following.
JR Oita City accepted its first international student from APU's Graduate School of Management (MBA Program) for an internship, which has produced tangible results, including the identification and resolution of issues via communication from a heretofore untapped perspective, and this has also served to greatly stimulate the Japanese staff.

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Some companies have also gone so far as to establish joint ventures overseas after hiring foreign nationals due to a labor shortage. A case study on this is scheduled to be compiled as part of a study entitled "A Study of Overseas Expansion of Family Businesses in Oita Prefecture.”

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Going forward, I will expand and deepen our partnerships with local small and medium-sized enterprises and startups by providing support for international expansion, promoting the utilization of foreign human resources, and providing management support for companies when they foray abroad.
Cooperation with government agencies and local governments is also essential for these initiatives. In addition to partnering with the Kyushu Bureau of Economy, Trade and Industry of the Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry, I aim to deepen cooperation with the commerce, industry, and labor departments of various prefectures and deploy policies tailored to local conditions.
In order to promote this kind of practical research, it is necessary to collaborate with academia, and we have already begun working with the Kyushu Institute of Technology. In particular, it is expected that innovation will be generated by collaborating and conducting joint research with universities and technical colleges with science departments and integrating this with resources from APU, which is composed of liberal arts colleges with a large number of international students.
APU will serve as the base for these social collaboration efforts. International students from more than 100 countries account for about half of the student body at APU, making for an environment of diversity rarely seen anywhere else in the world. I will use the dynamism and imagination that comes from this environment to promote social collaboration.

APU Graduate School of Management (MBA Program) students during fieldwork at a company in Oita Prefecture. All students (at the time) were international students, and new possibilities arose from the collaboration between distinctive local companies and international students.

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