Ritsumeikan Asia Pacific University

Nov 17, 2015

Seminar Report "Corporate Venturing and Open Innovation"

On Tuesday, October 27, 2015, RCAPS welcomed Mr Masazumi Ishii (Managing Director of AZCA, Inc.) to deliver an RCAPS seminar entitled, “Corporate Venturing and Open Innovation.” Mr Ishii talked about the current situation of Silicon Valley. The seminar was held in English.

[Report by APS Professor Yukihiko Nakata]
Mr Ishii obtained a Master of Science in computer science from Stanford University while he was engaged in system development at IBM Japan. After that, he joined McKinsey & Company, Inc. and worked as a management consultant. In 1985, Mr Ishii founded AZCA, Inc. in Silicon Valley, and has been doing consulting activities for Japanese companies that plan to advance into the US market. Also, since 2004, he has been involved in a venture capital company, Nonenti. Mr Ishii mainly talked about his experience in Silicon Valley.

First, he explained about the history and current situation of Silicon Valley. He explained that the ecosystem of Silicon Valley is made up from universities / research institutions, entrepreneurs, venture capitalists, incubators, and accelerators. As a result, 48% of investment in the US is happening in Silicon Valley, and world-renowned companies are clustered in Silicon Valley. In other words, the accumulation of money and knowledge has resulted in a virtuous circle.

Henry Chesbrough, an American organizational theorist, advocated the concept of Open Innovation, which creates values by organically combining ideas from inside and outside the company. The idea of Open Innovation is supporting the current status of Silicon Valley. There are two key factors to continue bringing about innovation: openness and tolerance for failure. Japanese companies lost their competitive edge in many areas in the global market due to lacking the concept of open innovation. The concept of corporate venturing that actively uses external resources is important for companies.

After this RCAPS Seminar, Mr Ishii also delivered a lecture to member companies of the semiconductor cluster in Oita Prefecture about the prospects for semiconductor-related companies from the viewpoint of Silicon Valley.

Mr. Masazumi Ishii





Chair：Professor Nakata Yukihiko（APS, APU）

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