2006年度の活動報告

Musashi University Faculty of Faculty of Economics Department of Management Noriyuki Takahashi

This year (2006), as part of on-site interview activities, we investigated the following cases: a market set up by the town of Nakayamamura in Uchiko Town to revitalize small-scale farmers has been developed into a lively place by the townspeople themselves; a young man who has dedicated half his life to preserving dragonflies, one of the remaining natural features of the Shimanto River basin in Kochi Prefecture, is trying to realize his dream by linking it to business management; and a case in which private companies, local governments, farmers, and the third sector are working together to commercialize purple sweet potatoes, a specialty of Yomitan Village in Okinawa Prefecture, in an effort to revitalize the region through their combined efforts. Here again, we confirmed the same phenomenon as in the previous and previous years, that while the goal of solving local problems is the same, the operating entities are diverse.

As for lecture activities, as shown in the table, we invited speakers who are deeply involved in or actively involved in community business in Shizuoka, Kochi, Aomori, and Hokkaido for four consecutive days from March 7 to 10. This enabled many people in Nerima Ward and elsewhere to learn about local initiatives that are rarely heard of in Tokyo.
In addition to what became clear last year (2005), one of the things that became clear from this year's survey is that when activities spread to the local area, conflicts of interest can arise that go beyond the boundaries of the activity organization.

In other words, in addition to the diversity of members within the organization, there are also diverse stakeholders outside the organization. For example, for sweets and other products, it is better to purchase purple sweet potatoes from Yomitan Village, Okinawa Prefecture, at a low purchase price. Initially, stable purchases were beneficial for farmers, but this does not provide enough incentive to increase the area of land planted. Increasing the area of land planted requires an increase in the shipping price of purple sweet potatoes, which is not necessarily welcomed by processors. Farmers have begun to try shipping sweet potatoes as they are or setting up tourist farms rather than purchasing sweet potatoes for processing, which has resulted in a decrease in the availability of sweet potatoes for processing locally. This, too, is difficult for processors who insist on using local ingredients. Processors also face the challenge of counterfeit products being sold.

While leadership is of course necessary in community businesses, as the years pass and the organization begins to stabilize, internal conflicts can arise. This requires different skills than those needed to hold the organization together until it gets on track. In such cases, while organizations like corporations have clear governance rules, associations and NPOs often allow for decision-making that prioritizes interpersonal relationships. As a result, there are some cases where the original aspirations are not maintained and priority is given to agreeing on how profits are distributed.

One of the findings of this year (2007) was that it became clear that community businesses that have gotten on track, like those that have not, face problems unique to community businesses, even though the content may differ.
Next year (2007), we would like to conduct a more in-depth and focused investigation into who is needed to continue activities, both in the initial and mature stages.