2013年度の活動報告
Musashi University Faculty of Economics Department of Management Noriyuki Takahashi
1. Overview of activities in 2013
This year, we carried out three main activities.
The first is the "Introduction to Community Business Course" and "Community Business Practical Course," which are being carried out as a commissioned project from Nerima Ward.
For these two courses, the university and Nerima Ward are working together to plan the courses, secure the venue, and provide support for running the courses on the day, while the courses themselves are being provided by external lecturers.
The features of this year are as follows:
First, up until last year, the course was conducted as a single course, but from this year, it was divided into an introductory course and a practical course. This was to avoid dissatisfaction on both sides, as a single course would result in a mix of students who were only "slightly interested in community business" and students who "want to actually start a business."
Next, we changed the way we conducted the practical courses. In other words, after all the students gave presentations in the fourth practical course, we selected the best plans that were the most practical from the presentations, provided intensive guidance (coaching), and presented the results in the fifth (final) course.
The contents and number of participants for the introductory and practical courses are shown in Tables 1 to 4. Of the total five practical courses, two were held during a typhoon and heavy snowfall, so the number of participants for those two courses was low, but the number of participants generally exceeded or was close to the capacity.
Starting this year, the practical courses will be subject to a fee (3,000 yen for all five sessions), with students paying the course fees directly to Nerima Ward. There have been no major problems with the introduction of fees, and this was also supported by the survey results.
The first is the "Introduction to Community Business Course" and "Community Business Practical Course," which are being carried out as a commissioned project from Nerima Ward.
For these two courses, the university and Nerima Ward are working together to plan the courses, secure the venue, and provide support for running the courses on the day, while the courses themselves are being provided by external lecturers.
The features of this year are as follows:
First, up until last year, the course was conducted as a single course, but from this year, it was divided into an introductory course and a practical course. This was to avoid dissatisfaction on both sides, as a single course would result in a mix of students who were only "slightly interested in community business" and students who "want to actually start a business."
Next, we changed the way we conducted the practical courses. In other words, after all the students gave presentations in the fourth practical course, we selected the best plans that were the most practical from the presentations, provided intensive guidance (coaching), and presented the results in the fifth (final) course.
The contents and number of participants for the introductory and practical courses are shown in Tables 1 to 4. Of the total five practical courses, two were held during a typhoon and heavy snowfall, so the number of participants for those two courses was low, but the number of participants generally exceeded or was close to the capacity.
Starting this year, the practical courses will be subject to a fee (3,000 yen for all five sessions), with students paying the course fees directly to Nerima Ward. There have been no major problems with the introduction of fees, and this was also supported by the survey results.
Table 1 Contents of the introductory community business course
|
|
Date and time
|
Contents
|
place
(All classrooms are located on Musashi University campus.) |
|
1st
|
Tuesday, August 27, 2013
18:30-20:30 |
Community Business: Case Studies
Lecturer: Ei Nagasawa |
Building 1, 2nd floor
Classroom 1201 |
|
2nd time
|
Tuesday, September 10, 2013
18:30-20:30 |
Community business from the very beginning
Entrepreneurial know-how lecturer: Ei Nagasawa |
Building 1, 2nd floor
Classroom 1201 |
|
3rd
|
Tuesday, September 24, 2013
18:30-20:30 |
Starting a community business in Nerima (interaction with experienced entrepreneurs)
Lecturer: Ei Nagasawa Senior entrepreneurs: Ayako Ueki, Tsuyoshi Oyamada, Shinichiro Sakai |
Building 1, 2nd floor
Classroom 1201 |
Table 2 Contents of the Community Business Practical Course
|
|
Date and time
|
Contents
|
place
(All classrooms are located on Musashi University campus.) |
|
1st
|
Tuesday, October 1, 2013
18:30-20:30 |
Think about money when starting a business
|
Building 1, 1st basement floor
Classroom 1002 |
|
2nd time
|
10Tuesday, August 8
18:30-20:30 |
Thinking about building a business foundation
|
Building 1, 1st basement floor
Classroom 1002 |
|
3rd
|
10Tuesday 15th of the month
18:30-20:30 |
What is a good business plan?
|
Building 1, 1st basement floor
Classroom 1002 |
|
4th
|
10Monday 26th (Sat)
13:00-18:00 |
Presenting your business plan
|
Building 8, 5th floor
Classroom 8503 |
|
5th
|
Saturday, February 15, 2014
13:00-18:00 |
Results presentation
Presentations by winners of the business plan contest |
Building 8, 5th floor
Classroom 8503 |
Table 3 Number of participants [Introductory level] (Maximum 60 people)
|
Date
|
8/27
|
9/10
|
9/24
|
|
Number of participants
|
63
|
60
|
54
|
Table 4 Number of participants [Practical] (Maximum 30 people)
|
Date |
10/1 |
10/8 |
10/15 |
10/26 |
2/15 |
|
Number of participants |
40 |
36 |
33 |
26 |
9 |
*October 26th is a typhoon day, and February 15th is a heavy snow day.
The second is the implementation of a community business "research" course. This course began in 2012. The "introductory" and "practical" courses are aimed at people who are about to start a business, and focus on providing guidance on know-how, starting with the mindset of the person in charge. However, the research course is aimed at people who want to learn more about community business and those who have already started a business, and covers the environment surrounding community business and hot topics in the area. It is characterized by being aimed at a wide range of people, including those who are only interested, those who have no intention of starting a business themselves but are interested in supporting it, those who are considering starting a business, and those who have already started a business. The ultimate aim is to form a "community" around community business. For this reason, the research course does not simply end with the lecturer giving a talk, but instead devotes the last 30 minutes or so to a place for participants to interact with each other.
Before the course began, applications exceeded the capacity of the course, and the number of participants in the first session also exceeded the capacity of the venue. However, from the second session onwards, the number of participants fluctuated between 20 and 25 people, and we hope to address this issue by adjusting our management methods in the future.
Table 5. Community Business Research Course Contents
|
|
Date and time
|
theme
|
Lecturer
|
|
1st
|
Tuesday, November 19, 2013
18:30-20:30 |
Product promotion and sales channel expansion strategies that small and medium-sized enterprises want to tackle immediately
|
Akihiro Hara (CEO of Universal Standard Co., Ltd.)
|
|
2nd time
|
11Tuesday, 26th of the month
18:30-20:30 |
Providing the joy of working for busy moms: A downtown female entrepreneur's business management that makes the most of mothers raising children
|
Noriko Gomibuchi (CEO of YPP Ltd.)
|
|
3rd
|
12Tuesday 3rd of the month
18:30-20:30 |
Childcare business in the face of declining birthrates
|
Yumie Konishi (CEO of Primex Kids Co., Ltd.)
|
|
4th
|
12Tuesday, 10th of the month
18:30-20:30 |
The economic impact of the Tokyo Olympics and the next seven years: Advice for entrepreneurs to take advantage of the tailwind and move forward
|
Yasuyoshi Tabe (Chairman the Azabu Research Institute, economic journalist, editorial committee member of the Asahi Shimbun Company)
|
|
5th
|
12Tuesday 17th
18:30-20:30 |
It's just a toothpick, but it's still a toothpick - the management philosophy of a long-established company
|
Osamu Inaba (Chairman and CEO of Koeisha Co., Ltd.)
|
Table 6 Number of participants [Research section] (maximum 30 people)
|
Date |
11/19 |
11/26 |
12/3 |
12/10 |
12/17 |
|
Number of participants |
34 |
20 |
20 |
21 |
25 |
The third is a field survey of local community-based revitalization efforts.
This year, a total of five hearing surveys were conducted in four regions.
The dates, themes, and main contents are as shown in Table 7. Each of these initiatives was started with the motivation to utilize the characteristics of the region and revitalize it. However, what they all have in common is that the financial foundations of these initiatives have a major impact on their continuity and development, which is a common finding.
The question is what type of financing is appropriate for what type of initiatives and what mechanisms can be put in place to make them a reality. Research into this topic will continue.
This year, a total of five hearing surveys were conducted in four regions.
The dates, themes, and main contents are as shown in Table 7. Each of these initiatives was started with the motivation to utilize the characteristics of the region and revitalize it. However, what they all have in common is that the financial foundations of these initiatives have a major impact on their continuity and development, which is a common finding.
The question is what type of financing is appropriate for what type of initiatives and what mechanisms can be put in place to make them a reality. Research into this topic will continue.
Table 7. Outline of the field survey
|
times
|
schedule
|
Themes etc.
|
Main Contents
|
|
１
|
2013year
July 29th - August 2nd |
Field survey
Amami City, Kagoshima Prefecture Regional revitalization |
Conducting a hearing survey of people involved in Shima Expo, a tourism initiative that makes use of the local community.
|
|
２
|
2013year
June 28 |
Field survey
Minamiuonuma City, Niigata Prefecture Regional revitalization |
Hakkaisan Brewery Co., Ltd., which has been steadily growing as a sake brewery, is promoting the entire region and promoting so-called inbound tourism (as opposed to "outbound" which simply involves shipping sake) as a measure to ensure further growth in the future. This is the subject of a hearing survey on these efforts.
|
|
３
|
2013year
November 3-6 |
Field survey
Shimanto City, Kochi Prefecture Regional revitalization |
On-site coverage of the public interest incorporated association Dragonfly and Nature Conservation Society. In this episode, we interviewed people who have supported the association from outside the organization.
|
|
４
|
2014year
February 10-12 |
Field survey
Shimanto City, Kochi Prefecture Regional revitalization |
On-site interview with the public interest incorporated association Dragonfly and Nature Conservation Society. In addition to following up on the November 2013 investigation, we also interviewed external consultants, the representative director, etc.
|
|
５
|
2014year
March 5-8 |
Field survey
Otsu City, Shiga Prefecture Regional revitalization |
How was the ecosystem for supporting new businesses, centered around the Shiga Prefectural Industrial Support Plaza, created? This interview survey focused mainly on the process.
|