〔Major achievements〕A Discussion of the Conditions under which Advanced Proprietary Processing Technology Demonstrates International Competitiveness : A Case Study of Mitrica Co., Ltd., a Glass Equipment Manufacturer
Hirofumi Ota; Ph. D., This paper focuses on Mitrica Co., Ltd., a manufacturer of glass equipment in Mito City, Ibaraki Prefecture, and attempts to clarify what kind of capability is required to demonstrate international competitiveness and what are the prerequisites for such competitiveness. As a result, we found that the difficulty of imitating management resources (Dierickx & Cool, 1989) represented by accumulated technology by skilled workers functions well in areas where product features are not expected to expand, market size is small as well as the market is relatively stable due to the difficulty of imitation, especially in areas where advanced technologies such as AI are difficult to substitute, therefore it is inferred that international competitiveness is demonstrated.
Lamps for special purposes including scientific and chemical analyses are always required for high quality; thus, they do not commoditize like general consumer products and do not fall into fierce price competition. The brute force - business development by major companies may not be accepted, and overwhelming technology is undoubtedly the primary deciding factor. Not only that but they are not trapped in the innovation dilemma (Christensen, 1997), which arises when the pursuit of high quality goes far beyond customer requirements.
For Mitrica Co. Ltd., the desired behavior is to continue providing high-quality products based on long-accumulated technologies in response to customer demand. This implies that an ordinary capability to handle its assets and resources more efficiently is rather required than a dynamic capability to detect environmental changes, find new business opportunities, and reconfigure its management resources.
産業学会研究年報, Jun. 2025, [Reviewed]
〔Major achievements〕A Study of Business System by MOROOKA Co., Ltd.
Hirofumi Ota, Ph; D, This article focuses on MOROOKA Co., Ltd which manufactures and sells worldwide large-scale construction machinery while being a community-based company rooted in the south of Ibaraki Prefecture. While this company that is responsible for assembling individual parts appropriately has formed an ecosystem which is difficult to imitate based on its close relationships with local manufacturers by taking advantage of its position, at the same time it retains its relative power by maintaining an appropriate distance from major domestic manufacturers which procure major parts. It is unveiled that the business system of MOROOKA Co., Ltd. is realized by cleverly combining
its innovative technologies and industrial clusters.
Technology & Economics, 01 Mar. 2025, [Reviewed]
〔Major achievements〕Response to Changes in the External Environment which may invalidate the strength of the Company - Architectural Innovation through the Diesel Power Unit of NAJICO Co., Ltd. –
太田啓文, As it is expected that the movement to reduce environmental impact will further accelerate in the future, how do manufacturers & trading companies providing various mechanical parts for diesel vehicles deal with those changes in the surrounding environment? This article discussed how NAJICO Co., Ltd. confronts changes in the external environment which may invalidate its strength by featuring architectural innovation through the diesel power unit of NAJICO Co., Ltd. According to the analysis, it is unveiled that NAJICO Co., Ltd. has been leading the unitization of underfloor equipment arrangement on diesel vehicles which has not been addressed so far in Japan with the appointment of external influential personnel who are familiar with the relevant field by taking advantage of the position of an independent company without a specific manufacturer in addition to the strong brand power built from the former National Railways era. Under a diesel-free environment, the diesel power unit of NAJICO Co., Ltd. can bring serious changes to the industry's competitive structure by falling those manufacturers & trading companies into 'the modularity trap,' therefore a series of initiatives on the diesel power unit may have the impact contained in architectural innovation. In conclusion, the diesel power unit of NAJICO Co., Ltd. could be an example of the behavior of the existing company under the transition to dematuration seeking new technology to replace diesel engines against changes in the external environment which may invalidate its core business such as maintenance labor saving of diesel vehicles and request to reduce environmental impact.
産業学会研究年報, Jun. 2024, [Reviewed]
〔Major achievements〕New Business Model Creation by Servitization of Industrial Paint Technologies ～ A Study of Service-based Industrial Paint Business by Hibara Corporation Co., Ltd. ～
Hirofumi Ota; Ph.D, This article tries to approach how Hibara Corporation Co., Ltd., a medium-sized industrial paint company brings its technology to fruition into a new business model based on the technology servitization point of view by a case study of this company which produces the service-based industrial paint business. In addition, this study unveiled that the technology servitization could be the facilitating factor which brings ‘deep competitiveness’ to fruition in improving ‘surface competitiveness’ under the premise of various factors such as the internal and external environment. As a result, it is implied that ‘deep competitiveness’ consists of remote control & surveillance technology combined hardware such as sensor & communication control devices with software of data collection & analysis is joined to ‘surface competitiveness’ , expansion of commercial area & target customer base by the service-based industrial paint business.
Technology & Economics, 01 May 2024, [Reviewed]
〔Major achievements〕Dynamic Capability and Entrepreneurship drives University-originated Deep-Tech Startup
Hirofumi Ota; Ph.D., This study is aimed at unveiling the formation process of Dinow Inc., the deep-tech startups possessing high development risks. As a result, the entrepreneurship of Founder induces this company’ s activities toward social implementation while her dynamic capability drives CEO, her doctoral student., Japan Techno-Economics Society・Japan MOT Society
Technology & Economics, 01 Jan. 2024, [Reviewed]
〔Major achievements〕The Platform Strategy on EC Market for MRO: A Case Study of MonotaRO Co., Ltd.Hirofumi Ota; Ph.D., What is the source of competitiveness of MonotaRO Co., Ltd. (MonotaRO), the largest EC company for industrial MRO? This paper aimed at unveiling the business strategy of this company from the point of view of three Winner-Take-All (WTA) disturbance factors, multihoming cost, the number & size of niche market, and market growth. As a result, it is implied that MonotaRO maintains current customer base and induces new clients by fulfilling a WTA factor on multihoming cost, while at the same time establishes the current steadfast position by fulfilling a WTA disturbance factor on the number & size of niche market. In addition, it is implied that MonotaRO obtains the chain of temporal competitive advantage by continuous increase in the number of items along with target expansion due to the market peculiarities, therefore its strategy is different from those of mega platformers., The Academic Association for Organizational Science
AAOS Transactions, 10 Nov. 2023,
[Reviewed] 企業の経営資源と対応する研究開発戦略に関する一考察 : DNAチップ事業におけるケーススタディを通じて
太田啓文
東京大学博士学位論文, 12 Jul. 2012
Accumulation and Circulation of the Knowledge Needed for Biotech Business Promotion by Engineers of R&D Section in an IT Enterprise: The Case of Hitachi Software Engineering Co., Ltd
Hirofumi Ota, Kazuyuki Motohashi
The Asian Journal of Technology Management, Dec. 2011
