The digitalization of corporate innovation process: A comparison study of Japanese and Chinese companies

2020 Fiscal Year Research-status Report

• Project/Area Number: 19K13769
• Research Institution: Hitotsubashi University
• Principal Investigator: 孫 康勇 一橋大学, 大学院経営管理研究科, 准教授 (60620292)
• Project Period (FY): 2019-04-01 – 2023-03-31
• Keywords: digitalization

Outline of Annual Research Achievements

Four major achievements:
(1) I have completed a preliminary draft of a literature review article. The article title is "Digitalization of Corporate Innovation: A Systematic Literature Review." Currently I am working on further revision and preparing for submission for journal publication.
(2) I have developed a preliminary outline for a book on Digitalization of Corporate Innovation. The book will be written in Japanese and based on the case studies that I have planned. The purpose of the book is to help Japanese managers and executives better utilize digital technologies to enhance Japanese corporation innovation.
(3) I have done a preliminary case study on a company in Tokyo about their use of digital technologies in new product development.
(4) I have done a preliminary case study on a Chinese company in China (Beijing) about their use of digital technologies in their business.

Current Status of Research Progress

3: Progress in research has been slightly delayed.

Reason

The main reason is the COVID-19 pandemic. The main research method for this study is case study. In order to make progress, I need to visit companies in Japan and China to do field research including interviews and data collection. But due to the COVID-19 pandemic situation, I can not do field visits as I have originally planned.The major research activities for the last one year were literature review, theory development, and book chapter writing.

Strategy for Future Research Activity

As the coronavirus pandemic will not finish soon and I cannot afford to waiting for the situation completely changed, I have been adjusting my research plan. Before the fall of 2021, I will more focus on the literature review, development of conceptual framework and crafting book chapters. I hope the coronavirus situation will become better after the summer and I will then focus more on field studies (company visits and interviews) in the end of 2021 and early 2022.

Causes of Carryover

Reason: Due to the COVID-19 pandemic situation, some of the originally planned research activities such as travel for case study did not take place, which was a big part of the original planned budget.
Usage Plan: I plan to use the budget in the following two main areas:
(1) Travel expenses for case studies in Japan (and China if possible)
(2) I plan to hire 2-3 research assistants to support my data collection and Japanese writing work.