Doing Business in Asia

Rapid economic growth and globalization in Asia are driving new investment opportunities and intensifying competition. To sustain competitive advantage in this new business environment, which is marked by both fierce competition and unprecedented opportunities for collaboration, business leaders must expand their vision beyond their local markets and industries to the rest of Asia and the world. As Japan's population declines and ages and the yen continues to appreciate rapidly, attention is being drawn to the rapid growth of emerging markets, especially in Asia. Confronted with these new circumstances, many Japanese companies have adopted the "expansion of business overseas" as their growth strategy, but this is a very steep path to climb. However, successful cases of growing business in Asian countries are emerging. In this RIETI discussion paper, we will introduce successful cases of business growth by Japanese companies in Asia, especially in China and India. Key lessons from these cases are as follows: allowing globalization to drive a new business model; hybridization of the new business model and the existing business model, and effective human resource management.