《MBA》Entrepreneurship & Family Business Naoki Kakutani, Visiting Lecturer

Nagoya Campus has been operating face-to-face classes since the fall semester of 2020, after observing ventilation and social distance and taking thorough measures against viral infections.

Entrepreneurship & Family Business

In this class, we will deepen our understanding of what a family business is and how a family business should be managed for its permanent survival through discussions using multiple cases in which family business owners with an entrepreneurial spirit make changes.

Management Strategies for Family Businesses

In the afternoon of the first day of the class, the students used a case study on Matsui Securities to build on their basic knowledge of family businesses and learn what the strengths of a family business are. Michio Matsui, who joined Matsui Securities as the son-in-law of the company's president, transformed the company from a traditional mid-sized brokerage firm into one of the leading online brokerages in Japan. How did he restructure the business model and transform the corporate culture? By analyzing why this was possible, we were able to deepen our understanding of the strength of family businesses and their sources. In addition, he reconfirmed that business succession was one of the reasons why Hayashibara Corporation, which was discussed in the morning, was forced into bankruptcy after accounting irregularities were discovered, even though it had developed original products that even major food manufacturers could not achieve and was regarded as a "leading family business. After reaffirming that business succession was cited as one of the reasons why the fraudulent accounting was discovered and the company was forced to fail, the essentials of business succession were discussed by comparing the business succession processes of two family businesses that had undergone major changes. At the end of the session, a discussion was held on whether the Matsui family should take over the business after Michio Matsui. There was a moment when the students were at a loss for words. Although they could not put everything into words, they spent some time thinking deeply about what business succession should be like so that listed family businesses, which have a public aspect, can continue to make use of the unique strengths of family businesses, and whether people who are born into founding families have a responsibility to be involved in the business and keep it going.

Profile of Naoki Kakutani, Guest Lecturer

D. in Agriculture and MBA in Business Administration from Kakuya Foods Co.
In 2005, he completed an early doctoral course at Kobe University, and after working at the university for a year, he joined Ajinomoto Co., Ltd. In 2015, he completed an early master's course at Nagoya University of Commerce and Business (2014 Outstanding Student, Case Award). In the same year, he left Ajinomoto and joined Kadoya Foods Co. He has been serving as Representative Director since the following year. He is interested in not only family business and SME management, but also corporate ethics, moral philosophy, and management philosophy. In practice, after taking over the business, he reviewed everything from the production system to marketing from an economically rational point of view, and promoted efficiency and differentiation. Since 2016, he has been a guest lecturer at Nagoya University of Commerce and Business School (recipient of the 2019 Teaching Award). He has been a visiting lecturer at Nagoya University of Commerce and Business since 2016 (awarded the 2019 Teaching Award).