Business and Management in Asia: Digital Innovation and Sustainability PDF
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Business and Management in Asia: AIT Edition Tobias Endress Yuosre F. Badir Editors Business and Management in Asia: Digital Innovation and Sustainability Business and Management in Asia: Digital Innovation and Sustainability · Tobias Endress Yuosre F. Badir Editors Business and Management in Asia: Digital Innovation and Sustainability Editors Tobias Endress Yuosre F. Badir School of Management School of Management Asian Institute of Technology Asian Institute of Technology Bangkok, Thailand Bangkok, Thailand ISBN 978-981-19-6417-6 ISBN 978-981-19-6418-3 (eBook) https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-19-6418-3 © The Editor(s) (if applicable) and The Author(s), under exclusive license to Springer Nature Singapore Pte Ltd. 2023 This work is subject to copyright. All rights are solely and exclusively licensed by the Publisher, whether the whole or part of the material is concerned, specifically the rights of translation, reprinting, reuse of illustrations, recitation, broadcasting, reproduction on microfilms or in any other physical way, and transmission or information storage and retrieval, electronic adaptation, computer software, or by similar or dissimilar methodology now known or hereafter developed. The use of general descriptive names, registered names, trademarks, service marks, etc. in this publication does not imply, even in the absence of a specific statement, that such names are exempt from the relevant protective laws and regulations and therefore free for general use. The publisher, the authors, and the editors are safe to assume that the advice and information in this book are believed to be true and accurate at the date of publication. Neither the publisher nor the authors or the editors give a warranty, expressed or implied, with respect to the material contained herein or for any errors or omissions that may have been made. The publisher remains neutral with regard to jurisdictional claims in published maps and institutional affiliations. This Springer imprint is published by the registered company Springer Nature Singapore Pte Ltd. The registered company address is: 152 Beach Road, #21-01/04 Gateway East, Singapore 189721, Singapore Preface Dear Reader, A number of emerging Asian markets are growing rapidly, with potential for even more substantial growth in the future. Despite this growth, the Asian business land- scape is constantly shifting as a result of global and regional challenges and is the subject of continuous change. As such, academics and business experts alike have collaborated to devise new strategic, organizational, cultural, and methodological solutions to overcome the challenges of this region. This book presents the inno- vative ideas and managerial solutions produced by Asia’s executive managers and decision-makers in response to the region’s dynamism. In fact, each chapter of this book examines new ideas of strategic orientation, organizational issues, and technical approaches. The focus of this book is on “digital innovation and sustainability” in Asia. But what does that mean? From a business perspective, sustainability is defined as the adoption of business strategies, activities, and operations that meet the needs of the firm and its stakeholder today while protecting, sustaining, and enhancing the human and natural resources that will be needed in the future. Digital innovation refers to the application of digital technologies to existing business problems as well as the development of the firm’s strategy, culture, and human resources to sustain such use as it is applied to solve sustainability issues. In this context, managers and policymakers rely on digital technologies to face the region’s sustainability challenges and solve sustainability problems. In fact, there is a consensus among scholars and practicians that we are in an era where organizations need digital innovation to stay competitive. Businesses that are digital innovators are the fittest to survive and solve the old and new sustainability problems plaguing Asia. This book offers practical examples to inspire the reader to develop an innovative understanding of the Asian market and to encourage the reader to think and act boldly. Without courageous decisions, no progress is possible. v vi Preface This book comprises nine chapters. Chapter One is entitled “Rethinking Digital Innovations in the Lens of Sustainability: Perspectives from Asian Consumers of Organic Olive Oil”. This chapter aims to understand the sensitivities and percep- tions of Asian consumers concerning organic olive oil through a series of questions clustered around topics related to product authenticity, sustainability, and traceability. Chapter Two, “Japanese Sogo Shosha Corporations and Hidden Champions’ Barriers to Digital Transformation (DX)”, explores how Japanese SMEs and MNCs, known as so¯g¯osho¯sha, have been able to identify digital transformation initiatives and how to overcome barriers facing Japanese organizations’ transformation efforts. Chapter Three is focused on the “Open Innovation Ecosystem in Asia” and aims to improve the utilization of the openness concept in Asia’s emerging economies. This chapter discusses several aspects of open innovation implementation, identifies potential pitfalls, suggests possible remedies, and introduces best practices. Chapter Four is named “A New Era of Sustainable Innovation”. It discusses the principles of inclusiveness and equitability within the innovative design and devel- opment process in Asian context, which the authors claim is different due to the uniqueness of the environment and social contract. Chapter Five, entitled “Innovative Sustainable Business Models: A New Way to Recover Beyond the Pandemic”, the authors discuss the establishment of an Inno- vative Sustainable Business Model (ISBM) within a small southern Thai village (Kiriwang) during the COVID-19 pandemic recovery. The sustainable values in this chapter are captured from four dimensions: value surplus, value absence, value destroyed, and value missed. The title of Chapter Six is “Technology Integration Within Women-Owned Enter- prises in Nepal”, and it aims at addressing the integration of ICT among Nepalese women small business owners (i.e., SBOs) in order to understand their obstacles and opportunities. It focuses on factors from both individual and the firm level to advanced ICT adoption among Nepalese women entrepreneurs. Chapter Seven covers the topic “Real-Estate in the Digital Age: From AirBnB to Zealous Modern Farmers (Kind of A-Z)” and investigates some modern age issues in the real-estate markets, where digitization is thought to have immensely affected perhaps the most non-digital thing of human possessions—lands. Interesting and evolving questions, such as what factors will determine the real value of properties? and what should be the decision rules for their trade? are discussed. Chapter Eight is entitled “Systemic Barriers to Financial Inclusion in the Banking Sector of Bangladesh”. It aims to highlight some of the key restrictions that exist in Bangladesh’s banking industry which may prevent the country from achieving financial integration. The case of Bangladeshi RMG laborers is used and discussed in this chapter. Chapter Nine is about “Asia’s Sustainability and Digital Innovation Goals Prolif- erate by Executive Education and Corporate Training”. This chapter explores the impact of international executive education and corporate training in relation to digital innovation and sustainability and its successful execution and implementation throughout Asia. Preface vii In short, we believe that this set of nine chapters makes a valuable contribution to our knowledge of Business and Management in Asia: Digital Innovation and Sustainability. This book contains diverse, relevant, and up-to-date examples of how innovation, digitalization, and sustainability can be applied in different contexts in Asia. We hope it provides valuable inspiration for business practice based on sound academic research. We also hope this book helps facilitating future knowledge devel- opment. We certainly anticipate this field of study growing even more in the future as digitalization and sustainability become more common and, no doubt, increasingly complex. With best regards, Bangkok, Thailand Tobias Endress July 15, 2022 Yuosre F. Badir Contents Rethinking Digital Innovations in the Lens of Sustainability: Perspectives from Asian Consumers of Organic Olive Oil ............. 1 Veronica Marozzo, Antonio Crupi, and Alessandra Costa Japanese Sogo Shosha Corporations and Hidden Champions’ Barriers to Digital Transformation (DX) ............................. 19 Joe Hug and Hirohisa Abekawa Open Innovation Ecosystem in Asia ................................. 35 Tobias Endress A New Era of Sustainable Innovation ................................ 49 David Galipeau Innovative Sustainable Business Models: A New Way to Recover Beyond the Pandemic .............................................. 67 Chengxiang Ma and Lakeesha K. Ransom Technology Integration Within Women-Owned Enterprises in Nepal .......................................................... 93 Rojina Shrestha, Lakeesha K. Ransom, and Shreeya Bhattarai Real-Estate in the Digital Age: From AirBnB to Zealous Modern Farmers (Kind of A-Z) ............................................. 111 Syed Shurid Khan Systemic Barriers to Financial Inclusion in the Banking Sector of Bangladesh ..................................................... 121 Sajid Amit, Abdulla-Al Kafy, and Lumbini Barua Asia’s Sustainability and Digital Innovation Goals Proliferate by Executive Education and Corporate Training ..................... 139 Christopher J. Garnier ix Rethinking Digital Innovations in the Lens of Sustainability: Perspectives from Asian Consumers of Organic Olive Oil Veronica Marozzo, Antonio Crupi, and Alessandra Costa Abstract The recent trend highlights that several forces changed the international food system that, consequently, changed consumer behavior. The consumers’ easy access to information on new production and processing technologies resulted in a constantly increasing demand for food quality and organic food, especially for organic olive oil. Since the perception of quality in a product changed, digital inno- vations can act on multiple levels to improve food safety and traceability and combat counterfeiting, thus affecting consumers’ behavior and consumption habits. More- over, since there is no consensus on how consumers perceive the role and the impact of traceability systems on the food supply chain, this chapter aims to understand the sensitivities and perceptions of Asian consumers concerning organic olive oil through a series of questions clustered around topics related to product authenticity, sustain- ability, and traceability. Survey data examines attitudes that underpin consumers’ beliefs about traceability supply chain-related attributes and links them to perceived benefits in terms of food quality, safety, and food fraud risk reduction. Furthermore, different dimensions are examined to illustrate how the concepts of food safety and quality may have different meanings. Understanding which dimensions consumers mostly associate with traceability will help to provide useful traceability information in line with their requirements. · · · Keywords Product sustainability Product authenticity Traceability Organic · · olive oil Food fraud Asia B V. Marozzo ( ) · A. Crupi · A. Costa University of Messina, Messina, Italy e-mail: [email protected] A. Crupi e-mail: [email protected] A. Costa e-mail: [email protected]; [email protected] A. Costa I.E.ME.S.T, Palermo, Italy © The Author(s), under exclusive license to Springer Nature Singapore Pte Ltd. 2023 1 T. Endress and Y. F. Badir (eds.), Business and Management in Asia: Digital Innovation and Sustainability, https://doi.org/10.1007/978-981-19-6418-3_1 2 V.Marozzoetal. Introduction Organic food has become the main sustainable alternative to conventional ones. Sustainability is considered a substantial element in a successful food strategy, significantly affecting consumer behavior as part of a broader sustainability promo- tion strategy and consumer preference for sustainable food. These consumption habits changes are even more evident concerning olive oil, considering the increased attention to product quality and food safety. The world consumption of olive oil recorded its historical record in 2020 (+86%). In particular, the major consumers of olive oil worldwide in 2021/2022 are Europe Union, the United States, Turkey, and China (Statista, 2022). Consumption has prac- tically doubled over the last thirty years (Coldiretti, 2022), changing the diet of citizens in many countries, in the wake of the success of the Mediterranean Diet. The same trend is happening in the Asian world. According to the Italian National Institute of Statistics, Italian olive oil exports to China increased by e40 million in 2017(Coldiretti, 2022), and since 2014 olive oil exports to Japan have increased by 22%, reaching 72,844 tons in 2019 for a value of 289.5 million euros (Food, 2021). 89% of imports come from Europe and Italy is the second country (behind Spain), which accounts for 59% of total exports to the Rising Sun. Moreover, according to the Mordor Intelligence report, the Asia–Pacific olive oil market is expected to grow at a compound annual rate of 4.2% from 2020 to 2025(Mordor Intelligence, 2022). On the other hand, due to its high economic value compared to other foodstuffs, olive oil is considered at a high risk of food fraud (Spink & Moyer, 2011). More and more consumers scrutinize authenticity and sustainability signals during their purchase process. Consequently, authenticity and sustainability become eval- uation criteria that guide consumers’ choices. Similarly, food sustainability, envi- ronmentally friendly, resource-efficient, and ethically responsible (Goggins & Rau, 2016) represent crucial dimensions that can affect consumer confidence in the secu- rity of both food supply and technology in the face of fraud and scandals (Macready et al., 2020). Specifically, food fraud includes “the deliberate and intentional substi- tution, addition, tampering, or misrepresentation of food, food ingredients, or food packaging, as well as false or misleading statements made about a product, for economic gain” (Spink & Moyer, 2011, p. 158). Therefore, understanding the real needs of consumers is the real challenge and creates the basis for a sustainable digital innovation-based competitive advantage in the olive oil industry. Since the perception of quality in a product has changed, by assuming the complex form of a heptagon, digital innovations can act on multiple levels (Muzzalupo, 2019), to improve food safety and traceability, combat counterfeiting, thus affecting consumers’ behavior and consumption. More precisely, food safety is identified as being Asian consumers’ top safety concern (Kendall et al., 2018; Aberoumand et al., 2019; Liguori et al., 2022). Consumers are actually aware of the risks associated with food fraud, as well as counterfeit food and inferior quality food (Liu et al., 2013). Even if food quality and food safety are most often interchangeably used, there are substantial differences, especially when talking about consumer perceptions, and must be interpreted in terms
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