Developing Asia's Competitive Advantage in Green Products: Learning from the Japanese Experience

Right now, governments around the world are spending record amounts of money to kick-start their economies in response to the financial crisis. Fortunately, a great opportunity exists for this fiscal stimulus to be directed towards "green" economic growth, which can not only provide the new markets and jobs needed immediately for alleviating poverty, but also address the challenges of global warming. Working models already exist, proving that sustainable growth is possible. To achieve this will require social, technical and structural changes, as well as appropriate policies conducive to eco-innovation. For developing countries, there are lessons that can be learned from countries that have already gone through that process. The aim of this paper is to show what lessons can be learnt from the Japanese case. As the world's second largest economy, Japan is not only one of the most energy-efficient economies in the world; it also produces some of the world's leading green technologies. This paper focuses on current trends in the green product market and consumer behavior in Japan, which have been influenced by recent government policies, particularly the ¥15.4 trillion (more than US$100 billion) stimulus package. The aim of this paper is to provide some insight on, and present a repository of selected government policies promoting sustainable development. The scope of this paper will cover areas such as hybrid vehicles, renewable energy, energy efficient home appliances, and green certification schemes. It also provides a brief discussion on the environmental policies of the new Japanese government that came into power on 16 September 2009. The paper attempts to use the most recent data, from June to August 2009, however given the quickly-evolving global environment, these statistics may change drastically by the time this paper is presented.japanese government environmental policies; sustainable development; vehicle pollution policies

Developing Asia’s Competitive Advantage in Green Products: Learning from the Japanese Experience

Business intelligence (BI) systems have been questioned as regards the benefits and returns obtained after implementation. These questions arise because the product of BI is intelligence (i.e., some kind of processed information) and the value of information is difficult to assess. This research aims to address the issue of evaluation of BI systems using the information systems success model (ISSM) proposed by DeLone and McLean, going beyond the traditional interrelated dimensions of BI capabilities, quality of information, user satisfaction, and usage level. Decision approach is included as a variable since a key objective of BI systems is to process data from different sources to produce information that serves as a basis for the decision-making process. The research problem was addressed by a web-based survey methodology, and of the 483 responses, 246 were usable. The structural equation modeling (SEM) was used to analyze the data with the software SMART-PLS. The results empirically proved all the causal relationships proposed between success dimensions of BI systems, except for the moderation effect of the variable of decision-making approach on the relationship between satisfaction and usage level. The results show that BI success can be defined in terms of BI capability, the quality of information, user satisfaction, decision-making approach, and usage level. The main practical implication of this research is that promoting analytical decision-making reduces subjectivity and increases success in BI systems implementations

Developing Asia’s Competitive Advantage in Green Products : Learning from the Japanese Experience

Right now, governments around the world are spending record amounts of money to kick- start their economies in response to the financial crisis. Fortunately, a great opportunity exists for this fiscal stimulus to be directed towards green economic growth, which can not only provide the new markets and jobs needed immediately for alleviating poverty, but also address the challenges of global warming. Working models already exist, proving that sustainable growth is possible. To achieve this will require social, technical and structural changes, as well as appropriate policies conducive to eco-innovation. For developing countries, there are lessons that can be learned from countries that have already gone through that process. The aim of this paper is to show what lessons can be learnt from the Japanese case. As the world's second largest economy, Japan is not only one of the most energy-efficient economies in the world; it also produces some of the world's leading green technologies. This paper focuses on current trends in the green product market and consumer behavior in Japan, which have been influenced by recent government policies, particularly the 15.4 trillion (more than US$100 billion) stimulus package. The aim of this paper is to provide some insight on, and present a repository of selected government policies promoting sustainable development. The scope of this paper will cover areas such as hybrid vehicles, renewable energy, energy efficient home appliances, and green certification schemes. It also provides a brief discussion on the environmental policies of the new Japanese government that came into power on 16 September 2009. The paper attempts to use the most recent data, from June to August 2009, however given the quickly- evolving global environment, these statistics may change drastically by the time this paper is presented.green economic growth, sustainable growth, fiscal stimulus, Japan