GAINING STRATEGIC BALANCE BETWEEN INIMITABILITY AND LEGITIMACY IN GENERATING INNOVATIVE BUSINESS MODEL

This work analyses a case of Japanese construction equipment company as a successful introduction of new business model as servitization process in traditional manufacturing industry. Servitization is defined as a phenomenon in which services are occupying a larger part of the added value in customer offerings (Vandermerwe & Rada, 1988). Servitization in the manufacturing company often requires radical business model transition. Business model must be contrived which can be characterized by several design themes and design elements (Zott & Amit, 2009). The design themes capture the common threads that orchestrate and connect the focal firm’s transactions with external parties. These contribute for customer’s profit to deliver efficiency, lock-in, reciprocity, and novelty. The design elements involve transactional content, structure (activity links), and governance with other stakeholders. Novel business models refer to new ways of conducting economic exchanges among various stakeholders that could lead to inimitability. Less strategic similarity through servitization design could increase differentiation and inimitability. However, novel business model innovation also requires more strategic similarity as legitimacy for its diffusion and social acceptance. Low legitimacy diminishes the ability of a firm to acquire resources from potential exchange partners in the business model. Legitimacy challenges occur because the firm’s servitization strategies reject the conventional wisdom that is incorporated in the industry consensus. As a result, adopting novel design themes and elements needs to balance between inimitability and legitimacy and generate moderately novel configurations of design elements (Deephouse, 1999, Snihur & Zott, 2013). Prior research findings on servitization emphasized on mainly efficiency as a design theme and product-service system’s contents as a design element, based on static empirical studies. As the methodology, we adopt more holistic and dynamic view of servitization phenomenon in this paper. Our research focuses on the issue of strategic balance in a Japanese company in terms of design themes and elements of servitization business model

Making and consuming characters

This paper shall introduce a new phenomenon about consumption. This is related to consumption of characters like Mickey Mouse and Hello, Kitty. The phenomenon appears prominently in Japan. In order to examine consumption of characters and the strategies for creating characters, we conducted a case study on a set of marketing strategies of a toy manufacturer in Japan. Traditionally, consumption research is asserted using the uni-methodological paradigm. The uni-methodological paradigm here means that researchers have a methodological exclusiveness stance to any other research approaches. Hirschman and Holbrook (1992) distinguish five non-interchangeable research approaches on consumer research. For instance, from an economic point of view, consumption could be assumed as a problem solving method to increase utility. Baudrillard (1968, 1970) criticized this type of functional consumption. Researchers have often denied the other approaches competitive to their own approaches rather than incorporating them. Character consumption cannot be revealed by such an insulated research stance because consumers would like to consume characters for multidimensional reasons. They consume characters to enhance their utilities. In addition, characters stimulate consumers’ sentiments. The possession desire is satisfied by consuming characters. Possessing character goods can create small interest groups and stimulate communication among the group members. Consuming characters is assumed to involve multidimensional aspects: functional, conspicuous, and semiotic consumption. As a result, once we try to understand character consumption, we have to employ the multidisciplinary approach in contrast to the unimethodological paradigm. Through our case study, we revealed the distinctive marketing strategies in the business of characters. It is necessary for marketers of character goods to regard character consumption as having functional, conspicuous, and semiotic aspects. We can find distinctive characteristics in the market research, product development, advertising, and communication strategies in the process of creating characters

An inverted J-shaped association of serum uric acid with muscle strength among Japanese adult men: a cross-sectional study

BACKGROUND: Uric acid (UA) may protect muscle function from oxidative damage due to reactive oxygen species through its powerful antioxidant capacity. However, several studies have demonstrated that hyperuricemia is closely related to systemic inflammation and has oxidant properties effects, both of which may increase the risk of muscle strength loss. The purpose of this study was to examine the association of serum UA concentration with grip strength and leg extension power in adult men. METHODS: This study is a cross-sectional survey in which 630 Japanese male employees aged 30 years and older participated. Five hundred and eighty-six subjects participated in the measurement of grip strength, and 355 subjects participated in the measurement of leg extension power. Blood samples were obtained for serum UA analysis. RESULTS: After adjustment for potential confounders, grip strength differed significantly between participants with and those without hyperuricemia (geometric mean and 95% confidence interval [CI]: 40.3 [39.2–41.3] kg vs. 41.9 [41.3–42.5] kg; P = 0.01). In addition, serum UA levels (quartiles) showed an inverted J-shaped curve with grip strength (mean and 95% CI: Q1, 41.6 [40.6–42.6] kg; Q2, 42.2 [41.2–43.2] kg; Q3, 41.8 [40.8–42.8] kg; Q4, 40.4 [39.3–41.4] kg; P for quadratic trend = 0.05). The results in the leg extension power group were similar to those observed in the grip strength group. CONCLUSION: This population-based cross-sectional study shows for the first time that hyperuricemia is associated with poor muscle strength. Moreover, the results indicate an inverted J-shaped association between serum UA quartiles and muscle strength

Skin advanced glycation end product accumulation and muscle strength among adult men

Aging is associated with decreased skeletal muscle function. Increased levels of advanced glycation end products (AGEs) in skeletal muscle tissue are observed with advancing age and in diabetes. Although serum AGE level is negatively associated with grip strength in elderly people, it is unknown whether this association is present in adult males. To determine the relationship between AGE accumulation in tissue and muscle strength and power among Japanese adult men. Skin autofluorescence (AF) (a noninvasive method for measuring tissue AGEs), grip strength (n = 232), and leg extension power (n = 138) were measured in Japanese adult men [median (interquartile range) age, 46.0 (37.0, 56.0) years]. After adjustment for potential confounders, the adjusted means [95% confidence interval (CI)] for grip strength across the tertiles of skin AF were 44.5 (43.2, 45.9) kg for the lowest tertile, 42.0 (40.6, 43.3) kg for the middle tertile, and 41.7 (40.3, 43.1) kg for the highest tertile (P for trend < 0.01). Moreover, the adjusted geometric means (95% CI) of leg extension power across the tertiles of skin AF were 17.8 (16.6, 19.1) W/kg for the lowest tertile, 17.5 (16.4, 18.7) W/kg for the middle tertile, and 16.0 (14.9, 17.1) W/kg for the highest tertile (P for trend = 0.04). Among Japanese adult men, participants with higher skin AF had lower muscle strength and power, indicating a relationship between AGE accumulation and muscle strength and power. A long-term prospective study is required to clarify the causality

Decreased Physical Activity Associated with Executive Dysfunction Correlates with Cognitive Impairment among Older Adults in the Community: A Retrospective Analysis from the Kurihara Project

Background/Aims: No previous studies have explored the relationship between physical activity (PA) and executive dysfunction. Methods: We retrospectively evaluated the PA for 590 older participants in the Kurihara Project; 221 participants had a Clinical Dementia Rating (CDR) of 0 (healthy), 295 CDR 0.5 (very mild dementia), and 74 CDR 1+ (dementia). Results: In the complicated task, whether the motor intensity was high (e.g. farming) or low (e.g. shopping), PA exhibited an inverse relationship with the CDR level. By contrast, for simple tasks with high intensity (e.g. walking), no CDR group differences were noted. For PA with low intensity (e.g. cleaning), the CDR 1+ group exhibited decreased levels. Conclusion: PA was related to the burden of executive function in patients with mild cognitive impairment; however, in patients with dementia, PA was related to both the burden of executive function and motor intensity

Leg extension power is a pre-disaster modifiable risk factor for post-traumatic stress disorder among survivors of the Great East Japan Earthquake: a retrospective cohort study.

BACKGROUND: Post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD) is a common psychological problem following natural disasters. Although pre-disaster risk factors are important for early detection and proactive support, the examination of such has been limited to sociodemographic factors, which were largely unaffected by the disasters. We examined the association between pre-disaster physical functioning and lifestyle and PTSD symptoms five months after the earthquake in the Great East Japan Earthquake survivors who were participating in a pre-existing cohort study. METHODS: We designed a retrospective cohort study of a cooperative association in Sendai from August 2010 to August 2011. In 2010, lifestyle, physical condition, and sociodemographic factors were examined by self-reported questionnaires completed by 522 employees of this organization. We also measured the leg extension power of all the participants. PTSD symptoms were evaluated by the Japanese version of the Impact of Event Scale-Revised (IES-R-J) following the earthquake of 2011. RESULTS: In multivariate linear regression analysis, leg extension power (β = -0.128, P = 0.025), daily drinking (β  = 0.203, P = 0.006), and depressive symptoms (β  = 0.139, P = 0.008) were associated with total score of the IES-R-J among men. Moreover, for the IES-R-J subscale, leg extension power was also negatively associated with Intrusion (β = -0.114, P = 0.045) and Hyperarousal (β = -0.163, P = 0.004) after adjusting for all other significant variables. For women, hypertension (β  = 0.226, P = 0.032) and depressive symptoms (β  = 0.205, P = 0.046) were associated with the total score of the IES-R-J. CONCLUSIONS: Leg extension power is a potentially modifiable pre-disaster risk factor among men for attenuating the severity of PTSD symptoms associated with great disasters such as the Great East Japan Earthquake among men

Irritable Bowel Syndrome Is Positively Related to Metabolic Syndrome: A Population-Based Cross-Sectional Study

<div><p>Irritable bowel syndrome is a common gastrointestinal disorder that may affect dietary pattern, food digestion, and nutrient absorption. The nutrition-related factors are closely related to metabolic syndrome, implying that irritable bowel syndrome may be a potential risk factor for metabolic syndrome. However, few epidemiological studies are available which are related to this potential link. The purpose of this study is to determine whether irritable bowel syndrome is related to metabolic syndrome among middle-aged people. We designed a cross-sectional study of 1,096 subjects to evaluate the relationship between irritable bowel syndrome and metabolic syndrome and its components. Diagnosis of irritable bowel syndrome was based on the Japanese version of the Rome III Questionnaire. Metabolic syndrome was defined according to the criteria of the American Heart Association scientific statements of 2009. Dietary consumption was assessed via a validated food frequency questionnaire. Principal-components analysis was used to derive 3 major dietary patterns: “Japanese”, “sweets-fruits”, and “Izakaya (Japanese Pub) “from 39 food groups. The prevalence of irritable bowel syndrome and metabolic syndrome were 19.4% and 14.6%, respectively. No significant relationship was found between the dietary pattern factor score tertiles and irritable bowel syndrome. After adjustment for potential confounders (including dietary pattern), the odds ratio (95% confidence interval) of having metabolic syndrome and elevated triglycerides for subjects with irritable bowel syndrome as compared with non-irritable bowel syndrome are 2.01(1.13–3.55) and 1.50(1.03–2.18), respectively. Irritable bowel syndrome is significantly related to metabolic syndrome and it components. This study is the first to show that irritable bowel syndrome was significantly related to a higher prevalence of metabolic syndrome and elevated triglycerides among an adult population. The findings suggest that the treatment of irritable bowel syndrome may be a potentially beneficial factor for the prevention of metabolic syndrome. Further study is needed to clarify this association.</p></div

Relationship of leg extension power with each subscale scores of IES-R-J among men and women^a.

a<p>Adjusted for physical activiy (<1 METs·hours/week, 1–22 METs·hours/week, or≥23 METs·hours/week), smoking status (never, former, or current), drinking status (never, 1–6 day(s)/week, or 7 days/week), sleep duration (6–8 hours/day or not), tooth brushing (≥3 times/day or <3 times/day), eating breakfast (<4 times/week or ≥4 times/week), diabetes (no or yes), hypertension (no or yes), dyslipidemia (no or yes), depressive symptoms (SDS≥45), age (log-transformed), education (≥ college or < college), occupation (deskwork or non-desk work), marital status (unmarried or married), family loss (no or yes), property damage (other, partially damaged, or completely damaged), and work volume (unchanged, increased, or decreased).</p>b<p>All continuous variables have been log-transformed.</p

Adjusted odds ratios and 95% confidence interval for the relationship between MS and IBS (n = 1,096) ^†

†<p>MS, metabolic syndrome; IBS, irritable bowel syndrome; HDL, high-density lipoprotein cholesterol; SBP, systolic blood pressure; DBP, diastolic blood pressure.</p>‡<p>Adjusted for age, sex and body mass index.</p>§<p>Additionally adjusted for smoking and drinking status, educational level, and physical activity.</p>¶<p>Additionally adjusted for dietary patterns, and total energy intake.</p><p>Additionally adjusted for depressive symptoms.</p>|<p>Additionally adjusted for mutual metabolic syndrome components.</p><p>Adjusted odds ratios and 95% confidence interval for the relationship between MS and IBS (n = 1,096) ^{<a href="http://www.plosone.org/article/info:doi/10.1371/journal.pone.0112289#nt105" target="_blank">†</a>}</p