Page 54 - Forbes - USA (February 2018)

TION
SPECIAL ADVERTISTING SECTION
SPECIAL
SEC
AD
VER
TISTING
JAPAN:

LOOKS TO THE FUTURE

Japanese Companies Ideally Positioned to Power a B2C Revival in 2018.

Japanese companies face a unique and envy-
inducing opportunity in 2018. Those that are
prepared to take on more risk in the markets
while channeling fund stockpiles towards
workers have the chance to kick-start the
business-to-consumer (B2C) sector, after
years of relying on exports and the busi-
ness-to-business (B2B) market. At the same
time, artificial intelligence (AI) and robotics
are playing an increasingly important role
in the workplace, and companies with the
foresight to adapt to unfolding technologi-
cal developments will be in the driving seat
when it comes to cheaper unit-per-cost
manufacturing.
Japanese companies have built up in-
house fund stockpiles to levels now esti-
mated to outstrip gross domestic product
(GDP) by as much as a multiple of three.
Those funds have been progressively squir-
reled away since the global financial crisis,
mirroring moves by risk-averse individuals
to remove funds from the markets and keep
them in low-interest bank accounts.

Fresh Incentives
But Japan now stands at a crossroads. The
risk-off stance of both companies and indi-
viduals will be difficult to maintain amid a
shrinking labor market, which has also seen a
depletion of experience and talent as skilled
labor retires without immediate replacement. AI -equipped robots such as Pepper (above) will have a huge role
Japanese companies that empower to play in driving growth over the next decade.
younger workers with greater upfront returns,
in terms of higher wages, can help fuel a self-
perpetuating consumer boom. production plants. CEOs interviewed for realities of this new world. Companies that
This move would entail companies shifting this special edition agree that robots of the develop managers and skilled labor capable
away from the longstanding export and B2B- future will be more intelligent, more adapt- of using robots as their servants, and not as
driven economic model that has sustained able, and eventually able to anticipate human their workplace masters, will also avoid the
Japan for decades, and reinventing them- needs more rapidly and more selectively than possible polarization in the workplace, where
selves in a domestic-demand-driven B2C humans can. low-end labor may be forced to compete
market. The ensuing multiplier effect would Companies that develop and harness the with robots for jobs.
not only underpin statistics such as GDP but effective use of such robots will be at the cut- 2018 marks 10 years since the onset of the
also boost loan demand and drive interest ting edge of manufacturing by the end of the global financial crisis. Japanese companies
rates out of the deflationary zone. first quarter of the 21st century, particularly have put this decade to good use, rebuild-
as they take in more young workers imbued ing balance sheets, creating new overseas
Rise of the Robots with the values of the new millennium. markets, and replacing obsolete plants
AI and robotics will also play a greater and Industry leaders will be those that not and equipment. It is now time to reopen
more influential role going forward. Gone only effectively utilize AI and robotic power the floodgates and power the potential of
is the idea of robots as slave machines in but also prepare their staff for the emerging domestic growth.

1 Japan