National Project Management: The Sunshine Project and the Rise of the Japanese Solar Industry

by Minoru Shimamoto

Overview

This book clarifies the challenges and outcomes of the Sunshine Project, a national project in Japan for developing new energy that was launched about 40 years ago at the time of the first oil crisis in the early 1970s and ended, as planned, in the early 2000s. The Sunshine Project was the government’s national project for developing new energy technologies such as solar energy and other natural energy sources—what we call renewable energy today.

The book considers why policies were successful in some areas but did not have the intended effect in other areas. It explains how technology innovation was employed to achieve energy policy goals and to tackle environmental issues. If we can present suggestions for how to structure national projects, it may also be possible to identify ways for industry, government, and academia to come together to find solutions not only to environmental energy problems, but also to other social problems. Herein lies the goal of this book.

Although the development of new energy is the main subject of the book, the author also scrutinizes the governmental decision-making process involved in planning policy, the creative process, and the design of systems of collaboration between industry, government, and academia as well as cases where corporations have developed commercial versions of new energy products.

The main part of the book consists of three case studies interspersed with two reflective chapters. The first case study describes the Sunshine Project from the perspective of project management based on the perspective of government. The second case study is a detailed examination of the routines in all organizations, whether industry, government, or academia, and of the autonomy of the project organization. The third case study increases the degree of detail to focus on the smallest unit of analysis, the intentions and motivations of key individuals participating in the project.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9789811531798
Publisher:	Springer Nature Singapore
Publication date:	11/11/2020
Series:	Advances in Japanese Business and Economics , #25
Edition description:	1st ed. 2020
Pages:	331
Product dimensions:	6.10(w) x 9.25(h) x (d)

About the Author

Minoru Shimamoto is a professor at the Graduate School of Business Administration of Hitotsubashi University, where he received his Ph.D. in commerce and management in 1999. His research focuses on business history, innovation, and sustainability. He won the 58th Nikkei Prize for Excellent Books in Economic Science in 2015 from the Japan Center for Economic Research and the Takamiya Award from the Academic Association for Organizational Science (AAOS) in 2016.

Table of Contents

1 Defining the Problem: Solutions Based on Innovative Answers to Social Problems.- 2 What is the Sunshine Project: Overview of the Project.- 3 Case Study 1: Managing Technology Development.- 4 From the Rational Model to the Natural System Model: Changing Perspectives I.- 5 Case Study 2: The Legitimacy of System Survival.- 6 From the Natural System Model to the Society Development Model: Changing Perspectives II.- 7 Case Study 3: The Politics of Creating New Significance.- 8 Organizational Analysis from Multiple Perspectives: Conclusions.- 9 Developments after the Project.- Bibliography.- Index.