Park Young Won

This book proposes the theory of dual (analog–digital) transformation (ADX) as a new framework for business transformation in the digital era, highlighting leading Japanese manufacturing firms. At its foundation, the book presents two core perspectives, the three-core competence strategy and the architecture strategy, which explain how firms build and reconfigure organizational capabilities in response to technological change. By tracing the evolution of manufacturing architecture and competence development, the book shows how analog and digital systems can coexist and reinforce each other. While digital transformation (DX) has gained global attention, the enduring strength of Japanese manufacturing lies in its continued evolution through analog transformation—the refinement of craftsmanship, process integration, and tacit knowledge. The book examines how current IT technologies, including data analytics, IoT, and AI, are reshaping the traditional foundations of monozukuri (Japanese manufacturing), and how firms can align IT architecture and organizational competences to sustain innovation in the AI era. Beyond the conventional framework of digitization, digitalization, and DX, this book proposes ADX as the next step for firms rooted in collaborative monozukuri—a model integrating analog excellence with digital innovation. Sustainable competitiveness emerges not from replacing analog systems, but from combining the two. Through multiple cases of Japanese firms, the book demonstrates how Japanese manufacturers are restructuring capabilities, bridging management and production, and achieving deep analog–digital integration. Ultimately, it offers a roadmap for traditional manufacturing firms to evolve their IT strategies and thrive in the age of AI and organizational reinvention.

This book delineates the framework to research and develop new theories and system techniques for a circular economy (CE) strategy to fulfill Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) in the era of digital, sustainable, and green transformation (DX, SX, and GX). For that purpose, five system techniques are presented here: (1) multi-generational and circular economy value chain management (CE-VCM), (2) cyclical resource supply and resource collection, (3) CE product planning and digital marketing, (4) lifecycle design of IoT (Internet of Things) products, and (5) a sharing platform and application software compatible with CE-VCM. The book also explores how to proceed with international trends in research concerning CE policies and standards in Japan, the EU, and the USA. Included are case studies of advanced CE companies in diverse industries, such as automobiles, electronics, food and agriculture, and software, to name just a few. Surveys of trends in CE policy and successful industry case studies in Japan are presented and compared with those in other countries. In the past, the Japanese manufacturing industry was primarily based on the business model of selling off the products introduced into the market and the 3R tactics of “reuse, reduce, and recycle” to follow up on waste disposal. Compared to global movements, however, the responses to the CE trend in Japan, the Japanese government's CE policy, and CE management strategy in the Japanese industrial world have lagged considerably behind. In the future, when Japanese companies conduct global business transactions, it will be pivotal for them to implement a CE management strategy compatible with the ISO 59000 series. The Japanese government and global companies must respond to the SDGs, including Goal 12: Producer and Consumer Responsibility. To keep up with external environmental trends, Japanese global firms also must respond to the changes discussed in this informative volume.