Interaction between individual and collective learning in an entrepreneurial setting: case study of SoftBank Academia in Japan

ABSTRACT

This study presents a theoretical model of interaction between individual and collective levels of entrepreneurial learning. We conducted a qualitative study on SoftBank Academia (SBA), an institute for human resource development to develop potential successors to Masayoshi Son, the founder of SoftBank Group in Japan. In SBA, there’s simultaneously a high level of competition and cooperation. Results suggest that the entrepreneurial learning process, which spans individual and collective levels, features elements of SoftBank Group’s business process such as ‘comradely association’ and ‘Cluster of No. 1 Strategy’.

KEYWORDS:

• Collective learning
• entrepreneurial learning
• human resource development
• Japan
• SoftBank Academia
• succession

Disclosure statement

No potential conflict of interest was reported by the author(s).

Notes

1. SBG has made several acquisitions and investments related to firms, best represented by investment in Yahoo! (implemented in 1996) and Alibaba (implemented in 2000), the acquisition of the Japanese subsidiaries of Vodafone (implemented in 2006), Sprint (implemented in 2013), and ARM (implemented in 2016), and the establishment of SVF1 (2017) and SVF2 (implemented in 2019).

2. ‘Wide range of job-related skills’ refers to skills, techniques, and knowledge that are highly firm-specific and applicable beyond a specific speciality and job.

3. Legitimate peripheral participation is about how newcomers become experienced and old members of a community of practice. As newcomers gradually gain a recognition of mastery in tasks, vocabulary, and principles of the community, their participation becomes more central (Lave and Wenger 1991).

4. This figure was provided by the SBA administrative staff.

5. Of the five Academia students, three were external and two internal. One of the external students was originally an employee of SBG, but his participation in SBA led him to start his own business.

6. The request for participation from SBA’s administration staff was weak, resulting in the response rate of approximately 9%. Of the respondents, 18 were external students and 9 internal students.

7. This stance contrasts with Eisenhardt (1989), well cited in many management cases. Eisenhardt (1989) recommended examining multiple cases to construct a theory that is novel, thrifty, testable, and generalizable. According to her, treating multiple cases in a replication manner (Yin 2014) increases the generalizability of theoretical insights. In selecting cases, emphasis is placed on theoretical sampling (Glaser and Strauss 1967). The aim is to list differences and similarities in each selected case in a manner consistent with theoretical interest.

This approach of Eisenhardt (1989) can be described as positivist, and facilitates the establishment of laws. The framework derived through multiple case studies is objective and universal, unaffected by the characteristics of specific cases or the perspectives of specific informants. Information that does not contribute to objectivity and universality is excluded from the components of the framework. As a result, the theoretical model is simple.

Additional information

Notes on contributors

Ikutaro Enatsu

Ikutaro Enatsu is an Associate Professor at Research Institute for Economics and Business Administration, Kobe University, Hyogo, Japan. He received his PhD in commerce from Graduate School of Commerce, Hitotsubashi University, Tokyo, Japan. His articles have been published in journals including Organizational Science and The Japanese Journal of Labour Studies. He received JAAS Award (2011) from Japanese Association of Administrative Science and Annual Award for Research Articles on Labour (2012) form The Japan Institute for Labour Policy and Training.

Masato Horio

Masato Horio is a doctoral student at Graduate School of Business Administration, Kobe University, Hyogo, Japan. He received his master’s degree in economics from Graduate School of Economics, Nagoya University, Aichi, Japan. His research theme is entrepreneurial stress. His articles have been published in journals including The Japan Academic Society for Ventures and Entrepreneurs.

Nobutaka Ishiyama

Nobutaka Ishiyama is a Professor at Graduate School of Regional Policy Design, Hosei University, Tokyo, Japan. He received his PhD in policy, planning, and development from Graduate School of Regional Policy Design, Hosei University. His articles have been published in journals including Journal of Knowledge Management and Asia Pacific Business Review. He received JAHRD Award (2018) from Japanese Academy of Human Resource Development and JAAS Award (2020) from Japanese Association of Administrative Science.