On October 29, 2014, Associate Professor Katsushi Takashima from the Faculty of Humanities at Hirosaki University gave us a lecture entitled “Business Management Guidance”.

　Mr. Takashima uses the VRISA method to analyze company activities, and he tries to solve the problem that the Japanese companies don’t make enough profit, though their products are the highest quality in the world. The VRISA method means: (1)Value, (2)Rareness, (3)Imitability, (4)Substitutability, and (5) Appropriability.

　He showed us a successful example of a company “Irodori” (Tokushima prefecture) selling leaves. Mr. Yokoishi, who worked for the Agricultural Cooperatives, went to a sushi restaurant in Osaka, and saw a lady who took a beautiful maple leaf served on a plate with sushi. He thought it must be a business chance, and he started selling leaves to famous restaurants. They are just ordinary leaves in the mountains in Tokushima, but they turned into valuable leaves in restaurants in Osaka.

　It is important for people to think what they can do and what they should do. The value of a commodity is not there in itself. It depends on the place where it is used, the occasion when it is used, and the situation in which it is used. All those factors create the value of a commodity.

Associate Professor Katsushi Takashima from the Faculty of Humanities at Hirosaki University