Musashi University

About: Musashi University is a education organization based out in Tokyo, Japan. It is known for research contribution in the topics: Supply chain & Frugivore. The organization has 125 authors who have published 328 publications receiving 3844 citations.

Fruit visitation patterns of small mammals on the forest floor in a tropical seasonal forest of Thailand

Abstract: The fruit visitation patterns of small mammals were investigated by camera trappings on the forest floor in a tropical seasonal forest of Thailand. A total of 3,165 visits were recorded for seven small mammal species. The four Muridae species, Rattus remotus, Niviventer fulvescens, Leopoldamys sabanus and Maxomys surifer, all of which were nocturnal, were almost completely temporally segregated from the tree shrew, Tupaia belangeri, and the two squirrels, Callosciurus finlaysonii and Menetes berdmorei, which were diurnal or crepuscular. We suggest that the temporal segregation reduced the interference competition between the four Muridae species and the tree shrew or squirrel for fruits on the forest floor. In addition, the visitation patterns for fruit species differed among the four Muridae species and between the tree shrew and the two squirrels, suggesting that the variation in the visitation patterns for fruit species helped to facilitate coexistence among these species. In contrast, the two squirrels were similar in their visitation patterns, both temporally and in their choice of fruit species.

Britain, the Commonwealth, and the Post-war Japanese Revival, 1945–70

Abstract: During the early post-war era, a Japanese revival was a source of profound concern to members of the Commonwealth, especially Australia and New Zealand. Britain, having abdicated the leading role in the Western Pacific to the United States, attempted to retain some influence in the region, but economic frailties and lack of Commonwealth unity undermined these efforts. Under American guidance, diplomatic, commercial and (to a lesser extent) security ties with Japan were later promoted, but elements of cooperation and competition persisted in Commonwealth relations with their former enemy. Ultimately, Britain, Australia and New Zealand placed their respective regional identities ahead of their Commonwealth loyalties. Japan took advantage of this situation to promote its own national interests. Hence, the wider aperture of the ‘Commonwealth lens’ throws into sharp relief the contours of a number of members' bilateral relationships with Japan.

Japanese Multinational Enterprises: The Paradox of High Efficiency and Low Profitability

Abstract: The fundamental characteristic of Japanese MNEs is revealed in the paradox between their high-performance operational efficiency, as reflected in quality control and inventory management, on the one hand, and their low-performance profitability, on the other. The key to unraveling this paradox lies in the organizational features of those Japanese corporations that emphasize the accumulation and utilization of managerial resources to increase operational efficiency. The paradox and the type of business management are characteristics that Japanese corporations at home and abroad share. Moreover, features that have come to be considered characteristic of Japanese MNEs, such as the high ratio of Japanese expatriates, a home country-oriented style of management, and the importance of informal information networks, have a common root with the paradox. These features can be explained by the endeavors of Japanese MNEs to compensate for the insufficient transfer of their organizational characteristics which are preconditions for high operational efficiency.