Japan’s innovation policy and high quality human resource development

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JAPAN’S INNOVATION POLICY AND HIGH QUALITY HUMAN RESOURCE DEVELOPMENT

Nguyen Hoang Tien* - Dinh Ba Hung Anh**

ABSTRACT

In the era of international economic integration and industrial revolution 4.0 taking place at a rapid pace

with government’s innovation policies not only in the ﬁeld of science and technology. The deployment of

high-quality human resources will be a springboard and platform for the national economy to continue to

grow. The countries in Asia have succeeded and developed faster than Western countries that have better

advantage and started from higher development level. Among Asian countries, Japan is a typical one with

government and state agencies always attaching great importance to the development of innovative

policies for the economy and enterprises with public investment per capita (or calculated by percentage

of total GDP) on human resources always higher than any other country in the world, while the focus is

extremely put on training high quality human resources needed for the cause of national innovative

performance. This could also be a lesson learned for Vietnam that wants to develop high quality human

resources and implement a policy similar to Japan. This article will analyze and point out appropriate

solutions for Vietnam on this path.

Keywords: Inovation policy; high quality human resource; Japan; Vietnam.

1. STATE’S INNOVATION POLICY

Absolute and relative increases in national GDP occur through intensive scientiﬁc research and strong

development of the highly skilled human resources in the economy as well as in enterprises, which increase

intellectualcapital,promotecapabilitiesforthedevelopmentofinnovationsandadaptationstonewtechnologies

and their application through the creation of innovative technologies of production. Such technologies increase

labor efﬁciency and expand enterprise production capacities. This, in turn, facilitates innovation development

within existing spheres of the economy and the reﬁnement of existing products and technologies. The creation

of innovations occurs through scientiﬁc and educational development in the economy; through the ﬁnancing

of scientiﬁc research at corporate and state levels for the development of new products and technologies

that satisfy consumer needs more efﬁciently; and through the creation of new economic sectors. As a result,

scientiﬁc revolutions occur, and technological modes change one another (Irina 2016).

Basic characteristics, essential peculiarities, and generalized features of innovation development

processes have been analyzed at macro level to determine the role of it (innovation) in the provision of

national economic growth and country competitiveness in the global economy through its creation and

application into national production and through its stimulation in business activities by means of state

* Thu Dau Mot University

** Ho Chi Minh City University of Technology, corresponding author. Tel.: +840708741048.

E-mail address: [email protected]

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policies. Innovations play a key role in the provisioning of national economic growth. Scientiﬁc researchers

have focused on global aspects of innovation development related to overcoming disproportionate economic

growth in various countries through innovation and related to global economic growth not only through

quantitative GDP growth but also through qualitative expression of the application of innovations.

Issues of state policy in terms of rules and regulations of the innovational activity of enterprises are

particularly important in this context. In order to provide the necessary support and stimulation of the

innovational activity of enterprises and simultaneously avoid unnecessary expenditures of state budgets, it

is essential to determine the peculiarities of state policy on innovational activities of enterprises in modern

economy. In global economy, the importance of state policy on innovational activity of enterprises grows, as

there is a close connection between a country’s global competitiveness and the effectiveness of state policy

on innovational activity in that country (Yuri et al, 2016). Many authors have determined the most promising

directions of innovational initiatives, the most important factors and conditions supporting the development

and implementation of innovations of enterprises in various countries around the world, and the national

peculiarities of innovational activity. Innovational activity can improve internal business processes and

modify existing ones, or it can lead to the development and manufacture of innovative products. Innovations

ensure the development of enterprises and support their competitiveness. In the global economy, the need for

state policy on innovational activity of enterprises is especially high. State policy on innovational activity of

enterprises in the global economy include the growing role of the innovational sectors in the economies, the

acceleration of the rates at which innovations are developed, the exports of innovations, the dependence of the

whole economy on sectors of innovations, and the domination of indirect impact of state policy on innovational

activity of enterprises. For the purpose of improving the inﬂuence of state policy on innovational activity of

enterprises in the global economy, the formation of innovative bases that connect institutions, innovators,

investors, and businessmen; the development of international connections in sectors of innovations and

infrastructural provisions for creation and implementation of innovations into enterprises should be in place.

2. HIGH QUALITY HUMAN RESOURCE ISSUE

For businesses, to develop innovation based strategy, they need high quality human resource and

adequate talent management strategy. High quality human resource or highly educated human resource or

talents are individuals who can make a difference to organizational through immediate contribution or by

demonstrating their highest potential. Talent management is a process of identifying, recruiting, retaining

and developing talented people. It is related with more comprehensive and integrated activities to secure the

ﬂow of talent (major resource) in an organization, bearing in mind that talent is a major corporate resource.

Talent management starts with the business strategy and what it signiﬁes in terms of the talented people

required by the organization. Ultimately, its aim is to develop and maintain a pool of talented, high skilled

people. Its elements are described below (Nguyen Hoang Tien, 2017, pp. 143-144):

. Attractionandretentionpolicy–thesepoliciesdescribetheapproachtoensuringthattheorganization

both gets and keeps the talent it needs.Attraction policies lead to programs for external resourcing. Retention

policies are designed to ensure that people remain as committed members of the organization. The outcome

of these policies is a talent ﬂow that creates and maintains the talent pool.

. Talent audit – identiﬁes those with potential and provides the basis for career planning and

development; ensuring that talented people have the sequence of experience supplemented by coaching

and learning programs that will ﬁt them to carry out more demanding roles in the future. Talent audits can

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also be used to indicate the possible danger of talented people leaving (risk analysis) and what action may

need to be taken to retain them.

. Talent relationship management – the process of building effective relationships with people in their

roles. It is concerned generally with creating a great place to work, but in particular it is about treating individual

employees fairly, recognizing their value, giving them a voice and providing opportunities for growth. The

aim is to achieve talent engagement, ensuring that people are committed to their work and the organization. It

is better to build an existing relationship rather than try to create a new one when someone leaves.

. Performance management – a means of building relationships with people, identifying talent and

potential, planning learning and development activities and making the most of the talent possessed by the

organization. Line managers can be asked to carry out separate risk analyzes for any key staff to assess the

likelihood of their leaving. Properly carried out, performance management is a means of increasing the

engagement and motivation of people by providing positive feedback and recognition.

. Learning and development – essential components in the process of talent management ensuring

that people acquire and enhance the skills and competencies they need. Policies should be formulated

by reference to employee success proﬁles, which are described in terms of competencies and deﬁne the

qualities that need to be developed. Employee success proﬁles can be incorporated in role proﬁles.

. Career management – consists of the processes of career planning and management succession.

Career planning shapes the progression of individuals within an organization in accordance with

assessments of organizational needs, deﬁned employee success proﬁles, and the performance, potential

and preferences of individual members of the enterprise. Destination jobs are identiﬁed for high-potentials,

which are attainable only if the employee continues to perform, impress and demonstrate growth potential.

Management succession planning takes place to ensure that, as far as possible, the organization has the

managers it requires to meet future business needs.

A talent management strategy mentioned above consists of a view on how the processes of talent

management should mesh together with an overall objective, to acquire and nurture talent wherever it is

and wherever it is needed by using a number of interdependent policies and practices. A talent management

strategy involves (Nguyen Hoang Tien, 2017, pp. 144-145):

. Deﬁning who the talent management program should cover; what is talent in terms of competencies

and potential; future talent requirements;

. Developing organization as an Employer of choice (a great place to work) and ensure that good-

quality people are recruited who are likely to thrive in the organization and stay with it for a reasonable

length of time;

. Providing opportunities for career development and growth with jobs full of autonomy, interest and

challenge through designing jobs and developing roles that give people opportunities to apply and grow

their skills; good working environment with work processes and facilities enabling rewarding jobs and roles

to be designed and developed;

. Balancing between working and life by providing scope for achieving a reasonable balance between

working in the organization and life outside work;

. Talent audit, that is to identify those with potential and those who might leave the organization

and management succession planning procedures through identifying the talent available to meet future

requirements and indicate what management development activities are required.

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The development and implementation of talent management strategy requires high-quality management

and leadership from the top and from senior managers and the human resource function. The approaches required

involve emphasizing growth from within, regarding talent development as a key element of the business strategy,

being clear about the competencies and qualities that matter, maintaining well-deﬁned career paths, taking

management development, coaching and mentoring very seriously, and demanding high performance.

3. INNOVATION POLICY AND BUSINESS HIGH QUALITY HUMAN RESOURCE DEVELOPMENT

Entrepreneurial intent (EI) is the ﬁrst act in the entrepreneurial process. It could be deﬁned as a self-

acknowledged conviction by individuals that they intend to set up a new business venture and consciously plan

to do so at some point in the future. EI summarizes the willingness of a person to create his own enterprise. EI

is a rapidly evolving area of research within the ﬁeld of entrepreneurship. The increasing interest in exploring

the factors that build one’s EI is due to the crucial role that innovation based entrepreneurial activities nowadays

play in fostering economic and social development. In today’s competitive world, entrepreneurship is one of

the main concerns of various organizations including universities around the world. Entrepreneurship depends

mutually on business’ innovation activities and state’s innovation policy. Entrepreneurship can be educated

(taught) to increase the prevalence rate of entrepreneurs and, thereby, stimulate economic growth, job creation,

sources of innovation and productivity. Due to this fact many countries decided to invest in an entrepreneurship-

friendly institutional infrastructure in general and entrepreneurship education in particular (Okreglicka et al,

2017). The role of university education in strengthening students’ innovation based entrepreneurial intentions

is undeniable. Well educated entrepreneurs are talents, high quality human resource that many corporations

seek after. Providing necessary knowledge and pro-innovative skills; shaping entrepreneurial and creative

attitudes among students stimulate their entrepreneurial behaviors and, consequently, result in many startups

launched by graduates and even students. Innovation based entrepreneurship occupies an increasingly important

place since it is the main source of wealth creation and ﬁght against unemployment typical for the 4^thIndustrial

Revolution. Entrepreneurship education to create high level innovative human resource contributes greatly to the

development of entrepreneurial intention. However, the content and context of entrepreneurship education vary

between universities, countries and regions with different rates and types of employment, modes of new business

creation. Authorities, such as ministry of higher education and related governmental organs, should focus on

entrepreneurial education by diversifying programs and courses to create and manage talented (innovative and

creative) entrepreneurial human resources who are desperately needed by the economy seeking opportunities

for strong and sustainable growth. Actually, one of the strategic objectives of universities includes creation of

innovation based entrepreneurial intention and development of skills and competencies in the ﬁeld of innovative

entrepreneurship. Teaching and learning methods should also be revised to enhance student participation and

commitment to the idea of innovation based entrepreneurial intention (Khalifa, 2016).

4. JAPANESE GOVERNMENT TO DEVELOP NATIONAL HIGH QUALITY HUMAN RESOURCE

The national human resource development (NHRD) plan in Japan started when the government

accepted a budget request for implementing national primary guide and education reform-related acts

including the Newly Developed Education Plan and the Human Resource Strategy Vision facing strong

general demand for highly qualiﬁed human resource in a new context of economic development of XXI

century, the era of Industrial Revolution 4.0. NHRD plan is conducted primarily as a tool of education

reform toward entrepreneurship and innovation and emphasizes strong cooperation between institutions

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(including universities), businesses and related parties. Another characteristic is that Japan’s Educational

Reform plan is intended to be uniquely Japanese, rather than following Western methods, patterns and

styles. This Educational Reform plan is the foundation for NHRD policy in Japan. It includes projects to

encourage and orient young people to study STEM (science, technology, engineering and math) beside

entrepreneurial spirit and intention training, plans to improve quality of universities’ teaching and research,

programs of student and staff exchange in advanced ﬁelds, activities for on-the-job career advancement.

The Human Resources Strategy Vision mentioned above has six goals [Shin et al., 2009]:

(1) Improve study and research skills;

(2) Improve soft skills and human relations in addition to technical expertise;

(3) Bring up the best brains and versatile abilities;

(4) Advance the education system to respond to the needs of the national economy in the era of

Industrial Revolution 4.0;

(5) Stimulate and promote accomplishment in above mentioned areas;

(6) Foster Japanese people to take advantage and better function in the era of Industrial Revolution 4.0.

To promote these reform plans, the Diet enacted six educational reform laws and also secured budgetary

support for these plans. The key contents of these legislations are as follows [Shin et al., 2009]:

(1) Consolidation and incorporation of national universities (and abolition or conversion of short-

period colleges) toward innovative universities;

(2) National universities have autonomous decisions over their staff unions;

(3) Strong control and inﬂuence of national universities’ management board over staff, ﬁnancial,

curriculum and research issues;

(4) Advanced placement system for students with superior scores in high schools, colleges, and

graduate schools;

(5) Approval of experiential activities such as volunteering, social, research and startup activities as

educational activities;

(6) Establishment of the Students Innovative Activities’ fund.

Japan has not created a comprehensive monitoring and evaluation system for NHRD policy; instead,

each ministry is authorized to evaluate the effectiveness of its own policy implementation. In particular,

Japan makes it clear that policy objectives and policy priorities and performance outcome should be

speciﬁed to help its citizens understand the NHRD plan and to facilitate monitoring systems by citizens and

further encourage executive agencies to use measurable expressions.

In Japan, the government organization was downsized and divided into: the Ministry of Education,

Culture, Sports, Science, and Technology and the Ministry of Health, Labor, and Welfare. This has reportedly

resulted in the fragmentation of the HRD system. However, Japan is still endeavoring to make the system a

success, and it has tied NHRD plans to ﬁnancial and economic restructuring. The country is also trying to

ensure transparency in its educational and administrative system through deregulation and decentralization of

management and information sharing. Furthermore, it is implementing career and work capacity development

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system to ensure employment security and employment expansion that should accompany changes in the

new industrial structure typical for Industrial Revolution 4.0, examples of which include streamlining the

blue-collar employment, expanding the startup career opportunities, development of labor market analysis

and counseling services, the advancement of talented individuals, and the nurturing of highly skilled laborers

5. CONCLUSION AND EXPERIENCE FOR VIETNAMESE GOVERNMENT

As mentioned above in both theoretical analysis and practical experiences of Japanese policy

toward entrepreneurship and innovation development in parallel with forming talented human resource

for the needs of economy and entreprises, the education system is at the core of state innovation policy.

It (education system) must be changed and reformed ro respond to the needs of new phase of national

economic development, the era of innovational economy and Industrial Revolution 4.0. National Human

Resource Development (NHRD) strategy, plan and program are responsible for shaping new generation of

individual talents that are innovation oriented and enterprenerial both in spirit and intention to help kick off

the economy and entreprises into a new height of development track.

What lesson Vietnamese government should learn from results of theoretical analysis and practices of

Japan’sexperiences?HereaftersomegeneralsolutionsthatsuitthecurrentconditionsandcontextofVietnamese

socio-economic development and government’s strategic orientation toward Industrial Revolution 4.0:

Tie the success of innovation development policy in terms of economic growth and its sustainability

to the sector of tertiary education. The national higher education system is starting from a very low level of

development so it need a leverage to breakthrough development. Model of innovative university (promoting

and even ﬁnancing creative minds, independent thinkers and doers, enterprenerial spirits); autonomy and

decentralization to independently function organizationally, ﬁnancially, academically and strategically in

competitive market should be in place to attract high quality input (potential investors, highly qualiﬁed

academic staff, education managers, top high school graduates, etc.) and to produce high quality output

(better education and training services suiting trends in labor market and latest technology development,

top individual talented alumni nationally, regionally and globally, etc.)

Interrelate and incorporate talent management strategy into NHRD system to guarantee that NHRD

system is to produce best quality, highly talented human resource, the smartest minds that best serve the

interest of national economy being in transition due to the context of innovational trends and Industrial

revolution 4.0. Examples are: talent audit, talent hunting, talent promotion, talent development, talent

performance assessment and talent’s full autonomy guaranteed.

To get always into the right track of national innovative development, more international collaboration

(with higher innovationally developed nations such as Japan, Korea, United States) should be in place

between universities (elements of NHRD system), universities and businesses for students, academic staff,

business and technology expert exchange for the beneﬁts of all involved and related parties, but primarily

for the purpose of development and adaptation of curricula and teaching methods to the changing context of

Industrial revolution 4.0, to extend the scope of education activities to embrace different spheres, including

technology progress and social innovation, business startup and entrepreneurship.

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