An Analysis of Key Success Factors in Developing Communities in the Framework of Strategic Management

本研究的目的是通过战略管理的概念和理论镜头观察日本的人口稀少地区，揭示在各种地缘政治和社会制约下振兴这些地区的可行和有效手段所依据的关键成功因素。研究结果在三篇文章中描述。作为实现上述目的的第一步，第一篇论文试图从改善长期社会福利的角度出发，得出一个可以用来评估一个地区作为一个整体的行为在多大程度上具有战略性的战略概念。第二篇论文首先试图探索人们振兴其地区的努力的本质。由此推论，振兴一个地区，恰好相当于用当地居民自己的脑筋和双手制定了一个战略，并逐步实施。文章接着描述了振兴进程中根深蒂固的地缘政治和社会制约因素，这些制约因素在日本人口稀少的地区根深蒂固。最后，第三篇论文将描述如何在一些九州地区进行开创性和全面的努力，为日本所有人口稀少的地区吸取重要经验教训，这些地区必须在即将到来的极端严峻的财政条件下生存下来。

The purpose of the present research is, by observing under-populated areas in Japan through conceptual and theoretical lenses of strategic management, to reveal key success factors that underlie feasible and effective means for revitalizing these areas under various geopolitical and social constraints. Research results are described in three articles. As the first step to attain the above-stated purpose, the first paper tries to derive a concept of strategy that can be used to evaluate to what extent an area's behavior as a whole has been strategic from the standpoint of improving its long-term social welfare. The second paper then tries at first to explore the essence of people's efforts to revitalize their regions. As a result, it was derived that revitalizing an area is exactly equivalent to craft a strategy with its residents' own brains and hands and to implement the strategy step by step. The paper proceeds to describing various geopolitical and social constraints of the revitalization process that have been deeply rooted in under-populated areas in Japan. Finally, the third paper will describe how pioneering and full-scale efforts in some Kyushu regions have been conducted to derive important lessons for all under-populated areas in Japan that have to survive under extremely severe financial conditions to come soon.