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　(Head Office: Chiyoda-ku, Tokyo; CEO: Osamu Hata; hereafter "WAP") held the "CrossTalk "Wow!" talk event for the management of user companies on May 29, and was attended by the top management of 11 companies.

　

　CrossTalk "Wow!" invited guest speakers from Japan's leading companies to introduce a wide range of fresh and practical topics on what they are doing to innovate their companies and Japanese society, This is a talk event hosted by WAP, where we will have an interactive and heated discussion.

　In the first half of the event, a user company gave a lecture, and in the second half, a discussion was held with Mr. Hata and other participants.

Lecture and discussion

Passion does not precede effectuation thinking

　Effectuation, proposed by Professor Salas Sarasvathy in 2008, is a decision-making theory that systematizes the different thought processes and patterns of behavior found in successful entrepreneurs. There are five behavioral principles that follow, which he defines as the principles by which innovation occurs.

＜The Five Behavioral Principles of Effectuation

1. The Bird in Hand:
   When innovating, start with what you have and don't invest heavily.
2. The Affordable Loss:
   When taking on a new challenge, it is assumed that you will fail, and you do so within an "acceptable loss" that can be corrected.
3. Crazy-Quilt:
   New ventures don't work unless you leverage the power of others.
4. Lemonade:
   Lemonade is the juice of failure. Failures that occur in the course of taking on challenges should not be wasted, but rather utilized.
5. Pilot-in-the-Plane" (Pilot-in-the-Plane):
   Change the destination (goal) depending on the situation to achieve success.

　In the first half of the lecture, while delving into each of these principles, we deepened our understanding of the need to manage and control risk and failure, and the importance of focusing on logic-based processes, rather than passion that precedes all else, even when it comes to effectuation.

A valuable opportunity to exchange opinions and learn about each company's initiatives and challenges

　During the discussion in the latter half of the event, the participants gave their impressions of the lecture, gave examples of concrete measures taken by their companies, and candidly discussed the challenges they are facing, leading to a lively discussion on how to create innovation through effectuation thinking. Among the topics discussed was how to balance and distinguish between the use of "cohesion" thinking, in which forecasts are made based on research results and optimal measures are pursued to achieve objectives, and "effectuation" thinking, in which cohesion is used for business strategy and effectuation is used as a "displacement. Some participants expressed the opinion that "cohesion" is used in business strategy and "effectuation" is used as "displacement," while others said that cohesion itself is reaching its limits.

　On the other hand, the difficulty of using effectuation in large Japanese companies, where failure is not tolerated, was also a topic of discussion.

　The reception after the event was also very lively, and in the post-event questionnaire, participants commented that "everything was fresh," "I learned theories and know-how that I did not understand at all," and "it was helpful in finding a new direction for development," resulting in an extremely high satisfaction rate of 100%.
WAP will continue to actively hold similar events in the future, aiming to help promote the growth of both companies by sharing ideas and values that will leave participants with a "Wow!

Post-event reception

*1: "Effectuation is a decision-making theory that systematizes unconventional thought processes and patterns of behavior found in successful entrepreneurs.
Professor Salas Sarasvathy of the University of Virginia School of Business proposed it in 2008."
(Source: Graduate School of Management, Globis University, https://mba.globis.ac.jp/about_mba/glossary/detail-20914.html#:~:text=%E3%82%A8%E3%83%95%E3%82%A7%E3%82%AF%E3%83%81%E3%83%A5%E3%82%A8%E3%83%BC%E3%82%B7%E3%83%A7%E3%83%B3)

About Works Applications

Works Applications was founded in 1996 as an ERP package vendor in Japan. With innovative solutions such as no-customization and free version upgrades, we have supported the growth of our customers, mainly major Japanese companies. Believing in the potential of each individual, we aim to be a "growth engine" that maximizes the value of companies and individuals, and we will continue our pursuit of turning "work" into "creation" and making "work" fun.

*Company names, product names and service names are trademarks or registered trademarks of their respective companies.
*The information in this release is current as of the date of publication, and is subject to change or withdrawal without notice. Please be aware that the forecasts and other forward-looking information in this release are based on uncertainties and may differ from actual results.