Developing University Social Responsibility: A Business Ethics Approach to Information Disclosure in Japan

This book analyzes the growing importance of information disclosure in Japanese universities in the context of the country’s changing circumstances from both a macroscopic and microscopic perspective, with a focus on the concept of universities as organizations. This macroscopic analysis is based on available data concerning the various information disclosure practices of Japanese universities and includes a discussion of their strengths and weaknesses. As for the microscopic analysis, questionnaires and various other quantitative methods have been used to study overall satisfaction with the level of disclosure among students and teachers in public and private universities, including differences between Japanese and Chinese students. The results of these surveys have then been analyzed to identify the main factors informing students’ views on the subject. Finally, additional insight into the practice of information disclosure in Japanese universities has been provided in a series of representative case studies, which should help promote further study concerning the practical applications of such disclosure.

Based on the above analysis, this book proposes a social responsibility-based approach to university information disclosure, which incorporates stakeholder theory-based identification of public information content, an underlying focus on disclosure as a means to realize universities’ social responsibilities, identification of the types of information that universities should seek to disclose, recommendations for developing a framework for the systematic disclosure of such information, and recent disclosure trends. As part of this approach, recommendations concerning the arrangement of different sources of information, thoughts on building a publicly accessible platform for sharing university information, and key points underlying the systematic disclosure of information within universities are also proposed.

Finally, this book is helpful in identifying further areas of research, including but not necessarily limited to the ideas and legal principles underlying the construction of a university information disclosure system, the development of information disclosure systems based on social responsibility, and the development of various standards for the disclosure of information. The ideal approach would ensure that all stakeholders are provided with meaningful access to relevant information, and that transparency takes precedence over any competing considerations as part of an overriding effort to improve university administration and oversight.

Keikoh Ryu is a professor of ethical economics and business ethics at Ritsumeikan University’s Graduate School of Business Administration, which is located in Osaka, Japan. Prof. Ryu is also the director of the Japan Society for Business Ethics and an advisory committee member at the Stanford Program on International and Cross-Cultural Education, Stanford University. With six academic degrees from the USA, China, and Japan, including one bachelor’s degree, two master’s degrees and three Ph.D.s, Prof. Ryu’s research involves political economics, sociology, and philosophy. Having completed three doctoral degree programs from Peking University’s Graduate School of Education (Ph.D. in Education), Tsinghua University’s Graduate School of Philosophy (Ph.D. in Philosophy), and Waseda University’s Graduate School of Political Science and Economics (Ph.D. in Public Management), Prof. Ryu’s research spans the comparative and international areas of ethical economics and public management. Currently, his research primarily deals with cross-cultural and cross-disciplinary research methodology in business ethics and management philosophy.

In 2010, Waseda University Press published Prof. Ryu’s book titled Creating Public Value: The Challenges of Localization for Japanese Corporations in China (in English), which was also selected as a winner of the 2010 Emerald/EFMD Outstanding Doctoral Research Awards. Oxford University Press published his ＂Globalization and Economic Nationalism in Asia＂ (in English, 2012). Most recently, Chikura Shobo in Tokyo published his ＂Altruism and Responsibility: Research on INAMORI’s Business Ethics＂ (in Japanese, 2020). Prof. Ryu’s research has also been published in the Journal of International Business, Corporate Communication Studies, and other scholarly academic journals.