Mitsui Fudosan Launches Full-Scale Open Innovation Services for WORK STYLING Shared Offices

August 29, 2018
Mitsui Fudosan Co., Ltd.

Tokyo, Japan, August 29, 2018 - Mitsui Fudosan Co., Ltd., a leading global real estate company headquartered in Tokyo, has developed WORK STYLING shared offices for corporate clients since April 2017 in order to realize new styles of working. Mitsui Fudosan currently offers the offices at 31 locations nationwide in three formats: SHARE multi-site shared offices, FLEX for 24-hour access to service offices, and STAY workspaces with overnight accommodations.

Expanded Open Innovation Support at WORK STYLING Offices

WORK STYLING offices have been open and operating for 17 months and the community has grown to over 200 companies. Many companies regularly use the offices nationwide, including companies with over 3,000 registered members and companies with as many as 1,000 employees who use the offices weekly. The types of employees who use the offices include sales reps, who account for around 35% of the total, but also an increasing number of planning, administration and management members. Moreover, the offices are used widely not only by regular employees but by members of upper management, including top executives. The work done at the offices is varied and includes work requiring concentration as well as meetings with colleagues or partner companies, internal company meetings and sales talks with customers.

At the same time, many companies have been conducting various experiments recently on incorporating outside knowledge into their companies via open innovation to achieve further growth. Through the WORK STYLING Project, Mitsui Fudosan has also worked to promote member networking and other measures to enable the offices to be utilized as sites for open innovation. Member companies have increasingly called for more specialized support, so to meet this need, Mitsui Fudosan will further expand open innovation support services, including a new referral service for top specialists. Through this, the Company will strive to create a greater variety of connections, thereby further advancing the diversity of work styles and increasing the productivity of both companies and workers.

Open Innovation Support Measures Developed by WORK STYLING

I: Expanded matching service for individual members by business stylists

Business stylists are currently available at two sites, WORK STYLING Yaesu and WORK STYLING Tokyo Midtown, in order to help individual members develop personal networks. Business stylists conduct matching to connect individual WORK STYLING members through daily communication with those members. Business stylists will also be stationed at Tokyo Midtown Hibiya, a new WORK STYLING site scheduled to open this November, to further promote networking among members.

Reference: Data compiled from April 2017 to July 31, 2018

• Members that business stylists have reached out to: Over 5,000
• Matches made through business stylists: Over 300

Business stylists work to communicate with members by reaching out to them in a natural way		They connect members in the same sector or job, and sometimes through common personal interests
Business stylists will also be stationed at the new WORK STYLING Tokyo Midtown Hibiya

II. Stronger collaboration support for connecting member companies

The WORK STYLING Project has identified various needs of company members and facilitated collaborations between companies on a trial basis, including networking events and joint development. With the needs of companies increasing, the project will further enhance its support for corporate collaborations through such measures as establishing new consultation desks, test marketing new products using the 31 nationwide WORK STYLING locations, holding inter-industry product development workshops, and sponsoring regular networking events for member companies.

Reference: Events Held to Date

• Over 60 events held from January to the end of July 2018
• Open innovation events, etc. focused on a single member company also held
• New product trials and product development meetings held that originated in events and daily matching activities

Events held at least once a week		Networking with FLEX tenants and SHARE members
Broad-ranging events held, including skill training for individuals and new products involving TRY		Regular networking events with FLEX tenants, which include many venture companies and corporate new product development teams, and SHARE member companies
Open innovation event		Test marketing of newly developed products
A collaboration-seeking event held with participating companies (over 20 people) featuring a NTT DOCOMO, INC. presentation on its business domains		WEAR SPACE, a new product developed by Panasonic Corporation, was test marketed by having company workers, the target market, experience the product and provide feedback.
New product development workshop
Members with an interest in stationery products were solicited and a new product development workshop held (jointly with KOKUYO Co., Ltd.)

III. Specialist matching support with member companies (from August 29)

Theme expert program for referrals to top specialists
Theme experts are top specialists in the latest business trends and in various industries and sectors organized into a network by the WORK STYLING Project. The service meets the needs of members who want to interview a specialist before starting new business planning, etc., who want to obtain a bird's-eye view of an industry, who want to acquire interesting information, or who don't know whom to consult. Business stylists connect member companies with the optimal specialist from among the over 20 specialists in the network. Support is provided by specialists on over 20 themes, including the future, space, sports, education, FinTech, media, and ventures. The initial consultation is free of charge.

Consultations on ventures
For forming collaborations with venture companies, which is important for doing open innovation, the community manager for the 31VENTURES platform developed by Mitsui Fudosan is one of the theme experts and is available for consultations. Member companies can ask questions and consult on services currently being developed by venture companies and also receive referrals with regard to specific themes.

• Business stylists coordinate schedules between member company staff and theme experts.
• Meetings are held at WORK STYLING Yaesu, Tokyo Midtown, Hibiya and other sites with FLEX facilities.
• For complete details on the services that theme experts provide, please refer to https://mf.WORK STYLING.jp/en/

*For member companies interested in open innovation support with a greater focus on business development, the Innovation Building Program has been provided since June 2018 at the BASEQ business creation site on the sixth floor of Tokyo Midtown Hibiya. Through coordination between WORK STYLING and BASEQ, Mitsui Fudosan helps member companies generate further innovation.

IV: Launch of communication site for open innovation

New website media: WORK STYLER SALON

On August 29, 2018 Mitsui Fudosan launched WORK STYLER SALON, an owned media site that serves as a gathering place for WORK STYLERS, people striving to work in highly productive ways. The site is updated on a rolling basis with interviews with opinion leaders on the topic of work, stories that spotlight how WORK STYLING members spend their days, research articles based on surveys of 100 WORK STYLING members, and more to provide helpful articles and information for open innovation.

		Feature Work style interviews (scheduled to be updated monthly)
		Interviews with opinion leaders on styles of working
Ongoing features A day in the life of a WORK STYLER (scheduled to be updated monthly)		Author interviews (scheduled to be updated monthly)
Thoughts on working based a day in the life of a WORK STYLING member		Conversations with authors of popular business books
Event reports (occasional)		Ongoing features Surveys of 100 people (scheduled to be updated monthly)
WORKSTYLING event content provided online		Surveys of 100 WORK STYLING members on working styles

Reference: Companies using WORK STYLING SHARE (partial listing) *As of July 31, 2018 (Japanese alphabetical order)

BEYOND THE OFFICE

Mitsui Fudosan uses the statement BEYOND THE OFFICE for its building business. Mitsui Offices will continue to provide distinctive office buildings that go beyond conventional concepts to generate new added value for customers, providing a place for new lifestyles catering to a variety of working and non-working times rather than simply being places to fulfill a job.

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