知識型産業における競争力獲得に向けて
- 情報サービス産業を例として

主席研究員 安部 忠彦

2002年7月

目次

はじめに
I.成長する情報サービス産業
1.今後の牽引産業として期待される情報サービス産業
2.情報サービス産業の業務階層と主要各社のポジショニング
II.日本の情報サービス産業の問題点
1.ユーザー側の姿勢
2.供給側の姿勢
III.競争力獲得に向けた今後の方向
1.ソフトウエア分野
2.サービス分野

要旨

1.日本の製造業の競争力が低下し低成長が続いている。これに代わる新たな牽引産業として、成長力と知識型産業の性格を兼ね備えた情報サービス産業への期待が大きい。実際多くの企業がこの分野にシフトし始めている。

2.日本で情報サービス産業が競争力を持ち大きく成長するために、ユーザー側、供給側両方に課題がある。
ユーザー側では、専業のCIO（情報担当オフィサー）を設置し、投資効果を分析・検証しつつ、投資効果に合った安定した需要を提供する事が重要だ。
供給側では、従来日本のソフトウエアは、特定ユーザー向けの製品や、業務や機器との一体性、エンタテインメント的な要素との融合性を重視した製品で強みを発揮してきた。すなわち受注ソフトや組み込み型ソフト、ゲームソフト等である。
しかし現在主力の受注ソフトから、日本が弱いパッケージソフトやITサービスへのシフトが志向されている。そのシフトをうまく行う必要がある。

3.パッケージソフトの競争力獲得では、英語能力に加えて研究開発の重要性が高い。日本企業も研究開発を実施しているが、開発が主体だ。基礎研究で期待される国や大学は消極的だ。かつ専業大手企業はそれほど研究開発に積極的でない。世界のトップ企業との間で、技術や市場占有度面での差が拡大している。国や大学が研究面で支援し、大手専業企業が積極的な開発を行うことが不可欠だ。
一方従業員20人以下の小規模企業の中には、研究開発に熱心で、自社製品を持ち、生産性の高い企業の割合が高い。専業大手企業は自社開発製品に過度にこだわらず、こうした小規模企業の開発力と製品を活用すべきだ。

4.ITサービス分野へのシフトに関しては、研究開発よりも社内教育をベースとしたナレッジの共有とその活用が重要だ。しかし日本企業の対売上高教育費は、世界のトップ企業に比べはるかに低い。教育投資を増やすと同時に教育の目標レベルを設定し、達成時の報酬を明確にして、個人能力を上げ生産性を高めることが必要だ。そうして日本にふさわしい高賃金を得られる産業としての情報サービス産業を育成すべきだろう。

The Obtaining of Competitiveness in the Knowledge based Industries
- A Case Study of the IT Service Industry

Senior Fellow Tadahiko Abe

Introduction

I. Rapid growth of the IT service industry
1. The expectation of the IT service industry becoming a sunrise industry
2. Categories within the IT service industry and positions of major related companies
II. Problems with Japan's IT service industry
1. Users' stance
2. Suppliers' stance
III. Obtaining competitiveness

1.The competitiveness of Japan's manufacturing industry has weakened, and its growth potential is limited.On the other hand, the IT service industry, with its high growth potential, is one of the knowledge based industries and, as such, is expected to become a sunrise industry.In fact, many companies have begun entering the IT service industry.

2.To accelerate the growth of the IT service industry in Japan, users and suppliers must carry out the following.
Users must nominate full-time chief information officers to analyze and verify investment performance so that stable demand can be created.
As for suppliers, it can be pointed out that Japanese software Manufacturers have demonstrated their competitive edge in designing products for specific users, products that interface with business operation or equipment, and products that have entertainment value.Such products include custom-made software, built-in software, computer/video games, etc.However, Japan's software industry needs to shift its main product from custom-made software to packaged software or IT-consulting, areas in which the industry is comparatively weak.

3.To obtain a competitive edge in the area of packaged software, English-language ability and R&D are prerequisites.Although Japanese companies conduct R&D, development is preferred to research.The Japanese government and universities are reluctant to conduct basic research activities.Japanese software manufacturers are less active in R&D than their foreign counterparts.Leading companies around the world have far outperformed their Japanese competitors in terms of technology and market share.Therefore, it is quite essential for the Japanese government and universities to support software manufacturers in basic research activities and, at the same time, Japanese major software manufactures should be more active in the development of technology.On the other hand, many small software companies with twenty or fewer employees are strongly committed to R&D and have developed their own products, thereby increasing productivity.Major software manufacturers should not limit themselves to only the products that they themselves develop but should take advantage of the development capabilities of these small companies and their products.

4.To successfully shift to IT-related services, such as IT-consulting, it is more important for software manufacturers to let employees share and utilize knowledge through in-house education than to activate R&D activities.However, the ratio of education cost to sales in Japanese companies is far lower than that in leading companies around the world.Therefore, it is necessary to increase the amount of investment in education, establish target levels in education, clarify compensation for targets achieved, improve the capabilities of individuals, and increase productivity.As a result, Japan's IT service industry will be able to increase wages to a level that better suits the economic situation in the country.