Passing the Baton at Japanese Unicorn SmartHR: A Rare Move in Business Succession

Name: Passing the Baton at Japanese Unicorn SmartHR: A Rare Move in Business Succession (English version)
SKU: HK1425

Hui, Chun; Yeung, Pauline

Product #:HK1425

Supplier:The University of Hong Kong

Discipline:Entrepreneurship

Setting:Japan

Details:Case (PDF) • 14 pages • 2023-08-17

Subjects:

Business communication Communication strategy Entrepreneurship Innovation Leadership Leadership transitions Organizational behavior Start-ups Succession planning Managing yourself Corporate communications Leadership and managing people Organizational culture Boards Entrepreneurship

Geography:

Japan Asia

Your Price:

$12.40

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This case follows the entrepreneurial journey of SmartHR founder Shoji Miyata as he led his company to become the leading cloud player in the human resources space and one of only a handful of tech unicorns in Japan. By automating, digitalizing, and streamlining traditional HR functions such as onboarding new employees and managing social insurance, SmartHR was at the forefront of reducing manual HR-related paperwork in the country. Among the 1.87 million business entities in Japan, most of which still relied on manual paperwork in their HR processes, SmartHR's product offerings quickly gained traction and the company experienced exponential growth. SmartHR grew to a 45.8% market share in the labor management cloud space overall and a 71.7% market share in the enterprise segment. Although Miyata felt it was an honor to have led SmartHR, he saw the merits of voluntarily relinquishing the CEO role and passing the baton to a successor as the company became larger and might seek an IPO in the future. He felt that he could not adapt to the changes in the macro environment, ultimately deciding to let go and focus on a new venture in a rare move in business succession.

Learning Objectives

After discussing this case, students will be able to understand the start-up environment in Japan; articulate how SmartHR attained exponential growth; analyse the concept of "the founder's dilemma," which argues that founders must choose between money and power; identify the skills and qualities needed for a CEO in the different stages of development for a fast-growing start-up like SmartHR; and evaluate the merits and drawbacks of posting business-related content on a blog.