{"id":1163,"date":"2026-04-06T23:32:00","date_gmt":"2026-04-06T14:32:00","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.mindware-jp.com\/en\/?page_id=1163"},"modified":"2026-04-20T19:12:54","modified_gmt":"2026-04-20T10:12:54","slug":"conceptual-investigation","status":"publish","type":"page","link":"https:\/\/www.mindware-jp.com\/en\/conceptual-investigation\/","title":{"rendered":"Conceptual Investigation"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
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White Paper<\/a><\/div>\n<\/div>\n\n\n\n

A Structure-Driven Approach to Generating Theory from Data<\/h2>\n\n\n\n
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1. The Problem: When Facts Are Not Enough<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Technological innovations driven by AI and the Fourth Industrial Revolution are emerging at an unprecedented pace.
Yet the markets shaped by these innovations remain unstable, and no objective data exists to reliably predict their future.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In such environments, traditional research approaches reach their limits.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Organizations that rely on \u201cobjective facts\u201d and data-driven validation often become paralyzed when facing emerging domains where data is sparse, ambiguous, or nonexistent. Meanwhile, those willing to act under uncertainty\u2014historically exemplified by companies such as Amazon and Google during the early internet era\u2014can establish overwhelming advantages.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The fundamental question is:<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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How can we make decisions when the future cannot be derived from existing facts?<\/p>\n<\/blockquote>\n\n\n\n

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2. From Concept Research to Conceptual Investigation<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

In the 1990s, Kunihiro Tada introduced the idea of Concept Research<\/strong> to address this challenge.
The key insight was that inquiry should not be limited to observable \u201cfacts,\u201d but must also engage with underlying \u201cconcepts\u201d that shape perception.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Humans believe they observe objective reality.
In practice, however, perception is mediated by implicit assumptions embedded at a subconscious level. What we see is not the world itself, but a projection structured by prior concepts.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

This epistemological view resonates with a wide range of thinkers\u2014from Buddhist philosophy (Nagarjuna, Vasubandhu) to Kant, Husserl, and Jung. However, while philosophically profound, such perspectives have traditionally lacked practical implementation in business decision-making.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Concept Research was an early attempt to bridge this gap.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

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3. A Limitation: Human-Dependent Concept Formation<\/h2>\n\n\n\n

Concept Research relied on human interpretation to extract and organize concepts.
Methods such as the KJ Method and the Grounded Theory Approach (GTA) demonstrated that it is possible to derive structure and theory from data without predefined hypotheses.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

However, these approaches have inherent limitations:<\/p>\n\n\n\n