Shinise

 

The Japanese take pride in ‘shinise’: businesses that have lasted for hundreds or even thousands of years. This points out an interesting alternative to the goal of profit maximization: maximizing the time of survival.

• Ben Dooley and Hisako Ueno, This Japanese shop is 1,020 years old. It knows a bit about surviving crises, New York Times, 2 December 2020.

Such enterprises may be less dynamic than those in other countries. But their resilience offers lessons for businesses in places lik...