ISOWA Keeps You Going – Always on the Go!

For last two days we’ve been talking about our new goal. The Cardboard Collaboration was a project we worked on from August 2010 to March 2011 where we discussed how to make sustainable profits in the medium-term perspective.

ISOWA Keeps You Going – Always on the Go! That’s the goal concept we set up during this project. If we can do this, we will get our customers to become our fans.

Since then, the concept has penetrated the whole company slowly but surely. Now how can we make that concept a higher priority than conventional numerical targets? That’s what we talked about this time.

Through the discussion, I found that conveying thoughts to someone means repeating it until he or she understands. That’s true for corporate culture reform, in which I’ve always held onto my own belief.

Tonight we had lots of very nice remarks.

Mr. T of the technical division said, “Development for the world, for the people – that’s what I’m always saying. But I’ve realized that I’m really doing it for myself. I can’t help feeling guilty for sitting here.”

No way! That’s just like ISOWA. That sounds exactly like a company where you can work for the happiness of yourself and your family.

Mr. N of sales said, “I think the ultimate goal of that concept is to enable the customers to keep themselves going.” That’s really impressive. You got me!

Mr. Takahashi from SCHOLAR said, “Mr. Isowa is suffering from a gap between heart and sales. Why don’t you just focus on sales that the heart will generate? “

It was a really stimulating off-site activity.

 

                                                                                 

Renovating Our Shinto Shrine

We have a little Shinto shrine on the company property, and it has just undergone a renovation to coincide with Shikinen Sengu, the regular removal of the Grand Shrine of Ise.

 

Our own little shrine is kind of unique. It is surrounded by an outer structure, which keeps the shrine from weathering, but of course the outer structure got old and worn out. The priest comes to our office every month to read a Shinto ritual prayer, and he suggested renovating the shrine.

 

There have been a number of twists and turns. Now the construction work is over and the shrine has been rededicated in a magnificent new shrine structure.

 

Today the cold has moderated, and I feel that spring is just around corner. Red-blossom plum trees in my garden are starting to bloom.

 

In addition to the shrine refurbishing, the block walls have been replaced by wire fences. Plantings within the wire fences are also finished. The plants look fragile since they were just planted, but I hope they will grow thick and tall to make people feel relaxed and comforted when they pass by.

 

The roof of the shrine is now covered with brand new copper so it shines in the bright spring sunshine. The fresh scent of the Japanese “hinoki” cypress wafts in the air.

I hope this shrine renovation project will be a good opportunity for us all to reappraise safety.

Managers from Nepal

Today 20 participants in The Program on Corporate Management for Nepal came to visit our office, at the request of the Overseas Human Resources and Industry Development Association (HIDA).

First, Mr. I of the management group told a story about himself including the company introduction.

That was cheerful and vigorous. Some members were so enthusiastic that they were wearing helmets even during the introduction.

After that, we announced that it was time to depart for the Discover ISOWA tour. It seemed they loved that name.

First up was Mr. A from the assembly process management section.

We didn’t have headsets so we couldn’t make out clearly what he was saying, but he said that the IKEA furniture company has a management philosophy similar to ISOWA’s, and that’s why he loves ISOWA even more.

Second up was Ms. I of the electrical technology division.

She showed us the touch panel that she developed herself. That caught everyone’s attention.

Last was Ms. S of our Nagoya sales office.

She spoke passionately about her working relationship with her colleague Ms. N.

In advance of the tour, we asked them to follow some rules written on their welcome cards. Even so, some of them were walking around the factory with their hands in their pockets. I cautioned them: “It’s not allowed to walk with your hands in your pockets, for your own safety. Breaking rules can prevent you from building up a trusting relationship with your staff.”

Then we went back to the conference room for my lecture and Q&A session.

The following is what I said. “Investment means purchasing equipment. But employee salaries are considered as costs. That doesn’t make sense. Human beings have unlimited possibilities, whereas machines don’t.” They gave me applause on hearing this, and I was glad.

Then they were divided into two groups for discussion with us.

 

I guess our management style looked quite novel to them.

One visitor said, “I’ve never heard that kind of story. That was impressive.” Many others said things like this and asked me lots of questions.

Finally, their representative gave us an appreciation speech and a “pashmina” muffler as a souvenir from Nepal.

At first it was like they were doing sightseeing or something, but I could see that they got very serious during our Discover ISOWA tour and my lecture. The open house as a whole was very successful. The way we welcome guests also got a high rating.

We couldn’t have done this if they hadn’t come all the way from abroad. I’m so glad we can have such a wonderful experience. I am so proud of ISOWA that we can offer a great opportunity like this to my staff.

I hope they will work hard on cultural reform in Nepal. I wish them the best of luck.

Youth, Maturity and Old Age

Today was the last working day of the year. Our year-end ceremony started an hour earlier than usual, and we covered a range of exciting topics.

First up was the power of youth. Mr. I, who will be working in the U.S. from Jan. 2, expressed his enthusiasm about working there.

 

This term, he actively devoted himself to training in preparation for his time abroad. First he will study at Arizona State University to improve his English, and then he'll take up his work at ISOWA America. I look forward to his triumphant return after experiencing great personal growth.

Next up was the power of maturity. At the beginning of this month, four of our employees gave a presentation at Scholar Consult Co. about the ideal products and services that they wanted to provide. They did such a great job that I asked them to give the same presentation for us.

 They spoke about ideal products and services related to their positions and jobs, sharing the goal of “creating works” that we are now working on.

Some members of the technical division said after the ceremony that they were very glad all four speakers mentioned their project.

Last up was power of old age. They might get angry when they hear this, but after youth and manhood, what’s left but old age? And I know that I also belong to the “old age” category, so please forgive me.

Executive Director Mr. I looked back on the year and spoke passionately about safety in particular.

 Executive Director Mr. K brought the year to a close with “sanbon-jime,” the Japanese custom of performing three sets of rhythmic hand clapping at the end of a special event.

This year-end ceremony made me realize ISOWA’s strength in each generation – youth, maturity and old age.

Answer from the Union

At this time of year, many companies hold negotiations about winter bonuses with labor unions. The union files a request with the company, and then the company makes a response. That is how it usually works. And that was true of us, too. “That WAS? What about now?”

 

We suggested two years ago that the management first make a proposal and then the union discuss it. And so there is no request from the union now. That’s right – the management suggests a bonus amount to the labor union voluntarily.

 

We had to get it done by the first half of this week. That’s because it has become a tradition to pay the winter bonus on the first Friday of December. Actually, I intended to have a joint management council last Friday to submit a proposal. But I had trouble drawing up such a proposal.

 

Though we are doing very well this term, that trend probably won’t continue through next term. Under these circumstances, what amount should I propose and how should I explain that decision? I just couldn’t come to a conclusion. So I asked the union leader last week, “I haven’t made up my mind about what to do. I need something to give me a push. In advance of the next term that’s expected to be hard for us, I want you to convey how I feel to the union members and let me know their thoughts.”

 

And today we had an opportunity to hear the answer. When I entered the meeting room, I found everyone was standing and chairman A was not there.

 

“Where’s Mr. A?”

“He was so nervous that he’s gone to bathroom.”

 

Mr. A came back and the meeting began. At the beginning, Mr. A suddenly brought out those colored message cards that you can see in the picture.

 

“I decided to get every union member to write his/her thought on these cards after last Friday’s meeting.”

 

I heard they had meetings during lunch time on Monday and Tuesday in each division, where one of the union officials attended and asked the members to write down their thoughts towards the anticipated difficult term on the cards.

 

“At first, I worried how many members would participate. But their words filled the cards quickly. I can’t see why it always takes so long for circulars to go around,” said Mr. A.

 

"If they hadn’t been thinking seriously about it daily, they wouldn’t have been able to write that quickly, especially the freshmen. I’m so embarrassed when I think how thoughtless I was when I was their age.”

 

“It’s true that there were some who didn’t join us, but as for those who were in this project, I believe their words came from the bottom of their hearts.”

 

“All we can do is look ahead and work hard, once we have expressed our convictions.”

 

It was really touching, but I believe that very process of struggling and thinking something through is extremely valuable.

 

·         The union filed a standard proposal suggested by the governing body.

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·         Instead of the standard union proposal, ISOWA’s union made its own proposal.

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·         The management side makes a proposal instead of its union.

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·         Before the company makes a proposal, the union expresses their intensions for the term to come.

 

Our negotiations with the union have been evolving over time, as mentioned above. Yet the meeting this time has taken it to the next stage, I think. Certainly those message cards from the union members gave me a powerful push.

 

After the meeting was over, Mr. N said, “I’m starting to feel that we are now at a new stage with the union officials. It felt like we were doing a cooperative project with them.”

 

Bonus negotiations will be a great place for us to share our goals, not just settle on the amount of bonuses. A new process has been designed.

International Paper Board Industry Interview

 

Last September, Mr. David Hayes, a journalist working for a British trade magazine, came to interview me. He also interviewed me four years ago, but this time it was a longer interview. I’ve been looking forward to reading the finished article, and it has at last been published. It turned out to be over five pages long, a voluminous article.

 

Here is the enlarged photo on the front page.

 

 

Behind me are some members of the technical division having a meeting on a corridor that we call “ISOWA Street.” I’ve never had my photo taken from this angle, but I think it looks nice.

 

The article says, “Isowa Corporation introduces new corporate culture.”

 

 

That sounds cool.

 

As you can see in the table of contents, the last of the five pages was entirely devoted to describing our cultural reform.

 

 

“Called ISOWA Street, the interconnecting concourse has created an atmosphere of working in one large office. Meeting tables are located along the concourse to encourage interdepartmental communication.”

 

Last time, the article mentioned nothing about cultural reform, even though I referred to it a lot, but this time they introduced our corporate culture quite a lot, along with discussions of our machines and status of development.

 

There’s an inside story I would like to share with you. In the Nikkei Business article, we were introduced as “a company at the center of attention from major companies.”

 

That prompted them to ask exactly what kind of companies have visited us.

 

I gave them some examples, and what surprised me was that some companies that are very famous in Japan are virtually unknown abroad.

 

My interview was at the beginning of September. That’s why I’m wearing a short-sleeved shirt with no tie in the picture.

 

Although I know it’s an insignificant detail, I’m worrying that Europeans unfamiliar with Japan’s climate might look at that picture and think it’s still summer in Japan, even though the article was published in November.

 

Cool Japan is a catch phrase not just for “anime” or games. There is also “Cool Japan” in management.

 

Hands and Legs

I got home last night after dining out with a client, and my wife said,
“Mr. K visited. He just said to let you know he was here.”

Mr. K is president of a company we are doing business with.

I wondered what he came for, but it was too late to make a return call so I called him back this morning.

As soon as he got on the phone, he started apologizing. It turned out to be about “hands.”

 

The whole thing started at morning assembly two days ago.

I saw our business partners in the factory walking with hands in their pockets, so I said to Mr. T who works in the engineering division:

“Some members of X Company were walking with their hands in their pockets.

None of us ever do that, and I felt uncomfortable seeing it.”

 

Then I added, “When we work in their factory, we join their morning assembly,

but in our factory we have separate morning assemblies.

I have been thinking we should all have morning assembly together since we’re working together in the same factory.

Please discuss it with the production division.”

 

The aforementioned Mr. T is a man of integrity and even puts in his e-mail signature:

“My beliefs: Justice, Fairness, Total Optimization.”

So right away Mr. T had a talk with Mr. I of the construction division and suggested that the production leaders should talk about it in their meeting the next Tuesday.

 

In the afternoon, I got this e-mail from Mr. K, our managing director, addressed to all the division heads:

 

It's getting cold, and I think that's why more people are walking with their hands in their pockets.

In fact, I often see that when I'm walking to the lunchroom.

Therefore, I ask you to instruct your staff more diligently.

 

Although it happened to be Company X this time, those firms managed by Y Group are spending more time in the factory.

So I also feel the need to instruct them.

 

Mr. K, who visited me last night, is the president of one such company, and he apologized to me:

“I'm so sorry. I just gathered all the staff at once to make them realize how we should act.

We have to change, following ISOWA. They shouldn't have done that …”

 

He just came all that way to tell me. I replied,

“There's still room for improvement in ISOWA as well. So why don't we change together?”

 

No matter how great a company is, it's still got some problems.

That’s true of big companies such as Google and Apple and for us as well, of course.

 

The high level of employee discipline is important, but I think it's more important that a leader is desperately trying to improve his company, just like himself.

 

 

I believe his company will become a much nicer company.

I'm looking forward to seeing it.

And we have to keep making efforts so we will not be outdistanced.

 

The story about hands ends here.

 

Next I'd like to introduce a story about “legs.”

 

The e-mail from Mr. K, our managing director, also said,

“I often find workers who are not wearing safety shoes in the workshop.

I don't think the safety committee allows that. Please check again.”

 

Getting this e-mail, I felt upset. Lately, even I have neglected to wear safety shoes.

I immediately sent an apologetic e-mail to all employees:

 

“Dear all: First, I'd like to apologize. I entered the workshop without safety shoes.

I'm sorry. I promise it will never happen again.”

 

Then I checked my safety shoes in the shoe box, and I couldn't believe what I saw.

Originally black, those shoes had turned completely white with dust – not only on the surface but also on the inside!

That shows how long I've gone without wearing them.

I wiped off the dust and discarded the insoles. I must make a fresh start again.

 

That's all I want to tell about “legs.”

 

I happened to pass by Nagoya castle. I stopped the car along a street where the trees made a kind of tunnel, with ginkgo trees on the right side and maple trees on the left. I couldn't help taking a picture of this beautiful scenery.