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.

Team ISOWA @ U.S.

We were in Atlanta yesterday attending Super Corr Expo 2012, a cardboard machine exhibition held once every four years, where we exhibited our products.

 

This time – as in the first trial attempt – we broadcast live via the Internet the production status of our printers used in two companies in the U.S.

 

 

It was really good. Some participants were surprised at the speed of our order change processing and high production rate. One person asked, “Is this really live footage?!”

 

This trial run was only possible because of our good relationship with the two companies. Last night, we started out with a cocktail party for our customers on arrival. The room was not quite big enough, so it was packed full with a lot of guests.

 

Then we had dinner at a different place including some other guests from Brazil. It was such a lively dinner.

 

Of the four Super Corr exhibitions held over the past 12 years, this one was the most exciting. I mean it was when you look at ISOWA’s booth. That is undoubtedly because our printers, Falcon and Ibis, have entered the American market and are operating well. They have already become popular here in the U.S.

 

 

But you can’t talk about this without mentioning team “ISOWA America.”

 

Though selfish plays were often seen before, organizational reform this spring has greatly improved their teamwork so now it’s like a completely different team.

 

Even though they have not been taught about the spirit of corporate culture reform that we’re working on in Japan, they already understand it well, and I always heard the word “team” in their conversation. It is a great thing.

 

Can you guess how impressed I am?

 

 

It feels the same as with this many wine bottles around me.

 

 

Super Corr 2012 ended this way, with my heart filled with deep emotion.

This is the Third Time

Today we held an ISOWA tour for our new employees and their families. This is the third time we’ve done such a tour.

 

I think the families may be worried about what kind of company ISOWA is.

 

This event is planned for them to see, feel and understand us, as well as to support us.

 

Today the weather was changeable in Nagoya. At times it was stormy.

In spite of the weather, all six of our new employees and eight of their family members took part in this event. They came from Hikone, Shima, Ena, Gifu-Hashima, Koda and Toyota.

 

Ms. H of the human resources department provided our company overview, and then I said a few words.

 

 

We talked in an open space, not in a meeting room, because I wanted them to feel ISOWA as much as possible.

 

Then we embarked on a Discovery ISOWA tour presented by the recruiters.

 

First up was Mr. T of the structure division, who is in his fourth year as an ISOWA employee.

 

 

 

 

“I am now studying the alignment and installation of machines. Originally I joined ISOWA because I wanted to manufacture things, so I will master that and start studying machine structure.”

 

Next up was Mr. N of the sales division, who has been working at ISOWA for eight years.

 

“Until recently I thought our job was just to sell the machines, but I have come to recognize the importance of making customers happy. For this reason, I am now trying to please the customers even before delivering the machines.”

 

I could feel his zeal for his work. It might be because he recently got married.

 

Finally Mr. T of the technology division, who has five years of experience in the company, came up and spoke to us.

 

 “This year, while I worked on developing new machines, I was thinking of this slogan: ‘For the world, for the people.’ My work poses some really challenging tasks and is full of pressure. But the best moment for me is when I hear a customer say ‘nice machine.’ This has always been my goal in development: For the world, for the people.”

 

Mr. T became a father on the first day of Minkyu. I have never seen him this excited. I couldn't help shaking hands with him.

 

At the end of the tour, one participant said, “They were not perfect speeches, but what really matters is that they were all speaking nobly with their own words.”

 

That is what our tour participants always say. It means all the ISOWA members can publish their own thoughts majestically, and such thoughts can be moving for other people.

 

At this point, the participants divided up with the new hires in one group and the parents in another. The new employees were accompanied by recruiters while Mr. Nakamura and I attended their parents. We ate “miso-katsu” at our three-star restaurant and had some coffee. That was our original full-course lunch.

 

I asked the parents to tell a little about their children, speaking frankly. I know some things should be kept private, but I will tell you some of the insights.

 

Ms. K

She is a strange girl. She loves creating things so much that she might suddenly start hammering at something even in the middle of the night.

 

Mr. A

He is an “otaku.” He loves trains and will go anywhere to take photos of trains. Actually I am a model railroad fan too.

 

Mr. H

He is a quiet man from the country.

 

Mr. E

He is obedient and honest. He is like a child.

 

Mr. Y

He is shy. Although he can’t drink much, he loves drinking. So he often gets drunk and oversleeps.

 

Mr. M

He is a weird man. Yesterday he suddenly went out for a bike trip to Atsumi 50 km away from our house, just to see fireworks. Actually I like to bike too.

 

Here are some additional comments.

 

     ·         I was surprised that you seem to know my kid better than I do.

     ·         Finally I understand why he looked so happy when he got accepted for the job in
           your company.

·         Your factory is much cleaner and designed for safety than I expected. That relieved me greatly.

·         Your offices seem well ventilated.

·         You are all smiling and fresh.

·         Since the time of his internship, we have been saying, "I hope you will be a member of ISOWA."

·         This tour reminded me of the time he took us here and said, "I really want to work for this company."

·         What surprised me most was how honest they all were in their talks.

·         Unlike at my company, you are all cheerful, and the president is friendly.

     (In response to this I said, “To tell you the truth, I’m using my body double for this event.”)
 

Children want to show their company to their parents, and parents will want to visit there.

This is the kind of people who join ISOWA every year. It's a strong point of ISOWA. We will work with all our might on management in order for them to keep this good feeling forever.

We, the ISOWA family, will warmly welcome your dear children. So please don't worry. And please keep being our fans.

 

Thank you all once again for coming.