ISOWA joins the Porter Prize Club – award for the difficult imitability of ISOWA’s Competitive Strategy

Happy New Year! May you have a blessed year full of success, love, and health.

 

We were awarded the Porter Prize–2024.

ISOWA was invited to the award ceremony. Before the ceremony, I attended the Porter Prize Club meeting, which only the awarded companies could attend and officially certified as a member. We feel so proud that we can join the club since all the members are very famous corporations for their own competitive strategies. However, the details of the meeting are confidential and not open to the public. I am sorry that I cannot share them with you.

 

As I found the poster of the Porter Prize Club, I took a selfie.

Then, Professor Kusunoki appeared and said, “Let’s take a photo.” He is a leading authority on the competitive strategy in Japan. Our first encounter was in 2016, and to this date, I have a lot of stories with him. He is a member of the steering committee of the Porter Prize.

By the way, the meaning of the unique logo of the Porter Prize was explained at the award ceremony. There are two meanings. One is to take strategies that differ from other companies, which is “Out-of-Box Thinking.”  The other is that the arrow symbol, sticking out of the box, has a barb on it like a fishhook. It represents the indomitable will never go back but take a step forward in the strategy. That makes sense.

After the “confidential meeting” of the Porter Prize Club, it was finally time for the award ceremony, the official name, “The Porter Prize Conference on Competitiveness 2024.”

When I was waiting for the opening of the ceremony in Hitotsubashi Hall, Professor Kusunoki came and asked, “Are you with Tsunobo-san today?” (“Tsunobo” is my wife’s nickname.) I answered, “Yes, she has already arrived.” He said, “Could you introduce me?” “Sure.” So, I introduced my wife, Tsunobo, and my daughter, Hitomi, who were sitting together, to him.  At the time, “Maybe…” I had a feeling that something was going to happen.

 

The ceremony started.

The representatives of the four awarded companies were interviewed by Professor Kusunoki.

The first interviewee was ADVANTEST CORPORATION, the second was Hulic Co., Ltd, and the fourth was Japanet Holdings Co., Ltd. ISOWA was the third interviewee.

During the interview, Professor Kusunoki referred to my blog “ISOWA Diary,” which was my important weapon to build up ISOWA’s corporate culture. And from there, he said “Mr. Isowa has wonderful relationships with his wife. I am learning from him, too.” He said this kind of thing suddenly, and next he said, “Today, his wife is here. Mrs. Isowa, could you please stand up?”

I knew it! My prediction came true!

But she could not stand up as she was very shy. That was so her.

During the interview, she listened to it while holding the portraits of my deceased parents.

I am sure that they are so delighted in heaven.

When I got the 20-minute interview, time went by so quickly. That was not enough time to explain ISOWA’s competitive strategy. As ISOWA is a little-known company, the mystery must have only deepened why ISOWA won the prize.

But it is true in a sense.

I believe Professor Mikiharu Noma’s (he is a member of the steering committee of the Porter Prize) feedback explains it. - “The difficult imitability of ISOWA’s competitive strategy lies on the ISOWA-bito (ISOWA team members)”

Because it is a mystery and incomprehensible, nobody can imitate it.

This is exactly the strongest imitability which was born through consecutive efforts to improve the corporate culture over the past quarter century.

After the ceremony, I had an official photo session.

The female photographer was hyper, and she made me excited, like a photo session at a kindergarten. It was a fun time.

This is the certificate of commendation.

The name Hitotsubashi University Business School (ICS) and the university’s emblem were hot stamped on the front cover. It reminded me of my graduation ceremony 45 years ago.

Since the Porter Prize is hosted by my alma mater, I have a special feeling about it. I am very happy to receive this award.

When I open the front cover, I can see the certificate of commendation, which has the signature of Professor Michael E. Porter of Harvard University, on the bottom left.

This is the stylish commemorative gift we received.

I did not notice it, but my wife Tsunobo said, 

“It is made in the shape of a book.”

Oh, this is certainly a book with open pages!

Then, what kind of book is it?

Is it the COMPETITIVE STRATEGY written by Professor Michael E. Porter?

But for me, it is Professor Ken Kusunoki’s translated version.

Mine is the very first edition. Though it has many finger marks, it is definitely my commemorative item.

Three days before the award ceremony, I sent an email to Professor Kusunoki.

“Could you take a group shot with us? Many of your fans from my company will participate in the ceremony.”

He gave me the prompt reply, “Sure!”

Then, not only the Tokyo branch but also many members from the headquarters in Aichi; a total of 30 people joined the group photo. (See the top photo of this blog post.)

There were a lot of members who had read his book in our company’s study meeting about competitive strategy.

Furthermore, he was considerate in suggesting a family shot.

The photo is memorable. It is the family heirloom now.

After the ceremony, the ISOWA team had a private celebration party at JOSUI KAIKAN next to Hitotsubashi Hall.

I asked every member for a short speech.

Some of them said,

“It was my first time to see you get nervous.”

I was surprised. I was not nervous at all and enjoyed the ceremony very much, but I must have looked nervous.

Another comment was,

“Today, I saw your happiest day. I am thrilled to see that you feel so happy.”

Yes, I felt extremely happy.  

The award ceremony was great. However, the speeches of ISOWA team members at our celebration party were ‘super’ awesome.

It was where “ISOWA’s corporate culture,” the source of the difficult imitability of ISOWA’s strategy, was overflowing.  Because of that, my tears were about to overflow, too! 

Again, I realized that ISOWA is a wonderful company.

I am extremely happy to be the president of ISOWA.

Thank you to all ISOWA-bito, Tasuke-bito, and our valued customers.

We will contribute more and more to reduce our customers’ opportunity losses.

Let’s go, ISOWA America!

 

I have not been to the U.S. for a long time, since the pandemic began.

The last time I traveled on business was,

LINK TO THE PREVIOUS POST.

in December, 2018.

 

During that time, we bought our own office, three times larger than the one we had rented,

and the number of employees has doubled to now 25.　It’s thanks to the IA team, who have contributed to the patronage of our North and South American clients and their Kikai (“machine” and “opportunity”) Loss Reduction.

 

What a gorgeous welcome, by the way. I am overwhelmed.

 

Mr. S, who has only been here for a few days as a successor to Mr. Y, who has been here for 3 years, has been completely Americanized and brightened up. I have high expectations for him.

 

Unlike most American companies, IA follows the philosophy of ISOWA Japan and is committed to Japanese-style management with an emphasis on Corporate Culture. It has evolved every year, and people who saw the evolution and admire the culture of thinking as a team rather than as an individual, and by extension, Japan itself, are now joining us.

 

Exactly “choose who rides the bus” and “choose by who rides the bus”.

 

This further creates the evolution of IA. Of the 23 people, excluding expatriates from Japan, the number of bilinguals who spoke fluent Japanese had increased to 4.

 

 The iceberg under the surface matters.

 

It is a virtuous cycle toward a philosophy-based management.

ISOWA America is nice. Really nice.

 

To contribute to the Kikai (“machine” and “opportunity”) Loss Reduction, we need people and parts. Parts inventory is essential.

Behind the larger office is an even larger and more orderly warehouse, which holds 3.5 times more spare parts than it did a few years ago.

In the evening, Mr. Y's wife, Mrs. A, and her daughter, Miss Y, joined us for dinner. It was a friendly and enjoyable dinner party.

 

Let's continue to do our best! Let’s go, ISOWA America!

Unchanged feelings even after 14 years

In mid-September, I visited the United States on a business trip for the first time in several years. Looking back, the last time I visited the United States was in 2018, before the COVID-19 pandemic.

I was surprised to realize that I hadn't visited the United States for such a long time!

 

The reason of the trip this time was for an exhibition called "Super Corr" in Orlando, Florida – often referred to as the Mecca of theme parks.

My primary objective was to deepen the personal connections between our company, ISOWA, and our important customers, not just our business-to-business relationships. To that end, over the course of three days, ISOWA America hosted a dinner at a different venue each evening.

 

Day 1.

Day 2.

Day 3.

A total of 12 companies and 31 customers attended.

In addition, 5 representatives from ISOWA America and 5 from ISOWA Japan attended, including Hikaru, Mr. A (who oversees sales in America), and engineers Mr. Su and Mr.Sa from ISOWA Japan.

Every night, I gave a short speech to the guests at the start of the event.

"My grandfather founded the company in 1920, and my father joined in 1949.

At the time, ISOWA was only the 6th largest manufacturer of corrugated board machinery in Japan.

My father first came to America in 1964.

That was a small step for him but one giant leap for ISOWA.

He had been hoping to establish a technical partnership with General Corporation in New Jersey for the production of semi-automatic gluers. After writing to them for 10 months without a response, he finally managed to visit the U.S. in person.

My father stayed at a hotel in New York and was determined to make the partnership a reality. Despite the fact that it was the middle of winter, he took the bus to their factory in New Jersey every day. After ten days of persistence, they finally reached an agreement.

Although the gluer that they had partnered with was not as successful in Japan as they had hoped, fortunately, when General Corporation saw the flexographic printing presses that ISOWA was manufacturing, they approached us with a counterproposal: "We want to sell these to our customers in America."

And so, in 1966, our export business to America began.

This was the beginning. And thanks to your continued patronage, ISOWA has been able to come this far.

I can't help but think that my late father would have loved to be here.

There are many cardboard companies. However, we do not want to create just "so-called customers."

We always want to foster long-lasting partnerships with customers who share our values.

That's right, we exist for "eternal true customers" like you, who have gathered here today.

I have been in this industry for 40 years. Of course, I will continue to work hard for you. Beyond that, I am confident that my son Hikaru, along with ISOWA America and ISOWA Japan will continue to strengthen the bonds built over the years."

In July 1969, when I was still in elementary school, I watched the first human landing on the moon by the American spacecraft Apollo 11 on TV with bated breath. I've quoted the famous words of the captain of the ship, Neil Armstrong.

As you can imagine, I was nervous when it came to English.

14 years ago, when I first visited one of the companies participating in this event, I was asked to give a presentation introducing ISOWA to their top management as we had no prior business dealings up to that point.

Among the guests at this dinner party was someone who had been present at that time.

That person shared with me his memories from that day.

He recalled, "During the Q&A session after the presentation, when a colleague asked you how ISOWA was going to approach the American market in the future, you responded, 'ISOWA does not look at the market. What we look at is the customer. ' I was really surprised by that."

I was moved that he still remembered what I said 14 years ago.

The speech I gave this time reflects the same core principle. In other words, it is "the unchanging basic stance of ISOWA."

Ron from ISOWA America, who was also at the event 14 years ago, said to me, "Every time I see him, he talks about that time. He says, 'When I think back on it, I still get emotional.'"

I am grateful to hear that. I really felt that they are our 'Best Customer forever.'

We gave each participant a Hina doll as a gift.

I was able to share a wonderful time with everyone who attended. I want to thank you all.

I would also like to thank everyone at ISOWA America, including Nick, for all the hard work behind the scenes in making everything possible.

What an honor!

We are proud to announce that we have been awarded Porter Prize - 2024.

Thanks to our team members (ISOWA-bito), our business partners (TASUKE-bito) and our customers.

"The Porter Prize was established to bestow recognition on Japanese companies that have achieved and maintained superior profitability in a particular industry by implementing unique strategies based on innovations in products, processes, and ways of managing.

The name of the award is derived from Professor Michael E. Porter of Harvard  University, a leading authority on strategy with a longstanding interest in Japan."

"Since the essence of strategy is doing different things from others, the prize will recognize those companies and business units that have deliberately chosen to compete in a distinctive way in a particular industry by delivering a unique value proposition, based on innovations in products, processes, and methods of management. This singular focus on strategy and innovation is what sets the Porter Prize apart from the other awards presented in Japan."

(Quote from Porter Prize website)

 

The reasons for receiving the award are as follows:

ISOWA Corporation is a company specializing in the development, design, manufacture, sales, and maintenance of corrugated machinery. They are a leader in the two major fields of corrugated sheet manufacturing machinery and corrugated box making machinery, with a wide range of products and many patented technologies, especially in the segment of small-lot, high-speed machines.

ISOWA's strategic feature lies in their preventive and planned maintenance services. They convey to customers the losses caused by sudden and long-hour machine stoppages, and the value of preventive maintenance. They go beyond regular parts replacement and offer suggestions to keep customers' production lines running, and encourage customers to use planned maintenance services, and successfully monetized maintenance services. Improving customer satisfaction with maintenance services will also lead to sales of new machines.

Customer satisfaction with field service is highly dependent on the quality of personnel, and ISOWA is reforming its culture ahead of its focus on preventive and planned maintenance services. In 2006, they established a corporate philosophy of "Aiming towards having the best corporate culture in the world where we can work for the happiness of ourselves and our beloved ones". In this atmosphere ISOWA-bito (ISOWA team members) can proactively think and act to satisfy customers on their initiative, and has created the organization made up of colleagues who share "fairness and justice" as a core value.

50 years, 40years, and 3years

We honored two ISOWA Bito for 50 years and 40 years of dedicated service at this morning's meeting.

 

This time, it was Mr. I, who has been with ISOWA for 50 years and is from the same graduating class as me, and Mr. T, who has been with us for 40 years.

They are strong figures who have experience in various departments, domestic and international business trips, and work locations.　

After I handed them letters of gratitude, they made speeches.

 

Mr. I,

“I felt inferior to others, so I found seniors I admired and learned from. Shohei Otani said, 'Let's stop longing,' but I think we should long for something.”

 

Mr. T, who lived in Seattle, U.S.A.

“40 years have passed in a blink of an eye, but looking back, I've met so many people.”

 

It seemed Mr. I. didn't get enough time to speak, so I made him a special offer for his 50 years of service: “Please talk as much as you want. I will make a video of it to publish company-wide.”

It was such a captivating speech.

 

The other speaker was Mr. S, who has been with us for 3 years.

 

However, this is not an award for 3 years of service.

He will be transferred to ISOWA America next week.

He said,

“I have fewer years in my career than any of my seniors who have been stationed at ISOWA America in the past. If I have any questions, I will call or e-mail you guys from America, so please be kind and support me. Especially Mr. O.”

 

Let’s show him our support, everyone!

 

And finally, from me to all of you, ISOWA-Bito.

 

There is no ISOWA-Bito who is not part of “Contribution to Kikai (“machine” and “opportunity”) Loss Reduction for NEXT Customers.” Thinking about how you are connected and what you can contribute is what it means to “live ISOWA.”

 

I am counting on you!

Até!

*The original website has a Portuguese version.

Last month, we formed a business partnership with "Fukuyose Hina Project," led by my former Nagoya JC colleague, Momo-chan. (haha) 

This project will send wonderful Japanese Hina dolls overseas, giving them second lives.

https://blog.goo.ne.jp/h_isowa/e/508d5110c8e09bfa90d7907d89c2c05e

Promptly, the Hina dolls will set off for a homestay. The homestay destination is Brazil, the farthest country from Japan.

Last week, we secretly decided to have the seven members of Company A, who are in Japan for our FFG machine training, host the dolls at their homes. Many Hina dolls wished to go to Brazil, but Momo-chan carefully selected seven pairs of dolls for the seven people.

On the last day at ISOWA, after all the training programs had ended, there was sudden excitement and cheers when Momo-chan was introduced to the seven members. Everyone was surprised and, of course, couldn't understand what was happening. 

So, I explained to them the purpose of the Fukuyose Hina Project and said,

"Please let one pair of Hina dolls stay at each of your homes indefinitely. Also, please introduce this traditional Japanese culture of Hina dolls to your family and friends in Brazil."

Everyone was overjoyed and agreed to the request, even wanting to take pictures with Momo-chan. Look at the joyful expressions on everyone's faces!

Ederson

Everton

Jack

Carlos (ISOWA America)

Benedito

Ricardo

Thiago

Momo-chan was loved by everyone!

It's quite a grand romance that Hina dolls, after finishing their initial careers in Japan, start their second lives in the homes of the important clients of ISOWA, just like the people who immigrated from Japan before the war. It's a bit touching.

Thinking this way, I noticed that Thiago felt the same. Tears appeared in Thiago's eyes... Seeing that made me even more moved.

They are all really nice guys.  It's truly wonderful to work with a company like Company A, our long-time customer, and to bring happiness to our associates and folks in the corrugated world. 

Once you return to Brazil, please pour out your love to ISOWA machines and Hina dolls.

Thank you, everyone at Company A.

And thank you to Momo-chan and everyone in the Fukuyose Hina Project for offering such a wonderful cultural exchange partnership!

P.S.

Everyone at Company A, thank you for sending us the photos of the Hina dolls you decorated at home!

A wonderful time in IA Training program at ISOWA Japan

ISOWA America’s service technicians have come to Japan for training to learn how to install, adjust, and test machines on their own without support by ISOWA Japan. The first group, Furlan and Mario, have been studying for two weeks since mid-May. While Furlan has been to Japan before, this is Mario's first time to visit both Japan and ISOWA Japan.

Shortly after they arrived, I invited them for a meal before they left, but suddenly there were only two days left, so we quickly arranged a lunch. The venue was a restaurant near our office chosen by Mr. O from the overseas sales department. Since neither of them had tried eel before, we treated them to Hitsumabushi (a kind of local eel dish).

They told me they had often passed by this restaurant, which is near their hotel. Remembering my invitation, they had secretly hoped to dine there, noticing the well-dressed patrons and the upscale appearance, thinking, "It would be nice if Hideyuki-san takes us here."

Mr. O’s choice of the restaurant made their wish come true, and they were thrilled. They both enjoyed the Hitsumabushi.

In late June, a second team will come to Japan. So, we joked, “Let’s make sure to tell the next group to ask for a fancy restaurant if they dine with Hideyuki-san.” “Great idea!”

But if we take the second group to an even nicer restaurant, Furlan and Mario might get upset, so maybe I’ll take the next group here again!

ISOWA America's service technicians travel even more than ISOWA Japan’s. It can be challenging, but let’s work together as one ISOWA to...

Create the great corporate culture with the spirit of "Quickness and Interaction," and "Do better, More will come."

The following day, Mario looked unusually serious, so I asked what was going on. "It's my final exam," he replied. "Oh! That makes sense!" Yesterday was the last day of his training in Japan, and now he's taking a test to review everything he's learned.

"This is tough," he must be thinking. This will be another memory of his time in ISOWA Japan.

After two weeks of training at ISOWA, Mario plans to stay in Japan for another two weeks to travel on his own. When I came to work the next day, I realized I didn’t see him. That means he passed his final exam and went on his vacation in Japan.

Both Furlan, who is heading straight back to Brazil after a month away from his family, and Mario, who is vacationing in Japan, have worked hard for two weeks. Take care!

See you again soon!