Continuing from the last issue, I introduce more about the Porter Prize.
Last year's Porter Prize is featured on pages 32-33 of the January 24, 2025 morning edition of the Nihon Keizai Shimbun.
ISOWA is one of the four awarded companies.
This is not an article but an advertisement for Hitotsubashi Business School.
However, it is a double full-page spread.
When I woke up in the morning, I received a congratulatory message from Mr. I, who was my senior at the boarding house during my college days and a former vice president of “S” bank.
After that, I received more emails from several customers and classmates.
Although it was an advertisement, it was not one that we paid for ourselves, and I think this is the only time, ever, that we have been featured on both sides of a spread in the national edition of the Nihon Keizai Shimbun. It is a great honor.
In the interview with Professor Kusunoki introduced in the article, he said “it is not only strategy but also great management.”
There are two points about this.
One was Professor Kusunoki told the ISOWA-bito who attended the ceremony on the day of the award ceremony,
“You are all very lucky to work for a really good company.
There is not such a good company, but may be about 30 companies. (laugh)”
Rather than simply saying, “There is no other company,” it is more realistic to be told, we are “One of 30 companies.”
The other is what Professor Kusunoki says “excellent management,” while Professor Noma, describes it as “ISOWA has a unique strategy...” as per the lower left corner of the article.
That is right.
I have come to believe more and more that the “excellent management” that Professor Kusunoki mentioned through the judging of the Porter Prize, is a part of “strategy,” as Professor Noma said.
Professor Nawa's keynote speech introduced in the upper left corner.
The two concepts of compliance which are “not doing wrong” and ethics which are “doing right and good.”
The “fairness and justice” that ISOWA is trying to have at the heart of its strategy is precisely “doing what is right and good.”
“It is necessary to foster a corporate culture in which each employee makes what is most important to each company his or her own,” which is exactly the kind of 'Jibun-gatari(ISOWA story)' we are doing at ISOWA.
The “decision-making axis based on belief” is nothing other than what ISOWA has been working on for 25 year, since we started working on corporate culture reform. So, to think, ISOWA is a quarter of a century ahead of its time in this point. Isn't that right? (laugh)
Mission, Vision, Values, Purpose, Principle...
With the times, words and books appear that are much hyped, but I feel they are not particularly new, but only replacing the packaging and labels of the same ideas.
ISOWA is NOT wavering.
That is what Professor Nawa says “the decision-making axis based on belief”.
Thank you, Porter Prize Screening Committee members, for choosing ISOWA.
Receiving the prize is the “goal” so far, but it is also the “start” for the future.
By working together as one team (it is my role to unite ISOWA-bito as one) and increasing the value we provide to our customers, we will achieve the happiness of TASUKE-bito and ISOWA-bito.
After 4 days…
Since we all won the Porter Prize together, let's rejoice together! That's why we held a “party to celebrate the prize together” in the factory after regular business hours,
I have been president for 24 years, I honestly wish I could have come up with such a strategy earlier anyway.
However, when the professors interviewed said, “The difficulty of imitating ISOWA's strategy lies in ISOWA-bito,” I think it is precisely because we have been reforming our corporate culture for more than 25 years that we were able to come up with and realize this strategy.
It is exactly “Slow and steady wins the race.”
Since I have a certificate of commendation that I received at the ceremony last December, I showed it in front of all employees this time and had Mr. N of the Support Department receive it on behalf of all employees.
Why was Mr. N the representative?
That is the point of ISOWA's strategy that received the prize,
Repositioning machine sales, which was the goal, as the start.
And, taking the maintenance seriously after the machine sale.
Therefore, the strategy up to now, and only 'up to now', has been mainly on the service side and
Mr. Nomura of the Support Department was my partner in the strategic planning dialogue.
My new goal is to make our existing strategy story longer, thicker, and stronger.
The longer, thicker, and stronger it gets, that is reason why the more difficult it will be to imitate.
For this purpose, we will spread our strategy to the rest of the departments now more than ever, so I ask all in Manufacturing, Engineering, Sales, and Administration department help us.
I want ISOWA-bito in various departments to be my dialogue partners.
Otherwise, the strategy will not expand.
Then, Hikaru said, “Everyone, it's not a bad story to hear, so listen up for a minute,” and he then informed us of the special bonus for the Porter Prize, and we toasted!
And once again, we invited seven kitchen cars and everyone enjoyed the delicious food.
We carefully selected seven kitchen cars that were well-received at the ISOWA Family Open House a year ago.
Well, all of ISOWA-bito have made my longtime dream come true.
Once again, congratulations on the Porter Prize! And thank you for the Porter Prize!
Next time, I want you all to be employee representatives and receive the next Porter Prize certificates.
I look forward to it!
