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nidec

Home / Posts Tagged "nidec" ( - Page 2)

Tag: nidec

“Japanese companies are too scared to touch their overseas acquisitions” – Nidec’s Nagamori

Shigenobu Nagamori, the billionaire founder of the world’s biggest manufacturer of micro-motors for hard disks and optical drives, Nidec, has acquired more than 40 companies in Japan and overseas.  He comments in a Nikkei Business article that “you cannot just leave foreign acquisitions alone to get on with things by themselves.  You need thorough mutual understanding and to even replace management if necessary.”

“Although you no longer hear about Japanese companies sending lots of managers over to their overseas subsidiaries who end up issuing all sorts of misguided directions, you now hear of companies who say ‘we think the same way as the counterpart management’ and so decide to buy the company and then just leave the management as is.”

“This is an illusion.  Actually they are being left alone because the Japanese company doesn’t really understand what they are doing. It ends up with compromising on the necessary management reforms and profit targets.”

“I have regrets myself. We acquired 10 or so companies in Europe and North America from about 2010.  We were warned by various companies who had M&A experience and financial institutions that we couldn’t restructure foreign companies the way we would Japanese acquisitions and that it was best to ‘leave it up to the foreigners’ otherwise they will quit”

“I thought that was true at the time.  I also took on board the advice that Japanese managers needed to be people with Harvard degrees and a network amongst foreign executives.”

“However one company did not make any improvement no  matter how often I set profit targets.  I thought there must be something wrong with the company management as such a company should as a matter of course achieve profit margins over 15% but I was told that it was the limit for their industry.”

“In Japan you would try to persuade the management to adopt our “kaizen” knowhow (knowledge of how to improve) but we hit a wall with this in the West.  So in 2012 we changed the management of the acquired company.  But you can’t do it like pulling a trigger.  I make a point of visiting each company at least once a year and have dinner not just with the executives but also the managers and discuss things with them.  I also encourage them to send emails directly to me and I respond to them.  I am trying to understand all the ideas people have for improving profitability.”

“It’s important that people in the company understand my thinking and I understand whether they are capable of understanding.  If they are then it doesn’t matter if the CEO is changed. ”

“It’s the same in Japan.  Communication is important.  If you just cut back costs and improve profit, the company will not survive in the long term.  Where is there waste, how can we make the most profitable products – the basics are the same in Japan or elsewhere. If this is understood, then overseas companies can be reformed too.”

“I think Japanese companies are too scared to touch their overseas subsidiaries.  They overthink the differences.  I used to be like that, but there is no need.  The basics of management are the same everywhere.”

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Octopus balls to Tokyo – why it matters where your company is from in Japan

Most countries have rival cities – usually the official capital city versus other cities which consider themselves to be the real business, historical or cultural heart of the country – think London versus Manchester or Birmingham, Berlin versus Dusseldorf or Frankfurt, Rome versus Milan, Madrid versus Barcelona.  Japan is no exception and the rivalries go way back into history.

Kyoto used to be the capital of Japan, before Tokyo (or Edo as it was then) began to usurp it in the 17th century.  If you ask Japanese people today about Kyoto, they joke that Kyotoites still think Kyoto is the real capital of Japan, and the Emperor is just temporarily visiting Tokyo (he moved there in 1868, when Tokyo became the official capital) – and will return one day.

Tokyo literally means the Eastern Capital and is part of the Kanto region, where the ruling feudal Tokugawa shogunate was based from the 17th century.  Kanto means East of the Barrier (usually considered to be the Hakone checkpoint) and Kansai – the region where Osaka, Kobe and Kyoto are based – means the West of the Barrier (originally the Osaka Tollgate).

Before Kyoto’s reign as capital for a 1000 years, Nara (also in the Kansai region) was the capital and seat of the Emperor but is now a quiet backwater, more visited by tourists than business people.  Kobe is the other main city in the Kansai region – a port with a strongly cosmopolitan feel and very close to Osaka geographically.  Whilst Kyoto remains aloof and quietly superior (and has some very successful high tech companies of its own such as Kyocera and Nidec), the real battle now in business culture is between Osaka and Tokyo.

Osakans see Tokyo as standardizing, dull and full of bureaucrats and view Osaka (which historically had very few samurai but plenty of merchants) as the real money maker, with vastly superior food.  Many of Japan’s celebrities, comedians and musicians come from the Kansai region too.

So what does this mean for corporate cultures?  Osaka companies often have merchant roots – the joke goes, when you meet an Osakan, you don’t ask “how are you” (ogenki desuka) but “how’s business” (moukarimakka).  To which the correct response is “bochi bochi denna” – a wonderfully vague way of giving nothing away, like saying “plodding along nicely thank you”.  Osaka companies are brash, tough negotiators and mean with the money.  “They’d skin the fleece off a gnat” said one British engineer to me, describing his colleagues in the Osaka HQ of a consumer electronics company.

Tokyo companies are gentlemanly but at the same time highly political.  You need to have a good understanding of their organisation, the factions and the individual relationships to understand how to get things done.  Mitsui and Mitsubishi, both Tokyo based corporate groups, are distinguished by the saying “Mitsui  is people – Mitsubishi is the organisation”.  It’s hard sometimes to understand how exactly this is different, but it seems to boil down to the idea that if an individual is powerful enough at a Mitsui group company, they can get things done, whereas at a Mitsubishi group company, the whole organisation has to support an action.

The other main corporate groups, Sumitomo and Itochu, are Kansai based companies.  Both have strong “mercantile” roots – Sumitomo in metals trading, hard-nut, conservative and domestically focused and Itochu – strong in fashion and consumer goods, and seen as the more maverick, progressive and international in outlook.  The regional cultural differences don’t seem to have been that strong between Sumitomo and Mitsui as various mergers have taken place between their respective member companies, particularly in financial services.   However regional cultural differences have definitely had an impact on Astellas Pharma, the product of a merger between Yamanouchi (Tokyo) and Fujisawa (Osaka).  Apparently many Fujisawa employees were horrified that Yamanouchi was going to be the dominant partner in the merger.  Fujisawa had a strong tradition of innovation and had regarded Yamanouchi as “Mane-nouchi” (Mane = imitation) – a bunch of play-safe Tokyo bureaucrats.

Those who know Japan well will have spotted that there is an important region missing from this analysis – Chubu.  Literally and metaphorically this is the midlands of Japan.  Just like the Midlands in the UK it is the historic heart of the car industry.  Nagoya is the main city, and teased just as Birmingham in the UK is for being ugly and soullessly modern.  The area has the last laugh though, as it is the most wealthy in Japan – thanks to the enduring success of Toyota (so mighty their home town was renamed Toyota City) and its corporate group of suppliers such as Denso.

So, where are the top 30 Japanese companies in Europe from?

Kanto/Tokyo based companies:

• Asahi Glass
• Astellas (but Fujisawa originally Osaka)
• Canon
• Daiichi Sankyoshutterstock_36509791
• Fujifilm
• Fujitsu
• Hitachi
• Honda
• Kao Corporation
• Mitsubishi group
• Mitsui group
• Nissan
• Nomura (but was Osaka originally)
• NTT group
• NYK group
• Olympus
• Ricoh
• Sony
• Toshiba

Kansai based companies:
• Horiba (Kyoto)
• Nidec (Kyoto)
• Nippon Sheet Glass (Sumitomo Group)
• Omron (Kyoto)
• Panasonic (Osaka)
• Sharp (Osaka)
• Sumitomo group (Osaka)
• Takeda Pharma (Osaka)

Chubu based companies:
• Denso
• Seiko Epson
• Toyota

Chugoku (Hiroshima etc) based companies:

• Fast Retailing/Uniqlo

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Top 30 Japanese companies in Europe 2021

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“The discrimination was so bad, I thought about killing myself” – Softbank’s Masahiro Son

That headline for the interview in the Nikkei Business online magazine with Softbank caught my eye partly because for the first time we are about to provide some cross cultural training on Korea for a client in the UK, and it turns out it caught the eye of other Nikkei readers too, as it came top of the ratings for most viewed article for last month.

The question that triggered his remark was asking why he chose to use his Korean surname, Son, instead of the Japanese name, Yasumoto,  that the rest of his family used.  Son said he chose to adopt the surname when he was 16 and moved to the USA.  As a child in Japan, despite going by his Japanese surname, he teased for being a “Chosenjin” (old fashioned term for Korea, implying North Korea) and even had stones thrown at him.  To this day he is attacked online for his ancestry.

When he returned to Japan and founded his own company, he had the choice of using his Korean surname or his Japanese surname, as both were on his passport.  “To live in Japanese society, it would have been better to use Yasumoto.  There are many celebrities and sportspeople [of Korean ancestry] who do this.  I’m not criticising them for that.  But even now there are still various invisible handicaps [to having Korean ancestry] which are causing pain and anguish to people, even small children.  When I was at primary school and junior high, I even thought about killing myself, quite seriously.”

“My family were opposed to me doing it… but I thought that those children in Japan who are having a hard time should see even just one example of someone using their ancestral name and overcoming all those handicaps to succeed.  My family were worried of course that if I used the Son name then they would all be exposed…. called “Kimchi eaters”.  I told them they could pretend I was not part of their family.  They are strong adults and can cope with a bit of discrimination, unlike children, who need some rays of hope.”

“Japan’s industries have lost their confidence, are collapsing or turning in on themselves.  I wanted to make sure that at least one company took on the big enemies in the USA – that way I could contribute to society.  It’s not just our company now, but also Yanai (of Uniqlo/Fast Retailing), Nagamori (of Nidec), Rakuten, DeNA – there are signs that Japan can come back to life.  It’s important to look after those who have fallen by the wayside if you are opposing discrimination, but it’s also important to have success stories that are rays of hope – to be praised as a Japanese Dream, Japanese Hero by society.”

For more content like this, subscribe to the free Rudlin Consulting Newsletter. 最新の在欧日系企業の状況については無料の月刊Rudlin Consulting ニューズレターにご登録ください。

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The (untranslatable?) Nidec Way
nidec

Passion, enthusiasm, tenacity

Practically every globalizing Japanese engineering company has a ‘Way’ thanks to the success of the ‘Toyota Way’ so it’s no surprise that the highly admired, globally acquisitive Nidec has come up with a ‘Nidec Way’ too.  It’s being rolled out at the same time that Nidec is reorganising itself globally, setting up 5 regional headquarters including an HQ in the Netherlands for the European region.

The Netherlands was chosen because of its low tax rates and a regional CFO will be appointed, who will be tasked with reinvesting profits made by the local subsidiaries back into the region.  All regions will be measured by the same cash conversion cycle standards and the company is also aiming to adopt the IFRS accounting standard by 2017.

The Nidec Way is also presumably going to be a common global standard.  It is based on the current corporate philosophy of Passion, Enthusiasm and Tenacity.  I haven’t found an English translation yet (which I suspect is proving problematic, as I couldn’t work up a good direct translation, as is so often the case with Japanese corporate values) but here roughly is what it appears to be:

  • Passion – 卓越への挑戦 – daring to transcend,  taking up the challenge to be preeminent
  • Enthusiasm –  顧客満足のために to satisfy customers
  • Tenacity – 知的ハードワーキング intellectually hardworking

As well as 「創造性」「敬意」「協働」「王道」 – creativity, respect, collaboration and the virtuous path/just rule (literally ‘the road of the king’).

Leaders are also expected to have the characteristics of  「決断力」「チームスピリット」「人材育成」 – decision making ability, team spirit and human resource development.

 

For more content like this, subscribe to the free Rudlin Consulting Newsletter. 最新の在欧日系企業の状況については無料の月刊Rudlin Consulting ニューズレターにご登録ください。

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Why everyone loves Nidec’s Nagamori – M&A and ningenryoku

Nidec’s President Shigenobu Nagamori has just been voted the Presidents’ President by other Japanese CEOs in the Nikkei Business magazine.  Nidec, known as Nippon Densan in Japan, is a manufacturer of electric motors found in hard disk drives, household appliances and other equipment.

Around 90% of their 100,000 or so employees are overseas – mostly in ex-Japan Asia, but with nearly 3000 in Europe, they make it into our Top 30 Japanese companies in Europe, nudging out another company that is a quiet Japanese success, Horiba.  See below for the updated chart*.

Nagamori founded the company in 1973 with three colleagues, and has a reputation for being outspoken and unafraid – most recently  hitting the headlines for hiring ex President of Sharp, Mikio Katayama as technology chief, despite his having been pushed aside for his perceived failures there.

Rooting around on the web reveals Nidec feels different from other Japanese companies – for a start many of its Japanese executives in Europe are on LinkedIn.  It is also very transparent and clear about the company and what it stands for (although I am not entirely convinced by the slogan “all for dreams”), and 6 of its 9 strong management team come from other companies.

Nidec decided to focus on the auto industry recently, and to that end acquired the motor and actuator business of the French company Valeo and Italian company ASI, which explains the large number of Italian operations. This talent for M&A was the factor that Nagamori was most highly rated for by his peers, along with the untranslatable “ningenryoku” – literally meaning human strength, skills or ability as opposed to technical skills – perhaps we’d call this leadership, or interpersonal skills, EQ even, in the West.

Nidec’s Japanese roots are still obvious though –  “Employment stability based on sustainable business growth” is cited as its top management creed.

Other Top 30 Best Presidents whose companies are also in the Top 30 in Europe are Akio Toyoda (Toyota) at #3, Shigetaka Komori (Fujifilm) at #5, Hiroaki Nakanishi (Hitachi) at #15, Kazuhiro Tsuga (Panasonic) at #17=, Yoshimitsu Kobayashi (Mitsubishi Chemical Holding) #17=, Carlos Ghosn (Nissan) at #17= and Fujio Mitarai (Canon) at #30

*Seven years on, Nidec now employs over 13,000 people in Europe.  Our latest Top 30 Japanese employers in Europe is here:

Top 30 Japanese companies in Europe 2021

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