Thinking About the Panasonic Leadership Principles-Implementing Employee Entrepreneurship

Takayama: I run the showroom that I am in charge of as if it is my own. With the mindset of a manager, I ensure neat arrangements and cleanliness for customers who visit, and I’m always working to improve our advisors’ product expertise and ability to deal with customers.

Kusumi: Our showrooms are experts at proposing solutions to customers’ desires and needs. As a result, our showrooms really make customers happy. In this sense, you are outstanding Customer Focus practitioners.

Nakasaka: My role is the applied development of blockchain technologies to manage data on and create value from our environmental achievements, be it our level of contribution to CO2 reductions or recycling of resources. Our aim is to build a society in which we can trade value that stems from environmental contributions. I don’t have the opportunity to directly interact with customers, however, while the technologies we develop take time to become a part of society and people’s lives. While looking at social changes and trends among our competitors, our focus is on the creation of patents. The Customer Focus principle states that we should look ahead to customers’ ideal futures, and I believe it is important to supply the technologies we develop for the optimal scenario, at the optimal timing, and at the optimal price. Intellectual property is therefore essential, and can ensure maximum use of the resources generated by the Group.

Kusumi: In your line of work, there are many similar blockchain technologies. I think the most important thing for you is to consider how you can apply and utilize the blockchain technologies in an unrivaled manner. Doing so will ensure your solutions are chosen by our customers.

Nakasaka: Thank you.

Kusumi: Regardless of whether your directly interact with customers or not, one of the founder’s requirements for being a merchant is the ability to read others’ hearts. But this doesn’t simply mean to understand what they think. One interpretation could be understanding the essence of their problems. If we are looking to the future, it could mean predicting changes in society, among customers, and their issues, and envisaging ways to make them happy. At the same time, it’s essential to consider how we make customers happier than they are with other companies. It’s important that everyone in the Group has the mindset and looks ahead to the future of our customers.

Kusumi: That’s very good. The reason I often talk about the importance of ambitious goals is because without them, all we do is repeat the same processes. But it’s paramount to work out what is required to achieve these ambitious goals. I look forward to the creation of a culture in which employees can set out ambitious goals separate from their actual plans and constantly strive to achieve them.

Nakasaka: As I engage in R&D to create a society in which we can trade environmental value, I’m trying to implement improvement after improvement in my own way to improve productivity. However, as details, conditions, and the required values often change, I often worry whether I have made the right decision. How should employees in situations similar to mine approach these decisions?

Kusumi: It is indeed difficult to discuss and measure productivity in R&D. In your case, rather than thinking about productivity, I think you can make forward progress when thinking about the direction of the technological development and what is required for the technology to be assimilated into society. On the other hand, development takes time, and there may be momentum swings along the way. Mistakes are possible, but it’s better to quickly make those mistakes so you can proceed to the next stage. Please make mistakes with confidence.

Tajima: I was also involved in the formulation of the Drives Results principle. This is especially important for the introduction of SCMNavi, which is something we are working on at the procurement department. This system uses information technology to make MRP*1 information visible, but our ultimate objective is not simply visualization. Rather, we want to design improvement processes, enhance efficiency, and generate cash. The results I want to achieve are contributions to our operating companies and a greater competitive advantage.

*1: Material requirements planning (MRP): A method to calculate the required amount of material and determine the optimal purchase period using production plans, to enable the purchase and manufacture of the required materials, at the required time, and in the required amount.

Kusumi: Ultimately, it is people who consider and implement measures for improvement. To help them do so, in your case it’s important to think about what needs to be made visible. But you must also understand that visualization is merely a means and not an objective. As you say, I feel you can make more progress by clarifying why you want to make the information visible. 

Takayama: As a PLP Project team member, I initially thought it would be best to incorporate all 11 principles into our employees’ basic mindset to ensure our vectors are aligned. But when speaking to other members prior to this discussion, some said that while all 11 principles are easily understood, it might be difficult to implement them all at the same time. I think one option could be to choose several which are most important to you and engage in specific action.

Kusumi: I completely agree. It’s only natural that the nature and stage of the work will differ by employee. And so, like you say, it’s a good idea to think about those that are of particular relevance to you. That said, I would like everyone to prioritize the Customer Focus principle. Moreover, we can also think of Ownership and Drives Result as the foundation of our actions. For the other principles, I think the level of importance will change depending on the person and the nature of their work. Perhaps there could be discussions between managers and their employees in which managers suggest several principles to focus on for that year, and assess how the employee’s daily actions have been. I think this could help to establish the PLP in our day-to-day tasks.