Background: In response to the challenges of a shortage of technical successors to meet the growing demand and the time it takes to acquire the correct environmentally friendly technology, we decided to support the company to realize the passion of the management to create a virtuous cycle of human resources by connecting people in Japan and Vietnam by establishing a base in Vietnam.
The flow of support: We repeatedly interviewed the manager about his thoughts and ideas in his mind, and by visualizing them, we were able to help him develop a concrete image. This business plan was also adopted by the Small and Medium Enterprise Agency for the “Subsidy for Promotion of Manufacturing, Commercial and Service Productivity Improvement (Global Expansion Type)”. From now on, we will proceed from the business planning phase to the establishment of bases and the service launch phase.
Background: The company was struggling to select a target country to sell their retort pouch curry overseas. The first thing we decided to do was to observe the food culture of Vietnam.
The purpose of the visit was to understand the food culture, food habits, and price range of similar products in order to consider which country to enter.
Flow of implementation: After hearing about the current issues related to overseas expansion and the goals that the company wants to achieve, we propose a plan that takes into account the purpose of the inspection and the points that need to be confirmed. Multiple participants on the day.
【Inspection sites】
1) Ben Thanh Market:https://youtu.be/JOgvDkyfwcE
2) Let Thanh Thong Street (Japanese street): https://youtu.be/hKHI0oH1PvQ
3)Japanese-style curryshop(Vietnamese tastin interview): https://youtu.be/xsHo6TmfnXQ
After starting a telecommuting program to prevent corona infection, automatic parts manufacturer Company C decided to formally create a telecommuting policy with the goals of “continuous infection prevention measures/disaster work system” and “voluntary and flexible work by employees”. To assist in the creation of the regulations, we introduced the MHLW’s model work rules and case studies from other companies, held workshops to help employees realize their preferred way of working, and led consensus building between management and employees.
Through the development of telecommuting rules, we were able to create a culture of employee autonomy and introduce a work system that is flexible enough to handle business continuity risks.
Company B, a Vietnamese textile manufacturer, had been exporting some of its products to Japan and had been developing cosmetic products as a new business domain. They wanted to build a sales channel separate from the main products they already had and were looking for a company to support.
We created a roadmap for their goal of entering the Japanese market and their global expansion, and then conducted a test sale on the Japanese market using the EC website. Based on the results, we developed a strategy for entering the Japanese market and moved forward with a sense of urgency.
Medical Corporation F is planning to change its corporate identity in a few years when it opens a new ward.
First, we asked about 10 project members to select a project member, and then (1) conducted a survey of the current situation through stakeholder interviews, (2) learned about themselves based on historical data and interviews with related parties, and shared their thoughts with management, staff, and customers, and (3) held three workshops to think about the value, impression, and image they would provide, and verbalized their ideal image.
Management and employees thought about what kind of brand they wanted to be and expressed it in words, which led to increased motivation within the company and subsequent unification of the logo design and message development.
The research and development department of Company D, a medical device manufacturer, was dissatisfied with the results of its annual employee satisfaction survey and the evaluation system in particular, so, prior to a company-wide review, we decided to review the evaluation system unique to the research and development department. After extensive discussions with key members of the department, we clearly defined our vision for the department, while reviewing the current system and the history of its design in the past.
We designed evaluation standards and systems to achieve this vision, and built a vision-realization type evaluation system that allows members to grow while achieving organizational results.
The design and development department of Company E, an automotive parts manufacturer, was experiencing an intermittent hollowing out of mid-level employees, and was at the bottom of the company in employee satisfaction surveys. The newly appointed head of design and development felt threatened by this situation and decided to implement a reform of the organizational culture. We conducted issue-sharing workshops, set up a reform team with members who wanted to reform, and fostered an awareness of how to build up the organization by the employees themselves through information dissemination.
The organizational culture reform stimulated communication between supervisors, subordinates, and departments, and established a process to discover and implement ideas for continuous improvement.
Under the theme of “Food”, a consortium of companies including food manufacturers, restaurants, and retailers decided to conduct a site visit to explore the possibility of expanding into Vietnam.
In order to investigate the possibility of the companies and the consortium as a whole to expand into Vietnam as a regional brand, we held meetings with the companies to draw out their objectives and thoughts and the image of their goals, and to discuss retail, business and brick-and-mortar sales, logistics, and targets from various perspectives. We led the project, creating hypotheses and identifying key points for the visit.
During the site visit to verify these hypotheses, we also provided on-site attendance, which led to subsequent decision-making.
The first request from the housing manufacturer G asked us to propose commemorative and promotional measures to be implemented for their anniversary project. While, we regard the anniversary as a good chance to rethink the brand and communicate it to others. Therefore, we proposed and carried out a branding reformation to rethink the brand and deepen the empathy with the employees, rather than just taking “steps” such as handing out commemorative gifts at the anniversary party or creating a commemorative magazine and video.
Specifically, we analyzed current communication, such as how the company’s message was being communicated to customers, and sorted out what to lose, what to keep, and what to change for the future, and incorporated the message of a company taking a new step into each of its commemorative projects.
This has had the positive effect of giving employees a renewed sense of pride and autonomy.
Company A, an electrical equipment manufacturer, decided to establish a regional headquarters (RHQ) to expand its business in ASEAN. We analyzed the operations of the sales companies and the support operations of the head office, designed the functions to be achieved by the RHQ, and designed the communication process to implement the unified vision and strategy for the ASEAN region, as well as to set up an organization that would carry out these functions.
With the establishment of the new headquarters, productivity was improved by consolidating operations in the ASEAN region and unifying strategies to concentrate resources and improve execution.
