Patter for the solution
Pattern 1
Future / long-term strategy
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Medium-term strategy
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Development of BSC
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Management training
In the world of VUCA*, the boundaries between the industries will become thinner and thinner, and the definition of market, customer and competition will change abruptly. Because it is so challenging to predict the future, we need to develop a long-term strategy based on macro environmental analysis** and scenario planning in order to reach hypotheses on the environmental changes, long-term directions and goals. Subsequently, we formulate a mid-term strategy (mid-term management plan) through micro environmental analysis***, management resources analysis and so on. In the mid-term management plan, where the output is actions for each department in the company, we develop process KPIs and result KPIs, and establish BSC at the company level, aiming for a reliable follow-up. Furthermore, we implement management trainings on problem-solving, strategy formulation, and organisation designs in order to enhance literacy on strategy formulation and execution.
*: Volatility (volatility), Uncertainty (uncertainty), Complexity (complexity), and Ambiguity (ambiguity)
**: Analysis of political, legal, economic, socio-cultural, and technological environment, etc.
***: Analysis of markets, channels, competitors, vendors, etc.
Pattern 2
Development of vision
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Definition of role & responsibility
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Mutual understanding with Japanese
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Transnational
In order to develop a consistent vision at all sites in the world, we have interactive workshops where we divide the whole world into 5 poles, i.e., Japan, East Asia, Pacific Rim, EMEA, and Americas, and design reporting lines and supporting lines for each country within each cluster. In this workshop, we clearly define the roles of the headquarter and each country site, in order to build a solid organisational structure for the deployment of the vision. We aim for "one world, one team" by delivering various workshops: a workshop on culture for mixed nationalities, another workshop on transnational mindset for the Japanese.
Pattern 3
Financial target setting
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Cycle of genba support
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Development of BSC
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Cycle of governance
This is a very ambitious pattern. First of all, we confirm the financial targets in the mid-term management plan and annual plan. We may have to agree with the President of the overseas operations on the profit targets above the original budget in some cases. Once the corporate targets are confirmed, they are allocated to each department through constructive discussions with the President and all department heads. After the agreements are reached, department heads discuss how to achieve the targets with his / her members and hold weekly meetings to extract measures and follow up on the progress. Consultants provide analysis tools and monitor the progress of weekly meetings while developing BSC and the cycle of genba support in collaboration with each team. The corporate BSC system, KPIs of the overseas corporate Presidents and of the parent company are integrated and form the cockpit for the whole group company (hierarchical KPI structure). One could close this workshop within the domestic market. In either case, the key success factor is that everyone has ownership.
Pattern 4
Management diagnosis
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Operations reform
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Management routine
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Development of BSC
We conduct management diagnosis by analysing financial statements of the overseas sites, scrutinising internal documents, interviewing with the management team, and exploring operations. Based on the results of the diagnosis, we reform operations, develop BSC and establish cycles of governance and genba support. The cycles of governance and genba support are realised through consistent reporting and feedback between genba, local presidents and the group presidents. Thus the cockpits of the local presidents and of the group presidents are integrated. One could close this workshop within the domestic market.
Pattern 5
Succession planning
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Competency assessment
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Management training
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Executive Coaching
Some companies adopt the concept of succession planning rather than vacancy replenishment and have started training the future CEOs of the group company in the long term. We develop position specifications (requirements, profiles and job descriptions) on the basis of the to-be image of the future CEOs after confirming the company strategy. What follows is that candidate executives are selected and screened, which then form the pool of potential successors. In the process, we conduct competency assessment in line with the priority of mid- and long-term strategies. Assuming the company will be run by a team of people as opposed to an individual, we deliver discussion-centered management trainings for the potential CEO candidates and provide executive coaching. In this way, companies can continue selecting and educating the future CEOs every year.
Pattern 6
Culture
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Problem solving / logical thinking
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Business process reform
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Development of BSC
After 3 years into the overseas operations, we typically observe that they confront difficulties: "not progressing as planned." In the initial phase of such difficulties, it is often recognised that different cultures overseas are the cause. In order to address such issue, we deliver a workshop on the subject of culture. We often identify several critical issues concerning strategy, organisation, etc during the first workshop. In order to solve these issues with the teams, we conduct the second workshop to apply problem-solving / logical thinking methods in practice. When the causes of the issues are found and the actions to take are clarified, business process reform can take place, and process / result KPIs are developed on the basis of Balance Score Card (BSC). Through these activities, we aim for the sustainable performance improvement.
