The world's easiest "management strategy" planning course Chapter 4

The next elements necessary to ensure the execution of a corporate strategy are the development of a philosophy and the definition of a business domain. First, let’s briefly explain the words.

 

The “corporate philosophy” is the basic idea for corporate management. It is the pillar that companies must value most.

 

On the other hand, “corporate domain” is defined as “we are a XX shop” in a nutshell. There are some companies that wanted to do that and want to do this as well, and although it was good for a while to reach out to multiplayer, all of them ended up being ruined. Rather, it is easier to focus and formulate a business strategy if you properly secure the position of here in this industry. Especially in small and medium-sized enterprises, if this part is not solidified properly, it will be disassembled in the air in a blink of an eye.

 

First of all, I will introduce the reasons why the corporate philosophy and corporate domain are important.

There are companies that handle outdoor toy-related toys such as Frisbee, boomen run, and skateboard. I started dating when I received a request for web production a few years ago. The only request from the president was to renew the website. To be honest, it’s easy because it’s just a matter of redressing. However, when we receive an advertisement request, based on “6e”, we will understand what this company is aiming for and what kind of environment it is currently in, and then start creating advertisements.

 

In this case, it was a request for WEB production, so I first checked the current website. However, although I could understand various things about the products I handle from the product explanations, I couldn’t understand what the company itself wanted to do and what it wanted to convey to customers.

 

Therefore, we first conducted a hearing from the president and analyzed the business environment of this company.

 

What I found out was that the toy maker market was also in a social situation where the target declining birthrate of children and the adverse effects of games on children were regarded as problems. The president himself had no intention of handling toys such as these games, and strongly felt his intention to become a trading company that mainly handles outdoor toys that nurture the healthy growth of children, use their bodies. When it comes to toys, major toy makers still have a lot of power, and if you play head-to-head, you are sure to lose. Therefore, before creating the website, we decided to create a corporate philosophy and redefine the business domain. The corporate philosophy created there became “Contributing to the education of children around the world through the planning, sales, import and export of sports toys.

 

” This just brought out the president’s love for sports toys. However, the corporate philosophy had various essences. First of all, it was effective for the purchasing staff and employees of the toy store (called distribution in this case), which is the customer.

 

Distribution, the main customer, will realize the value of sports toys. What was just a toy has been revalued to support the healthy growth of children. Employees were also able to reconfirm their social contribution. It goes without saying that this has stimulated the efforts of employees in their work. In addition, sports toys such as skateboards and frisbees have been around for a long time, but the genre of sports toys has been re-recognized. Not only did this differentiate it from the major toy makers, but an outdoor specialty shop began selling it in stores as a toy that could be used outdoors, and the company tripled its sales in a year. is.

 

I would like to introduce another case.

 

There is one unforgettable story in telling our corporate philosophy.
It was a documentary about young people working in a company cleaning apartments and condominiums. Moreover, the company was not just a cleaning company, but a cleaning company that specializes in accident properties such as suicide and illness of the elderly.

 

The story began when a young man entered a cleaning company specializing in accident properties as a part-time job. My dream of becoming a musician was broken and I decided to work for the cleaning company just to earn a living. I don’t even have a lot of work, I just make mistakes, and I can’t convey my motivation. I thought that this young man would quit, but I kept an eye on the screen.

 

One day, the president takes the young man to drink.

 

The president originally ran an ordinary cleaning company, but it became difficult to manage and he happened to undertake the cleaning of the accident property. When he finished cleaning, he received a thank-you note from his bereaved family, and at that moment he realized, “Who does this job, not myself.” Since then, he has become a specialist in accident property.

 

However, I understand that because the viewers watching the program have narration, but the president hardly told the young man at the drinking table.

 

However, there is also a young man who seems to be working unavoidably. He actually saw the president’s back and felt the significance of this work.

 

The story will fly in a few months. There was a young man working well there. He didn’t quit. Unexpectedly, I couldn’t stop crying.
A cleaning company specializing in accident properties that people would not want to do also has a good “silent idea”. And the young people were impressed by the present, inspired by the corporate philosophy.

 

At the same time, I was reminded that my own way of thinking about formulating ideas was still sweet.

 

No matter how small your thoughts or company, if you have a reason to exist and a firm philosophy, human resources will grow. That was the case that was engraved in my heart.

 

By the way, as you can see from these two examples, the management philosophy is a very important element for management, but in the actual management field, this philosophy formulation tends to be left behind.

 

The company will be in jeopardy in the medium to long term regardless of which one is lacking, such as lack of understanding of the management’s business philosophy and unknown corporate domain. Only when both parties are properly aligned will the future prospects open up in front of the company.

 

Do all the managers design the philosophy considering the meaning of their business and the motivation of their employees? It’s important for employees to get a salary, but they leave most of their life to you, the company and the owner. That is why we have a responsibility to discover and formulate the social contribution and organizational meaning of our business. We need to fulfill that responsibility.

 

There are many managers who make management worth living and are crazy about it. However, there are managers who are so enthusiastic about management that they leave the feelings of their employees behind. Employees, unlike the president, forget that they spend most of their lives on a fixed salary.

 

Certainly, the presidential business is a high-risk, high-return world, and management has a game-like aspect. To be honest, most of the presidents enjoy such a situation. It doesn’t matter if it’s a company that started a business by itself, but how do employees who spend their lives and family life think of such a president?

 

The answer is simple. You should think, “I can’t get along anymore.”

 

Work content and income are important for employees, but what we place particular importance on is “rewarding.” More specifically, I’m thinking about the meaning and role I was born in, and whether it will be realized in this company.

 

What happens to the company if there is a gap between what the management wants and what the employees want?

 

In my experience, when sales come first, we usually fall into a profit-oriented tendency to leave not only employees but also customers behind.

 

Employees are at the forefront of dealing with customers, so you wouldn’t be convinced that you’re left behind and dealing with customers just for the sake of management. You will only think about leaving the company in search of your new mission and rewards.

 

Companies with many job changes do not even attract new graduates or mid-career hires. In recent years, the “black company list” has come to be listed on online bulletin boards and Twitter. I don’t dare to jump into such a company.

 

When a job becomes interesting, the manager forgets to look around and pushes forward. Therefore, it is easy to lose sight of important things such as people, organizations, and customers. When you reach that point, everyone will leave, saying, “Please do it alone,” and the game you were enjoying is over.

 

This is not to say “spoil employees”. The idea is to have a philosophy that everyone can understand and feel rewarding, and share it with everyone. I think that is the moment when you take leadership as a manager.

 

 

Now, I will introduce the essential items of the management philosophy, so please check what your company lacks.

There are various ways of thinking about the corporate philosophy, and even among experts, the method of regulation is different. However, in general, it can be explained by the following four-level pyramid.

 

Corporate philosophy (top)
code of conduct
Mission
vision

 

The management philosophy is to formulate the basic idea that the founder and the manager of a company have in the management of the company. It may be expressed as a belief in the social role of a company, or as a way of thinking about management and operation within a company. With this management philosophy at the top, the next requirement is a code of conduct. Based on the corporate philosophy, it is necessary to have guidelines on how all executives and employees, as well as management, will behave.
Below that is the mission. After every action, the result remains. If that’s the mission the company has accomplished and it’s not valid, then the mission you set is wrong. It is important to properly define that point from the beginning so that it will not be shaken. In general, missions are often about contributing to society, and as the name implies, they lead to the social role of a company.

 

Finally, the vision is in place. The vision is to imagine the future of the company that achieved the mission and the future of the society that contributed. The vision depends on what management wants. Maybe it’s “customer satisfaction number one”. It may be a corporate growth with business performance such as “initial public offering” and large sales. In addition, there are cases where it is difficult to distinguish between missions and visions, such as “Better society through robotics technology.” For the time being, think of the mission as defining the role of the company and the vision as expressing the future created by the company.
In this way, it is generally good for a company to specify from the idea to the vision, but there is no clear rule about this, and it will be formulated by the method of the consultant who formulates the company’s own method and philosophy.

 

Corporate philosophy also affects the performance of a company.

 

Some studies have also shown that corporate growth, size and the presence or absence of philosophies are driving performance. As with “chicken and egg,” the philosophy and corporate growth cannot be determined which comes first, and the causal relationship has not yet been identified, but there is no doubt that business performance will be improved only if the corporate philosophy and growth coexist. You can see that.

 

However, please note that there are two bottlenecks in introducing the corporate philosophy.
One of them is the incomprehension of the management’s philosophy. The job of a manager is to run a company. If management goes well, your social position will rise and you will be able to get some rewards. On the other hand, if you fail, you may literally get lost on the road and have a miserable life. It is the manager who is placed in such a two-sided relationship.
As a result, most business owners tend to be obsessed with management itself, and many have management at the root of their lives.

 

Of course, it’s perfectly fine to get absorbed in management. However, if you are a sole proprietor, even if you wield your own “hot feelings” without permission, if you have employees, you may run idle. It may even be labeled as a “one-person manager” and no one will follow you. When that happens, the mission of the company can no longer be achieved. Management is required to understand that the management philosophy is not unique to oneself, and to have the traction of all members to work together without swaying one’s own feelings.

 

The second is the problem with consultants who formulate ideas.
As mentioned in Chapter 1, if the consultant, who should normally support management, does not have the ability, no matter how much the management philosophy is formulated, only the wrong ones will come out and it will be of no use. .. When a manager requests consulting, it is important to have the understanding and literacy to judge whether the advice is accurate or not. If you throw your business strategy to an unusable consultant, you will lose your future.

 

The late Steve Jobs, the founder of Apple Inc., said:

 

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We are betting on our vision.
(Omitted)
The next dream is always important to us.
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Believe that what you are doing will lead to something.
If you believe that point will lead to something, you can walk with confidence even if you are walking on a different path from others.
————————————–

 

These words speak for themselves as a philosophy. The idea is a strong desire to persuade people to walk together. Enthusiasm that is never self-reliant is the management philosophy. I think so.

Now, after designing and reviewing the philosophy and corporate domain, it is necessary to redefine and brand the following corporate identity). Since we have created a philosophy and corporate domain, this is an activity to express it to stam holders such as customers and employees. Even if you have a favorite person, if you do not convey your feelings by e-mail or letter, the love will end in a crush.

Corporate identity redefinition is the process of embodying that idea by reviewing the above-mentioned philosophy and corporate domain. Specifically, think of creating a corporate logo, corporate slogan, etc. that expresses the philosophy and corporate domain.

Next, we will carry out branding (*) activities that convey corporate identity. The feelings established by the redefinition of the corporate brand are meaningless unless they are communicated to others. Branding activities are necessary for that. It is important for companies to send a coherent message by connecting customers with all the elements surrounding the company, such as employees and advertisements, as well as products and services. Instilling a corporate brand not only externally but also internally creates a great driving force. Specifically, landing activities can help people understand the direction and significance of the company and the value of products and services if they can be clearly expressed in words and images. That is “branding”.

 

* What is branding?

 

Activities to build a brand that is valuable to customers and consumers. By clearly presenting the characteristics of the brand and the differences from competing companies and products, the purpose is to raise the interest of customers and consumers and promote purchasing. By deepening the relationship of trust with consumers, the brand’s appeal can be improved and it can gain an advantage over its competitors.