INSIGHTS

2019.12.15

R&D DISCUSSION Vol. 26

A work style that brings about innovation
How to Live in a New Era Vol.1 [Part 1]

Takahiro Sakamoto
Representative of SSIN LLC, Advisor of KOKUYO Co., Ltd.'s Work Style Reform Project

R&D DISCUSSION TOP

The spread of COVID-19 has completely changed our lives. The basis of our lives has shifted from "gathering" to "dispersing," and our behavior is changing to one that focuses more on the "individual." At the same time, in order to adapt to a rapidly changing social environment, there is a need to continually create innovation and improve the performance of the "individual." We have launched a forum to talk with corporate innovators about the way of life and work styles of this new era. Our first guest is Takahiro Sakamoto, who serves as an advisor for the Work Style Reform Project at Kokuyo Co., Ltd. and also personally advises companies and local governments on improving their business productivity.

Q: What kind of work do you do at KOKUYO?

A: I work in the Work Style Innovation Department, where I provide consulting and advisory services to companies and local governments that want to reform their work styles and bring about innovation. I joined Kokuyo in sales after graduating from university, but in my fourth year at the company I was transferred to a department that was responsible for launching new businesses. There I came up with efficient methods for conducting meetings and for managing information (filing), and began providing them to customers. This is what led me to become a work style advisor. I have always loved "efficiency," and while creating a huge amount of documents and participating in meetings every day, I was always thinking about how to efficiently create added value beyond that. It was from this perspective of efficiency that I started to focus on so-called "knowledge management," which effectively shares knowledge and know-how accumulated within an organization to increase productivity and competitiveness.

I decided to make this knowledge management into a new business, and taught clients who were struggling with issues such as "everyone working late to create the same documents" and "the quality and ease of understanding of documents varies from person to person" how to organize documents and how to build shared databases, remade proposals into documents that are more understandable, and helped them create efficient filing rules. One day, I had an idea: what if I could do this work on-site at the client's site? The outsourcing service business I started immediately, named "Knowledge Concierge," was very well received, and it grew to become a major pillar of the business of "KOKUYO & Partners Co., Ltd.," which was established in 2016 as a spinoff from KOKUYO. In addition, as another business, I participated in the launch of "Business Concierge," which undertakes the outsourcing of general affairs work such as mail rooms, reception, and facility management, in addition to Knowledge Concierge, which supports the sharing and utilization of documents and quality improvement for business departments. Through this type of outsourcing business, our clients' employees can focus on the work they are supposed to do, reducing overtime hours. On the other hand, by bringing in professionals in document creation and general affairs, it not only saves time but also has a synergistic effect of improving the quality of work and efficiently sharing and utilizing information. Currently, our concierge services have been introduced to about 60 companies, and we have grown into a company with 300 concierge staff members.

I could have also chosen to remain as a member of KOKUYO & Partners' operations, but I wanted to try my hand at business development, creating new menu items, and innovation in newer fields, so I transferred to Osaka and started up a work style reform project advisory service for major companies. Based on that experience and track record, I requested a transfer back to Tokyo and joined the newly established Work Style Innovation Department. I left the concierge business for a while, but in the meantime, the other founding members and new colleagues have continued to nurture the business. I am proud to have been able to help spark this in some way.

Q: When did the word "innovation" first come into being?

A: Many people translate innovation as "change," "reform," or "reform," but Joseph Schumpeter (1883-1950), the economist who is said to have first explained the concept of innovation, explained it as a "new combination." In other words, it is the combination of new materials, services, and methods with a specific field or process, which results in a complete change in the way organizations are and the processes of society itself. It is not enough to simply combine things to create something new; it can only be called innovation when it is disseminated throughout the world and changes values and lifestyles.

[Slide 1] Definition and types of innovation

In addition, Professor Shunpeita Tamada of the IBA at Kwansei Gakuin University, a well-known researcher of innovation and innovator theory in Japan, has written a very useful book, "Japan's Innovation Dilemma" (Shoeisha, 2015), which systematically organizes innovation theory and provides detailed explanations of case studies and research issues in Japan. As an aside, Professor Shunpeita Tamada of Kwansei Gakuin University was named "Shunpeita" by parents who loved economics, and as a result, he became an economist and innovation expert, which is quite a coincidence (laughs).

As introduced in "Japan's Innovator Dilemma," there are "incremental" and "discontinuous" innovations. "Incremental" is, as the name suggests, innovation that occurs gradually. It is also called "continuous innovation." Computers are constantly being upgraded with the addition of new functions, and as a result, the very nature of computers changes. On the other hand, "discontinuous" is innovation that occurs suddenly and dramatically. It is also called "disruptive innovation."

An example of incremental innovation is the television. In the past, black and white became color, and CRT became LCD, and value continued to rise. However, the more incremental innovation continues, the closer the limit of value improvement approaches, and even if various investments are made and functions are added, customers no longer perceive that value. Even now, new products are being released that combine 4K and 8K resolution, 3D, and IoT technology, but in the first place, people are not watching as many TV programs as they used to, so the price of televisions continues to fall and some manufacturers are going out of business.

In the midst of all this, Amazon's Fire TV Stick has been released. Simply plug it into your TV and it becomes a connected monitor, allowing you to watch online videos and movies. Users are increasingly watching less and less TV programs. This is also true of the relationship between mobile phones (flip phones) and smartphones, but revolutionary innovations destroy existing markets. This is why they are called disruptive.

Q: What kind of innovations do you expect to see amid the current COVID-19 pandemic?

A: Can you clearly imagine what you will be doing at the end of this year? Last year, we could imagine it, but now we can't see the future. The corona crisis itself can be said to have "forced society to be updated" as a disruptive innovation. Today's talk is also being delivered online, but the way we work has also changed.

[Slide 2] Examples of forced social updates due to the coronavirus crisis

I myself found it hard to talk alone or work at home, so I took a camping chair to the beach and worked while looking at the ocean, or even held a web conference in my car. By the way, I decided to finish preparing materials within an hour at the beach, so I started an hour before high tide. As the ocean got closer and closer to my feet, my efficiency increased, and I thought it was nice to work in such a thrilling way (laughs). The client side has also changed. Clients who were reluctant to use web conferences and electronic contracts have become more proactive. For those of you who work in Architectural Design, your clients have started to place importance on "non-contact" and "ventilation," and you may have heard talk of installing new equipment. Things that didn't sell before suddenly sell, and things that people weren't interested in attract attention. While I feel that there is a business opportunity there, the clients themselves have been updated along with society, so I feel the need to evolve ourselves further to match it. In other words, what is required in this major paradigm shift is overwhelmingly discontinuous innovation.

Continued in Part 2

PROFILE

Representative of SSIN LLC, Work Style Innovation Department, Work Style Reform Project Advisor, Kokuyo Co., Ltd.

坂本 崇博

さかもと たかひろ

Born in Hyogo Prefecture in 1978. After graduating from the Faculty of Economics at Kobe University, he joined Kokuyo Co., Ltd., where he came up with ideas for improving meeting structures and advising on information management methods from the perspective of "efficiency," and launched these as new businesses. This service gained a good reputation, and in 2016 he founded Kokuyo & Partners Co., Ltd., which provides outsourcing services centered on general affairs work. Currently, he serves as an advisor for the Work Style Reform Project at Kokuyo Co., Ltd., while also giving lectures to local governments and other organizations as an advisor, mainly on weekends.

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R&D TOP

Update : 2018.09.21

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