[Fiction] The Kuroda Manufacturing Story, Episode 10: The Tiger Daughter

Miki did not immediately assume the position of Representative Director and President, but instead became the second Managing Director, following Yaginuma. Kazumi seemed a bit dissatisfied, but Miki wanted to grasp the current state of the company as a full-time employee before taking on the presidency. And within less than a month, she realized with painful clarity that her understanding of the company had been far too naive.
Even when she consulted with Kazumi, she could not get full empathy, but Yaginuma's expression clouded over.
"So you feel that way too, do you? I am sorry; it is my lack of ability. I had noticed it, but I didn't know what measures to take, and things have just continued this way."
He apologized to Miki in a voice that sounded as if it were being squeezed out.
(I see, so that is why Managing Director Yaginuma said he 'could not envision the company's future.')
Because the management was stable, it was a situation that was hard to notice just by looking from the outside, but when she got closer, Kuroda Manufacturing appeared to be suffering from 'long-established company disease'.
"It's always been like this here."
Among the veteran craftsmen centered around Kato, the consciousness of following precedents based on experience and word-of-mouth had become too strong, and it seemed that many of them could not see the current situation or the future, let alone the customers. While they possessed skills cultivated through past experience and achievements, there were parts that felt like they were becoming Galapagos-ized. Among the craftsmen, there were those who were making efforts to incorporate new technologies and improve their skills, but there was a difference in enthusiasm among them, and the fact that they were looking in different directions was causing friction in the organization. Furthermore, there seemed to be a gap between the craftsmen and the office staff. It seemed that the craftsmen had too strong a sense that they were the ones feeding the office staff.
(I don't have the skills for manufacturing, but I should be able to do human resource development and organizational development.)
She thought of the management philosophy that her father had left behind and her mother had inherited.
・Customer-first principle
・Uncompromising manufacturing
・Cherish harmony
(I'm sorry, Father. I might disturb the harmony. But I don't mind if I'm disliked, and I don't mind if I'm opposed by the employees and can't become president. But to make the company better, for the sake of my customers—the employees—I don't want to compromise. Please let me challenge myself to build a company where the management philosophy that you and Mother created can be embodied and felt firsthand.)
The tiger's daughter was, after all, a tiger.
Faced with a difficult reality, she increased her motivation even further and moved to take action for improvement.
At first, it was a small movement like a light breeze. She called Ozawa, the youngest female office worker in her third year at the company, to the conference room. Following the knock, Ozawa entered quietly with a nervous expression.
"You don't need to be nervous; it's not because you made a mistake, Ozawa-san. I just have something I'd like to consult with you about."
It was her honest, true feelings. She would learn about management from Kazumi, and she would leave the craftsmanship to Managing Director Yaginuma and Kato. However, that was an accumulation from the past. She felt that the perspective of 'youth' was necessary to create the future, and she had high expectations for Ozawa.
"I want you to tell me your honest thoughts. Do you feel that your work is fun or interesting, Ozawa-san?"
After Ozawa showed a blank expression, she said,
"If you ask me if it's fun, honestly, it's difficult. The craftsmen are doing 'manufacturing,' and it remains in various product forms, but office work is basically just repeating the same things in the same way, and nothing remains, and it's not like I can contribute to sales. Of course, I'm receiving a salary, so I don't have any particular complaints. But, how should I put it, it's just something like that."
She answered as if squeezing out her thoughts one word at a time.
"Thank you for telling me. You see, I want everyone to enjoy their work. For that reason, I want to try various things with everyone. I feel that the things that you, as a young person, feel, think, and get excited about regarding the company will be for the sake of the company's future. So please think with me and challenge yourself with me, please."
Miki stood up and bowed her head.
"Director Kuroda, please stop. Even if you don't do that, I will think properly and do my work."
Ozawa held her hands out in front of her and waved them vigorously.
"Thank you. Then, may I consult with you about what I am thinking about in my own way right now? Please tell me what you feel as well."
Miki wore a beaming smile and exchanged opinions with Ozawa for nearly two hours.

Miki, while consulting with Kazumi and Yaginuma, decided to enhance the company's training system, and provided opportunities for both craftsmen and office staff to relearn from the basics, centering on classroom lectures. For craftsmen at a certain level, she provided more advanced training opportunities such as external training, as well as support for acquiring qualifications and participating in technical competitions, and in-house workshops for the succession of technology—projects that did not lead to direct profits and, in a sense, increased the burden on employees, one after another.
In parallel, she worked on establishing a system that would make it easier for employees to convey their opinions, and to enhance the company's information dissemination functions, she worked on opening the company's own website and issuing an email newsletter. Furthermore, she actively accepted workplace visits and internships for junior high and high school students, and promoted efforts for future human resource development. In developing these new projects, Ozawa strongly supported Miki on the administrative side, such as with computer skills and negotiations with external organizations.

One night, several months after Miki became Managing Director, Yaginuma took Kato out for a drink. In a private room at 'Kappo Iwamizu,' which was not as high-class as a traditional Japanese restaurant but had a calmness and formality not found in an izakaya, Yaginuma and Kato sat facing each other.
Kato drank nearly half of his draft beer in one go, then slammed the mug onto the table and started the conversation.
"Yaginuma-san, could you let me say something unpleasant just once at the beginning? It's not a story to tell after getting drunk, so I'll finish after talking for a little bit. Is that all right?"
Yaginuma nodded quietly. He was relieved that Kato understood his intention in taking him out for a drink.
"Thank you."
Kato gulped down his mug again and emptied it.
"I understand that she is the daughter of the late president to whom we owe a great debt. I also understand that she is one of the major shareholders. But, but. Isn't it us employees who have supported the company, and who are supporting it? We are the ones sweating and working while crying to earn money. We have endured the unreasonable demands of business partners, bowed our heads, and put our bodies on the line to earn not only our own salaries but also the company's equipment funds and the salaries of executives and office staff. And yet, a woman who doesn't even know the company well and only came to tease us occasionally is now a Managing Director. You're saying she's on the same level as you, Yaginuma-san; I can't accept that. I can't believe it."
"Isn't it you, Yaginuma-san, who has supported the company for over thirty years as the late president's top disciple? If I may say so, you even had offers from workplaces with better pay, but you refused them and stayed with the company, didn't you? There is a part of me that hasn't quit this company precisely because I thought you were here. That's because I had a feeling that someday I wanted to work together under President Yaginuma."
"The name 'Kuroda of Technology' was passed from President Toraichi to you, Yaginuma-san. It's not President Kazumi, and it's not Managing Director Miki. And I have been honing my skills wishing that I would be the one to receive that baton. And yet, it's like a kite snatching fried tofu, but if the president's chair is taken by Managing Director Miki who suddenly cut in, there's no point in honing my skills."
"I don't know what she wants to do, but she's acting like a president now, talking about basic welding training, Polytechnic Center or Pocari Sweat or whatever, and practical training by external instructors—it's an unnecessary meddling. We are direct descendants of Toraichi Kuroda. To top it off, she's now forcing burdens on the site that don't even lead to profit, like accepting high school interns, and without even listening to us, she's colluding with the office staff to do as she pleases."
"I've been patient until now, but if she says something ridiculous like a 'proposal' next time, as a representative of the craftsmen, I will demand the dismissal of Managing Director Miki. If they are the Tiger clan, then we are 'Kato Kiyomasa the Tiger Hunter'."
Kato's eyes were fixed. Yaginuma took a sip of his mug, ordered a second round for both of them via the intercom, and then turned to Kato.
"I am grateful that you admire me and that you are angry for the sake of the company; I thank you. I am grateful that you are telling me that honestly."
Yaginuma bowed his head with a calm expression and continued.
"Kato, I understand well that you love the company, that you are proud of it, and that you want to cherish what has been done so far. I am the same, and Managing Director Miki is the same. That is why I asked Miki-san to become Managing Director. I believe that for the future development of Kuroda, the two of you—Kato becoming the factory manager and supporting President Miki—are indispensable. It is fine for you to give your opinion to Managing Director Miki, and I won't force you to get along. However, there is one thing I want you to keep in mind."
"It is the 'Customer-First Principle'."
"Whether you are thinking for the sake of the customer, and whether that opinion is for the sake of the customer—if you keep that spirit at the center, that is enough. Please continue to be yourself, Kato."
The additional beer was brought, and the conversation stopped as the two drank their beer.
"Do you think Managing Director Miki understands the customer-first principle?"
Kato's eyes, which shouldn't have been drunk enough, were a little vacant.
"Understand or not, the young lady is probably thinking only of that. I feel that precisely because she thinks it is for the sake of the customers and the employees, she is making proposals to everyone while being prepared to be disliked by the employees. The way she steels herself when making difficult proposals that are hard to say for the sake of the customers is exactly like our master."
In contrast to Yaginuma, who had a smile on his face as he missed his master, Kato had a bitter expression.
"Beer makes the body cold, may I order sake next?"
"I don't mind even if it's mirin. Or shall I order some Gunma sake?"
Kato didn't quite grasp what was being said, but after that, they spent time calmly while enjoying the food and local sake.

Even after that, the opposition from veteran employees to Miki's proposals continued. There were those who openly denied Miki's opinions and actions. There were times when Kato, as a representative of the craftsmen, summarized their opinions and demanded a withdrawal, but Miki did not easily back down and sought understanding from the craftsmen.
(There may be differences in thinking, but at the root, the employees must also have a feeling of love for Kuroda Manufacturing and want to do good work.)
Miki bet on that thought. The projects Miki proposed permeated the company over several years, and together with the management philosophy, they were built up as a new 'Kuroda Style'.

When it was announced that Kazumi and Yaginuma would retire from the front lines and that Miki would become Representative Director and Kato would become Factory Manager, the company was wrapped in a great welcoming mood.
Kuroda Manufacturing was about to celebrate its 50th anniversary in a few more years.

(Episode 10 - The End)

Episode 1

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