Time to Reconsider Corporate Philosophy

In recent years, the business world has been experiencing drastic changes like the rapid improvement of Information Technologies and the prospect of Artificial Intelligence potentially replacing human beings in various areas. Now we can easily imagine facing bigger changes after COVID-19. Nobody can predict how it is going to turn out, but anybody can proactively prepare for it. I feel it is time for us to reconsider corporate philosophy as it is the blood of the organization which keeps it alive to generate growth, profits and values of its own.

I would like to look back on my experience with regards to company policy by comparing the companies which operated with a clear company policy and the ones that did not.

My first relationship with a company with a clear, cogent philosophy was at Agilent Technologies Japan which had split from Hewlett-Packard Japan in 1999. Hewlett-Packard was founded in 1939 by Bill Hewlett and David Packard in a small garage in Palo Alto, California and grew into a giant firm known for their HP printers and computers popular among global consumers. The management policy Bill and David stuck to is called 'The HP Way', which the worldwide bestselling book “Built to Last: Successful Habits of Visionary Companies” introduced to the world and has become a sample of excellent company philosophy.

The first time I learned about The Hewlett-Packard Way was around a quarter of a century ago. Working for National Semiconductor Japan, I was reassigned to a training officer in the Human Resources department, transferred from the marketing department and I felt it was necessary to increase my awareness of Human Resources to cover the lack of skills and knowledge as a beginner to the area. So, I took a Human Resources Development course at a management school.

The most impressive case-study in the class was about The HP Way. It consists of the following five principles: We have trust and respect for individuals. We focus on a high level of achievement and contribution. We conduct our business with uncompromising integrity. We achieve our common objectives through teamwork. We encourage flexibility and innovation. David Packard discusses their basic policy on people management in “The HP Way”. The following is a quotation from it: 'We (David and Bill) believed that people want to do a good job and that it is important for them to enjoy their work at Hewlett-Packard... Closely coupled with this is our strong belief that individuals be treated with consideration and respect and that their achievements be recognized.'

The case study showed how Hewlett-Packard operated their personnel assessment system based on their philosophy to trust and motivate their employees. There happened to be a Japanese HP employee in our class. To the instructor’s question of “Is it (the personnel assessment system) used in Japan as described in this case?”, she replied “Sure” which astonished me. I knew that a poster which said “Our Vision” was on the wall of my company’s meeting room, but it had nothing to do with me. I had never heard anyone talk about it, at least at a Japanese site. I was disappointed to find nothing in common between my company and HP, except that both were Silicon Valley located. I strongly hoped that I would like to work for a visionary company like Hewlett-Packard and experience how corporate philosophy really worked.

In late 1999, an opportunity came to me to apply to a Human Resources Development position with Agilent Technologies Japan and I joined the company in January 2000. The timing was just after its split from Hewlett-Packard Japan. My dream came true five years after the initial impressive encounter with the Hewlett-Packard Way.

In the month I joined them I was sent to Singapore to participate in a one-week HP Way facilitators’ training workshop with our counterparts from Asia-Pacific countries. It was a well refined course to enable newcomers to understand the HP Way through lectures and several kinds of workshops and to realign the corporate culture.

Then I began to deliver the two-and-half days workshops for the new employees every two months. I had around 30 participants every time and gave them the HP Way lecture. I ran different kinds of case study sessions and workshops related to the values for nearly two years until the company had stopped recruiting due to business downsizing. It was such a joy for me to see the participants, most of whom were from domestic top-class manufactures, be impressed and enjoy the program and become open to the new culture.

What was good for me was not only that I could facilitate the workshops by myself, but I could see that the values were evidently alive. I watched how the management people acted following the values such as MBWA: Management by Walking Around. The participants of the New Managers Training course agreed that their bosses were faithful followers of the HP way. When I happened to pass by the president who was then the boss of over 17,000 people, he suddenly stopped and said to me “I appreciate your good job for the new graduates' training!” which made me highly encouraged and motivated. The internal systems were also made based on the policies as the founder mentioned in his writing.

After Agilent, I worked for several companies and saw that the management's principles and practices directly impacted upon the team regardless of its size. If the management has no policy, there is none to share with the associates. Watching the people at the top selfishly prioritizing themselves, as an example, the majority follow, which causes poor teamwork. What the management has in their mind comes out through their words and generates positive and effective cooperate culture.

The business world will drastically change after COVID-19. The old and existing values and needs will be blown away and gone. The chances are for those who can reconstruct and replace business culture and values with brand new ones flexibly and rapidly. That means it is time for each organization to reconsider the meaning of its existence and make its company philosophy clear.