MBA in Japan - GLOBIS University - Tokyo

This was the first time for me to attend it and I was amazed at the number of interesting sessions and insightful this I could learning. It was all held in Japanese, but some non-Japanese students from International MBA Program joined it.

Since all sessions I attended were very interesting, it is very hard to pick a topic to share. But I would like to share about the keynote of Mr. Kazuhiko Toyama, CEO of Industrial Growth Platform Inc. (IGPI). He had previously led the turnaround of Japanese leading companies in Industrial Revitalization Corporation of Japan. He shared his experience that he faced when the earthquake hit the Tohoku area on March 11.

IGPI has a holding company which controls three bus operating companies in three prefectures in the Tohoku area which was directly affected by the earthquake on March 11. There were 2,100 employees and 1,200 busses in total but the damage was minimal. However, because of the damage to the telephone lines, he could not reach to the heads of bus companies. This was an extreme situation in which the top management team in the head office in Tokyo could not make decisions due to the limited information from local sites. The communication was literally disconnected. However, they, as a company that provides public transportation, had to make critical decisions whether or not to run their buses or just give up operations and evacuate the employees. Also they received a request from the government to provide transportation to evacuate the residents around the Fukushima power plant. It took about 20 round-trips to evacuate of all the residents. It was a critical decision related to the life of employees.

The local leaders made their best decisions and determined that it was their mission to serve transportation under any circumstances. They made best effort to keep regular operation procedures to run buses to meet the local needs. Although Mr. Toyama was CEO, in many cases he let the local leaders provide the necessary help because he could not get all the necessary information to make decisions. He believes that the three leaders in each bus company made the right decisions, which he himself would have done himself if he were in the same situation.

Why could the three leaders make the same decisions as Mr. Toyama? The key element was shared value. He always shared his decision criteria with key members. Whether your mind and spirit is free? Whether you face reality? Whether you are committed to direct outcomes? Whether you are faithful to your mission? Whether you are proud of your actions to your family and friends, etc. These questions should be asked before making a decision.

Also there are key important elements for leaders in a changing uncertain environment . They have strengths as individuals. Determination and calmness. Having a free imagination. Being a great actor. Power of concentration. Leaders who have these elements are able to lead their organization even in situations in which normal business people would panic. Any leaders would shiver at the thought of causing death of his team members. If anybody died because of their decisions, they would forced to carry their own cross for the rest of their life. Nobody wants to make such a decision, but those occasions come in critical situations in which the organization cannot move without the decisions. Even after the situation turned out to be fine, nobody knew at the time what the right answer was. The capacity to embrace such contradictions is required for leaders in an uncertain environment.

It is not easy beforehand to tell who behaves this way in extreme situations. But he has a way to distinguish those leaders. This is whether or not they run away from the issues that have a high possibility of failure but also have significant meaning to the society/community at the same time. If they take on those losing fights just because they want to demonstrate the meaning of following their own beliefs, they would behave in a way that they should and reach the right decision under extreme situations.

At the same time, from an organizational perspective, thin layers of organization helped them to make quicker decisions. The three leaders assumed on March 11 that Mr. Toyama would delegate them to make critical decisions without consultation if necessary. This was because of his usual attitude and meaning of the organization structure, which was well-communicated to them.

He recognizes that severe challenges come to Japan every 4 to 5 years looking back over the past 20 years. It is predictable that we, the students gathered there, will face the next challenge. It is not easy to prepare for unexpected challenges, but he recommended that we get involved in any small troubles. Accumulating experience in difficult times, we are able to nurture our strength as an individual. This is the only way to develop our skill to face the challenges to come.

Obara Nanae, 2009 batch of GLOBIS MBA program