Bad things happened one after another in the Japanese corporate world. Nobuyuki Idei, the former CEO of Sony who pioneered the digital age with the foresight of the times, passed away, and then Kawasaki Heavy Industries admitted fraud. The news is getting worse and worse, what happened to Japan?
When Jobs returned to the helm of Apple in 1997, he talked about how the lost Apple computer should start again in a public speech. He mentioned two favorite companies, one is Nike, which has redefined the spirit of sports; the other is globally recognized, representing the Sony, a high-quality brand, was the god of the corporate world at that time, and Apple was a small company on the verge of bankruptcy. Before that, in 1995, Nobuyuki Idei was appointed as the president of Sony. After taking office, he proposed the concept of Digital Dream Kids, leading the company to fully invest in the personal computer (PC) and Internet business. He delivered a speech in the United States, predicting and Describes the future of the digital society: “The Internet will change the state of the industry like a meteorite that wipes out dinosaurs. Companies that cannot adapt will disappear.”
Jobs is worthy of being the “Godfather of Apple”. What he thought of was not to worship Sony, nor to imitate it, but to directly take the music market dominated by Sony. In the late 1970s, Sony monopolized the pop music ecosystem with its Walkman. However, when the giant Sony failed to detect the arrival of the next wave of technology, it was the day of a change of dynasty. Sony’s stronghold was physical, such as CDs, records, stereos and Walkmans, and Nobuyuki Ii was unaware that the digital music trend was coming. On the other hand, Steve Jobs had the same heart. In 2000, he conceived of iPod (playing tool) with iTunes (application), which once again changed the ecology of music and captured the market.
The reason why Apple subverted the music industry is that Steve Jobs used digital technology to redefine music. Apple makes music like breathing air, and you can get the songs you need with one click. Are you going to go to the record store to sell records, and carry a limited number of CDs with you to listen to music? Sony suddenly became the “dinosaur” that Nobuyuki Idei called.
Not only does Japan face the United States, a powerhouse of technological innovation, it is not a rival, but Chinese and Korean manufacturing companies are also catching up. In the past 20 years, “Made in Japan” has shrunk. For example, Japan’s signature products, televisions, video equipment, and audio equipment have decreased by about 8 into market share. Nobuo Idei later summed up his experience and lessons. He believed that the main reason was that Japan could not get rid of the manufacturing myth of post-war revival, and was overly indulged in the glorious history of technology in the past. At that time, as long as new technology products were released, the market would be “squeaky” The applauded response, so the manufacturers gained fame and fortune, and “Made in Japan” became a myth in this way. However, it is not the new technology that really changes the times, but the innovative and iterative products like the iPod and iPhone.
Another problem in Japan is that it is obsessed with technical excellence and pays attention to the meticulousness of each part. This is the “craftsman spirit” that Japan is proud of. Huawei founder Ren Zhengfei issued an e-mail in 2015 calling on all employees to learn the “Japanese Craftsman Spirit: Doing One Thing in a Lifetime”. The content pointed out, “This is actually an extreme spirit of pursuing perfection. Since we study a field, we must achieve the ultimate.” Is there something wrong? The point is: the excessive paranoia about the “craftsman spirit” has also led to the opposite, making Japanese manufacturing fall into the “innovation trap”. Takashi Tang, director of the Japan Institute of Precision Machining, said that Japan’s electronic information products are overly striving for perfection, and companies invest too much resources in quality and technological improvement, resulting in high product manufacturing costs and a long cycle, “even exceeding the needs of market customers, to the point of high and few. “.
Is Japan Out? It’s hard to say, but the fraud scandal that Kawasaki Heavy Industries broke out today shows that Japanese companies may not even have the “artisan spirit”. Is this a bit like the “shanzhai spirit”? Leave it to the experts to study.