But I didn't run away from that and answered. Once every two weeks, I persistently talked about my intentions for reform and my dreams of becoming the best in the world in running shoes and becoming the best in tennis. As a result, this invigorated the conversation within the company and led us to move in the same direction globally.
--It seems that all executives are required to participate in "store training," where management goes to the workplace, and volunteer at marathon events.
that's right. Once a year, all of our executives, including myself, go to our stores and work in the backyard to manage inventory and clean. When I went to a store in Harajuku, instead of serving customers at the front, I worked behind the scenes neatly arranging shoes that arrived from cardboard boxes on the shelves.
Why do it? The moment when we make money in our business is not at the office, but at the moment when a customer buys a product at the store. If the management team doesn't understand this intuitively, it won't work.
I also volunteered to hand out towels to runners at the finish line of the Kobe Marathon. Even though I was teased by an old Kansai runner who had finished the race (lol). Gaining first-hand knowledge of the heat and real atmosphere at the workplace is an absolutely necessary process to eliminate sway in management decisions.
“Players first” is behind the structural reforms that raised profit margins
──How did you overcome various crises such as store closures and supply chain disruptions due to the coronavirus pandemic?
Luck was also on my side. In fact, we had been strengthening our own e-commerce (EC) infrastructure since 2018, so even when our stores were closed in 2020, we were able to immediately shift to e-commerce.
Also, when the factory stopped and the number of shoes that could be made was limited, we switched to ``If we have a set number of shoes to make, let's prioritize making high-end models with high unit prices and high profit margins.'' This resulted in a reduction in discounted sales, leading to structural improvements that raised the company's overall profit margin.
──You have signed contracts with many athletes, but have you changed your stance on sponsorship or product development?
I am truly grateful that we have signed contracts with truly amazing athletes and have been able to walk together with them. The major change in our development stance was to put the player first.
Originally, we developed products that were tailored to the athlete, but this way of thinking has evolved further, and we are becoming more conscious of creating products that match the style and running style of each individual athlete.
We offer shoe models that are best suited to the characteristics of your running style, such as ``EDGE'' for athletes who use the pitch method (increasing the number of steps to increase speed) and ``SKY'' for athletes who use the stride method (increasing speed by increasing the number of steps). When a top athlete wins a competition, ordinary runners who see them voluntarily share photos and videos on social media saying, ``ASICS is the best.''
Even more than influencer marketing, the real enthusiasm of general users and word-of-mouth on SNS are currently producing tremendous effects around the world.
What is required of managers in the AI era
--As the use of AI continues to advance, what do you think will be the role that managers and humans will be expected to play in the future?
ASICS also uses image recognition AI to instantly analyze data such as ``which runner is wearing which manufacturer's shoes'' from photos taken at a marathon event.
However, while AI is good at learning and optimizing past data, it may not be able to generate "inspiration" or "creative innovation" from scratch.
That is why the role of a human leader is to "talk about your dreams and share them with your employees." The goal of ``how much sales will I achieve by next year'' is important, but I wonder if I can show my exciting dream of ``becoming the world's number one global brand using Japanese craftsmanship''.
And don't easily deviate from the policy you've already set. If the top shakes even a little, the site will shake violently. I think that precisely because we are in the age of AI, leadership with unwavering beliefs and a sense of humanity is being tested.
