ã€Global Web Reporter Wang Huan】 Innovation refers to the use of original technology and creativity to change the life and business model. In the course of more than 70 years of post-World War II innovation, Japanese companies have developed unique advantages and disadvantages. Can these experiences blossom in the future? According to "Japan Economic News" on December 11, Sony's operating profit will once again set a new record high 20 years later. On November 1, President Hirai Hirai, who played a leading role on the Sony Resurrection Road, released a home robot equipped with the latest artificial intelligence (AI). Hirai said that "continuous innovation" is a condition for the company to truly resurrect, and expressed great concern for re-entering the robot business.
Happy factory building
Sony, founded in 1946 in the second year of the end of World War II, just witnessed Japan’s innovation. “Building an ideal factory that is free and open-minded, relaxed and happyâ€, Sony’s “Manifesto†statement became the starting point for creating global hot commodities. The Walkman Walkman (listed in 1979), which made the street corner into its own music world, made Sony usher in its heyday.
However, this boom has not continued for a long time. Around 2000, although Sony released three digital products such as the Walkman that can connect to computers, it was developed by another business unit. Due to lack of compatibility, the unified strategy has also become a bubble. In 2001, the United States Apple's iPod market, creating a model for downloading music anytime, anywhere, has become the starting point for Apple to enter the Golden Age of the iPhone.
"Some products can only be done by us," said a Sony executive at the time. Although it has technical strength, it has not found the changes in demand in a timely manner. "Why do people who work in an organization sometimes take stupid collective actions?" Gillian Tetter of the Financial Times in the United Kingdom believes that at the time Sony's departments were isolated from each other and had no master plan, and were "disturbed". status.
From the perspective of 100 post-war Japanese innovations compiled by the Japan Invention Association, innovative products such as the Walkman that create new value through the combination of new ideas and technologies all occurred in the 1980s. Why is this?
The origin of Walkman's ideas is that Sony founder Jingshen University wanted to listen to music by himself while he was flying. According to Masao Izumi, an associate professor at Waseda University’s Graduate School, “After the entrepreneurial generation retires, Japanese companies have not built an organization and management system that can replace entrepreneurs and share common goals.â€
Reintegration of knowledge
The decline in innovation also shows that the "Japanese common sense" such as lifelong employment, annual performance, and laws and regulations has come to an end. Although Japan is a developed country, the dismissal system is very strict and it is difficult for operators to carry out bold business restructuring. How to deal with lifelong hires based on annual work sequences? Japanese companies are aware of this issue and are therefore unable to make up their minds to make full use of external talents.
The industrial innovation agency that shows a sense of presence on the Toshiba issue is affiliated with the country. It is a common practice for the company to require corporate restructuring. However, the large corporations with many talents are paralyzed and the industry as a whole cannot achieve its metabolism. If knowledge and experience are not recombined, innovation will eventually be empty talk. It will take time for the Japanese IT industry to resurrect.
Carbon fiber, blue light emitting diodes (LEDs), and flash memory... Centered on materials and components, Japanese companies still have an advantage. In the service industry, the emergence of start-up companies such as the Dream Street Creation Committee, which has pioneered the launch of online food delivery services, is also significant.
In an innovative bio-engineering project from Stanford University in the United States, members outside the experts spent about 2 months on the medical site to consult doctors and patients. Innovation is not a few talented patents. From this point of view, companies should explore the areas and needs that should be improved from the perspective of ordinary people.
Today, Tokyo University, Osaka University and medical companies are all taking this approach. Professor Hiroshi Morikawa of Dongda University stated that “most innovations such as the Internet of Things (Io) are sprouting from the frontline of production, which is beneficial to Japan, which attaches great importance to the production frontlineâ€.
"The only source of innovation is 'anger'," said US operating consultant Tom Peters. The anger of not getting a car in San Francisco gave birth to Uber Technology. Airbnb, the hotel's intermediary platform, was also derived from tourists' complaints about the hotel's full occupancy during the large event.
There are anger and dissatisfaction everywhere on the front lines of life and business. How can they be sublimated into innovative products and services to form a virtuous circle? Some of Japan’s unique traditional habits may be tested.