"Wait a minute, Mr. Kato. Although it's wonderful that your company members have the freedom to do what they want, do their actions match the direction that the company hopes business will go? And regarding the loyalty of company members, aren't there conflicts?" I often get asked this kind of question. Loyalty to the company and the spirit of love of the company are at the heart of Japanese-style administration. It has become an axis that everybody tends to lean on due to various developments and the environment. This question is often asked due to the concern that our way would ruin the axis, and as a result the management or company itself would not work.

  I'd like to think otherwise. For instance, if this is what formed the mentality of "For the sake of the company" in the minds of company members, it has become a negative aspect without us noticing because it represents "excessive adaptation." This can be connected to the warped societal view that company values and morals should come first. On the other hand, if the centripetal force of loyalty worked effectively, one would no longer be able to see the world outside of the company. Consciousness and conceptualization would become monochromatic, and the company would shrink.
  Earlier, I said, "The successes of the past may become the root of failure in the future." I firmly believe that we have passed the era of monocultural business practices where such is depended on as power exclusive to us. To state it more strongly, the loyalty of the past was forced from above, a quasi-loyalty. The likening of corporate society to feudal society comes from this.
  Loyalties were dyed in the colors of each company. Although this appears to be simple, it is no more than an affinity for the company that has an extreme lack of originality. I said that everyone has his/her own values. If that's the case, then it's okay for everyone to have individual loyalties as well. This is extremely natural in human society.

  I regularly convey the following to new and experienced Katoites, "There is no need to work for the sake of the company. Please work for your own sake." Number one is to work for your own sake. Take work as a stage in your life: sometimes, you mature, and in some cases, you are remunerated for your activities. When you feel this in your bones, the workplace becomes something you cannot live without. In the end, it isn't "loyalty," the workplace becomes something you love, a place you want to cherish.
  When you compare the noble expression of "loyalty" to "an important workplace for each member" or "a workplace beloved by each member," it may sound very unstable and undependable. However, I feel that it is something far more flexible and rooted in our lives and activities, something definitely certain compared to a structure with a large central core.
  Kato Spring has introduced option management step-by-step to form a business that operates under a Win-Win situation, where the ambitions of the company and company members work synergistically to improve each other.