Much earlier than the mid-80s when the word shinjinrui first appeared in society, I had looked at their generation with the image that they were like foreigners. Although it is not as extreme as Singapore, more and more young people are changing their jobs. The premise of Japanese management that company members won't quit is continuing to disintegrate. In order to work successfully with people of the younger generation, it is probably better to introduce a work style in which my experience overseas is applied; in other words, to let them decide as much as possible when they will take a break and where they will work.
  The original form of option management that the company must accept is a type in which these foreigner-like company members will work hard and be very successful. It first began taking shape in 1981 when I was the manager of the General Affairs Department. An example is that we were strongly considering the introduction of a 5-day workweek, which was infrequently used at that time. We started by increasing the number of days off by six days annually, and now we use a 5-day workweek. This is something we should be confident as characteristic of Kato Spring. We began introducing more days off, flexible working hours at factories, flexible holidays, etc. before the Katoites made requests. In other words, we didn't copy anyone. We did it because we wanted to. We act with courage if we are confident in our action even if there is risk involved.
  "Adapting to change" is something we should do naturally. We ourselves are developing the condition that lies beyond this, that of "creating change." The same challenges have been set forth in cultivating "human assets."

  Within the structure of the new organization called option management that we have pursued since early on, the foreigner-like generation has come to encompass most of our personnel. Thus we have tackled the education of human assets with a complete perspective of how we should welcome such people and how we should educate them. Of course, there is no purpose to selecting company members on the basis of the school they are from. Moreover, neither is there a reason to be particular about this.
  Kato Spring believes that the writing of a personal history about what an individual has done previously is an important point in the hiring process. We ask each person to write about what they have done in their lives. Some may talk about how they were devoted to rugby, some may describe how they studied day and night to pass exams and such. Each person has a different life. It is our stance to connect the lives they have lived until now to the future of Kato Spring.

  We want to make a unique corporate culture full of individuality. This culture has nothing to do with the school from which a company member comes from. Our ceremony welcoming new Katoites is set up with seating in the phonetic order of the Katoites' names rather than with seating divided by gender. There is no meaning in separating men and women.
  Although we haven't gone this far in Japan yet, for quite some time now, the president of Kato Spring Singapore has been a female. We didn't elect this president based on where she was from, rather she became the president because no matter what work she was given, whether clerical, general affairs or personnel, she did it well and demonstrated excellent leadership. Of course, she wasn't selected because she is female.
  The reason we at Kato Spring are attempting to cultivate such human assets is because "knowledge" will become a greater and greater management asset from now on.
  Recently, there has been much talk about management theory and methods collectively known as knowledge management. However, my thoughts concerning these are simple. There is accumulated information known as data. There are people who earnestly gather data, but nothing happens if it is only collected and left as data. When data is collected and processed, it takes on a value as information. This is the stage, for example, in which numbers have been applied to form graphs or matrices. Further, when this is then analyzed to consider what is happening and to determine what will happen in the future, it is called knowledge.

  For example, a television program that provides much information everyday is data. This is then processed and appears in newspapers as television columns and this is information. However, if this information is left alone, it is thrown out on the following day. If this daily information is once again edited and processed in weekly or monthly units, the information assumes value as a type of knowledge. Take the "Weekly TV Guide" magazine for example. This product differs from the television column of a newspaper in that it fulfills a different major need. Management based on the process of data -> information -> knowledge can be applied everywhere. The business fields that can be born and grown are unlimited.
  Almost anyone can process data into information. However, changing this into knowledge requires the ability to conceptualize and flexible sensitivity. Where is this born? It is definitely affected by a curiosity of wanting to learn about anything and a hungry spirit that always looks for things it is interested in.
  President Oizumi of Strawberry Corporation heard the words "strawberry soup" and immediately ordered the dish. This attitude is most important.