A Limitless Adventure

The first thing that struck me about the Company was that the Corporate Philosophy and Management Philos­ophy have taken deep root throughout the organization, and are guiding Kaneka to become a company that works steadfastly toward resolving social issues. The more I find out about efforts the Company is taking to make this happen, the more wonderful I think it is.

I was struck by how diverse the participants were. They came from a range of age brackets, and I was surprised to hear that some had joined the Company through mid-career hiring or switched from being contract employees to their current positions. I’ve worked in the HR industry for a long time, and have heard about the efforts various client companies are making, but I think that such an approach to hiring is still uncommon among large Japanese companies, especially long-standing companies in the manufacturing sector.

I believe diversity will be the most crucial aspect of corporate management going forward. Management will be called on more and more to consider how many standpoints and perspectives they take into account and the height and breadth of these perspectives.

Kaneka is poised to make great strides forward, having positioned becoming embedded in and part of the culture of local communities as the route to becoming a global company. In Japan as well, the Company is pursuing activities that are grounded in Hokkaido and other regional communities. I think this is another facet of diversity that I want to affirm.

I attended an internal research conference the other day. It was thrilling to hear from researchers who are pursuing challenges in a number of directions. I gathered that venues like that are where cross-fertilization between researchers takes place. It was an opportunity to get a feel for the culture of a Trial & Error experi­ment driven company that creates innovation through unexpected combinations.

It occurred to me that Green Planet™, launched more than 30 years ago, has also come as far as it has because biotechnology researchers, macromolecular researchers, and people from various other areas of expertise came together as a team. That’s amazing, and I look forward to the wealth of innovation we can expect down the road.

The Company is also investing in the future, such as deciding to build a new factory for medical devices in Hokkaido. Every time I see the Board of Directors give approval for different large-scale projects it makes me excited to anticipate how they will bear fruit in the future.

I think the Company has a climate that encourages employees to take on challenges and a robust framework for supporting them in doing that. I would like to see all employees move forward with confidence. Each upward step opens out onto a different vista. I feel most people waver between the fear of taking a step forward and the courage to take a leap. But since Kaneka is a Trial & Error experiment driven company, I encourage employees to view opportunities as another kind of experiment and seize upon them. I think it’s fine to go on trying and sometimes failing. That’s the kind of company Kaneka is.