Rebirth Tokyo 1986

Chapter 278 Minimalism
In early spring, March, spring is in full swing.

Apart from the fact that more people committed suicide by jumping off buildings, Japan as a whole has not changed at all, as if there has been no stock market decline or real estate crash.

It is still as prosperous and noisy as before.

People are still immersed in the afterglow of the bubble economy and are unwilling to wake up, thinking that the economic crisis will soon be over.

That afternoon, Matsumoto Manufacturing President Hiroaki Kobayashi hurried to the chairman's office.

"President, companies like Gutian, Liyou, and Sakura Moon have all expanded their production capacity. Are we really not going to follow suit?"

The young man waved his hand and sneered in response: "Don't worry about it. Expanding the production capacity of suitcases now is a slow suicide."

"They are heavily indebted due to expansion, which makes it convenient for us to acquire them later."

Not only ordinary people, but many companies also misjudged Japan's economic situation.

Countless entrepreneurs feel that the storm will soon pass.

Therefore, in order to seize the market, they did not reduce the scale of production, but expanded it. Japan began to experience a situation similar to that of China in the 21st century - overcapacity.

Later, in order to resolve this crisis, the Japanese government used various policies to encourage mergers and reorganizations among companies in the same industry.

For example, in the cement industry, hundreds of companies eventually became nine giant companies.

Masato Takeshita knows what the future will be like, so he will naturally not let his company fall into any trap.

Except for the low-end brand Linglong which continues to expand its production capacity and explore the international market, all mid-to-high-end brands will cut production.

High-end trolley suitcases have begun to enter the stock market, and expanding the scale of production will only result in large-scale unsalable products.

"This……"

Kobayashi Hiroaki was very panicked, worried that the market would be taken away by competitors.

Seeing this situation,

Masato Takeshita clenched his hands, leaned forward slightly, and his whole body was full of oppression.

"Don't worry, Kobayashi-san. Our company has already established a brand effect in Japan. When people buy high-end luggage, they only choose Fengya."

"The economy is in trouble now, and sales of mid- to high-end luggage will definitely decline. Even if we reduce production, others will not be able to snatch this part of the market."

The most important function of high-end brands is to show off, that is, to enhance the status. However, the effect of luggage on enhancing status is obviously not as high as that of mobile phones and bags.

People will scrimp and save to buy the best new phone or the latest bag, but it is difficult for them to change their lives for high-end travel luggage.

In the event of an economic downturn, the high-end luggage market will certainly suffer a severe blow.

But this is normal, Fengya travel suitcases can sell so many.

This is a complete manifestation of the absurdity of the Japanese economy. People only buy expensive things and don't care about cost-effectiveness at all.

Now it is just a matter of allowing the high-end suitcase market to gradually return to its rightful place.

"Yes, sir."

Kobayashi Hiroaki still didn't come to his senses, but since his own president said so, it must be true.

"Okay, that's enough of the subject. Anything else?"

"Well, there are some. The branch in China wants to set up a factory there to produce Pulse. I don't know, what is your opinion, President?"

Kobayashi Hiroaki is very thoughtful in his work, but too thoughtful.

He felt that setting up a factory in China was not a reasonable thing to do at the moment, but they were quite eager for it, so he was very hesitant.

"It's not very suitable for now. The price of Pulse is too high, and it's hard for China to accept it at the moment."

China's economy is still not doing well right now and needs another two years of development.

In addition, the sales scale of Pulse is also not good enough and needs more sales support.

Only when both parties become better will young people have the opportunity to cooperate with COFCO Group.

Yes, the way that Youth Heart Pulse enters China is the same as McDonald's, which is to cooperate with COFCO Group. Only in this way can it be invincible.

Kobayashi Hiroaki breathed a sigh of relief and responded quickly, "Okay, I'll reject the other party later."

"okay."

After talking about energy drinks, the two talked about the garment market.

"We can now expand our clothing brand on a large scale. Chinese people need clothes at the right price to package themselves."

Japan's economy is in decline and people can't afford too many luxury goods.

A clothing brand that is affordable and looks stylish will quickly stand out and develop into a clothing giant.

For example, MUJI, UNIQLO, and the minimalism created by Matsumoto.

Yes, the clothing brand under Matsumoto Manufacturing is called Minimalism.

Minimalist style is one of the main popular trends in the future. As a time traveler, Masato Takeshita naturally wants to take over this track as soon as possible.

At the same time, doing so has another very big benefit, which is to establish your own clothing brand style.

It is easy to establish a company, but difficult to create a brand style.

Once Matsumoto Manufacturing succeeds in leaving the concept of minimalism in the market, it will have the opportunity to become a world-class brand.

"Okay, President."

Kobayashi Hiroaki's eyes are full of passion and fighting spirit, and he is ready to work hard starting tomorrow.

If it weren't for the pressure from young people, he would have expanded the minimalist brand to all parts of the world. There would not be less than 50 stores in the world as it is now.

"The expansion speed should be moderate, and there should never be a lack of service. Especially in foreign markets, employee training is of utmost importance."

"They don't have the quality of domestic service staff. Expanding too quickly can easily lead to problems and damage our brand value."

Japan’s service staff are the best in the world. Haidilao’s customer-first service is probably learned from Japan.

It is difficult for other countries to do this, especially the United States, the world's largest market.

The employees are used to being lazy and it is difficult for them to adapt to the work attitude of treating customers as gods.

But the young man had already thought of a solution.

The best way to improve the quality of a company's service staff is to spend money, a lot of money.

If the average salary of a service worker in the market is $1000, then your company will increase it to $2000.

By spending more money, you can definitely easily recruit more qualified and more proactive employees.

As for the specific implementation time, we need to wait until the company completes the reorganization.

"Understood. Please rest assured, President."

"Ah That's good."

Masato Takeshita nodded slightly, and then spoke seriously about the cheap ready-made clothing market, that is, the kind of clothing that has no brand and is as cheap as a few dollars a piece.

"We should also pay more attention to unbranded supermarket clothing. Although we make little money, or even suffer losses, it can significantly improve the company's position."

“The benefits are important, and our local presence is equally important.”

The purpose of Matsumoto's cheap, unbranded clothing is not to make money, but to please the local government.

After all, the clothing industry is a human resources-based industry that requires a huge amount of labor.

Such companies should be given more attention no matter where they are.

"Please rest assured, President. Whenever we invest in a project in a place, we will basically build a clothing factory at the same time."

"Yes, that's right."

What Matsumoto Manufacturing does is to use part of the money it earns to supplement the local job market.

Although the money will be less, it will be more welcomed by the local government and its status in the local area will be more stable.

After talking about the various projects, Masato Takeshita thought of Matsumoto Manufacturing, which was also going to undergo reform.

"Xiaolin-san, how is the company restructuring plan we talked about last time going?"

“The first draft has been completed and is being further revised.”

"Well, I see. Then we will try to complete it by May. I will start the reorganization plan of Matsumoto Manufacturing in June."

"Please rest assured, President, we will be able to prepare a plan before May."

The adjustment of the company structure is actually very simple. Kobayashi Hiroaki has been thinking about it for so long, mainly because he wants to make it more perfect. He is still very young and has the ambition to go further in the company.

For example, he took over the position of Zensuke Suzuki, who also came from Matsumoto Manufacturing.

Although the chances were not great, he still wanted to try to complete it.

Matsumoto Manufacturing is the birthplace of the Xinghai Group, and we must do our best to win the position of first vice president.

Yes, that's right.

What Kobayashi Hiroaki wanted was to become the first vice president of Xinghai Group after taking over, rather than just becoming the vice president.

Because the latter is a goal that can definitely be achieved, while the former is still an unknown.

After all, from a corporate perspective, the largest one is Xinghai Semiconductor, and the most profitable one is Xinghai Investment.

Matsumoto Manufacturing is not outstanding in either of the two aspects, and the only advantage it can rely on is its starting point.

"Ah."

The things Matsumoto was doing were very complicated, and the two of them chatted for almost an entire afternoon.

"It's getting late, let's go to the cafeteria to eat something."

"Oh well."

Masato Takeshita likes to eat in his own cafeteria. Even if he goes to one of the factories under his control, he will eat in the cafeteria if he can.

On the one hand, eating in the cafeteria will be cleaner and more hygienic, and on the other hand, it can avoid serious corruption in the cafeteria.

In fact, the young man learned this trick from Mr. Ren, the general manager of the Chrysanthemum Factory.

When Huawei was just starting out, there were relatively few people, and Ren often cooked for himself, making things like pig tail soup.

One day when he was cooking, he suddenly felt very passionate.

Wearing an apron and holding a large ladle in her hand, she shouted at the employees.

"In the future, Huawei will occupy one third of the world's communications manufacturing market."

Of course, the employees just thought he was crazy.

No one believed that a small company with only a hundred people could become the world's largest communications equipment manufacturer.

When Huawei grew bigger, Ren Zhengfei could no longer cook for so many people. He often stood at the entrance of the cafeteria, watching everyone eat with a smile on his face.

Most new employees think he is a canteen cleaner.

No one would have thought that the unshaven-bearded, slovenly-dressed guy in front of them was their boss.

Masato Takeshita could not inspect the cafeteria as often as President Ren, but he would eat there at least a few times a month.

Not only the young man himself, he also stipulated that the main person in charge must eat several meals in the cafeteria every month.

Unless you are on a business trip or there is really no other way.

The company cafeteria is so important that it affects employees' direct experience of the company.

I already have a lot of worries at work, and if the food is not good, it will be even more depressing.

Xinghai Group is an intelligence-based company, and the mood of employees will directly affect the research and development progress of the company's new products.

"Master, give me one serving of lion's head, one serving of fried river shrimp, and one serving of spinach."

"Okay, please wait."

Masato Takeshita usually likes to eat authentic Chinese food rather than modified Chinese cuisine.

What the superior likes, the subordinates will like even more!

The whole company also began to like eating authentic Chinese food.

Especially for middle and senior leaders, they have at least one dish at every meal.

For example, Kobayashi Hiroaki in front of us ordered the common salt and pepper shrimp, the authentic Northeastern vegetable three fresh dishes, and the classic Cantonese dish honey-glazed barbecued pork.

Of course, both of them ordered small portions of dishes specially made by the cafeteria.

If there were so many restaurants outside, there would definitely be serious waste.

Ordering small portions of food is an unspoken rule in the company.

Even if someone violates the rules at the beginning, they will correct it unknowingly.

If you don't correct it, you will basically be ostracized by everyone.

"How is Matsumoto Manufacturing's recruitment going this year?"

"That's great. The quality of the new employees will be taken to a higher level."

Kobayashi Hiroaki is very satisfied with the current recruitment work.

Because the company will not only have top students from both Hayashi and Kiyoshi University, but also students who graduated from the University of Tokyo.

This was basically unthinkable in previous years.

There is no way. In the past few years, financial and real estate companies did not treat money as money.

Although Matsumoto Manufacturing is also owned by a large company, it is too young and is still a manufacturing company, so it cannot compete with those more profitable industries.

It’s different now, times have changed.

The financial sector is in deep trouble and the real estate sector is also in a downward trend.

Students at Donghua University who are unaware of the situation outside may still choose finance and real estate as their first choices.

The smarter ones are more likely to target giants in the technology and manufacturing sectors.

Xinghai Semiconductor and Matsumoto Manufacturing have both become popular companies in the eyes of smart students.

Firstly, both companies are in a period of rapid growth. Choosing these two companies will give us more room for development.

Secondly, these two companies, especially Matsumoto Manufacturing, have a limited number of top students. If you join now, you can use your status as a famous school to get a higher salary.

"Yes, I think the recruitment situation will get better and better. In the future, companies should start to select the best of the best when recruiting new people, instead of simply accepting the top students."

Matsumoto Manufacturing's current recruitment is similar to that of China in the second half of the second decade of the 21st century.

Major companies are no longer superstitious about international students and are beginning to shift their focus from prestigious schools to abilities.

Of course, a good academic background is still a powerful stepping stone.

Because good companies will check academic qualifications. For example, resumes below 211 will be directly invalidated.

Unless you have extraordinary abilities, you won’t even be able to pass the threshold.

"Yes, please rest assured, President."

Kobayashi Hiroaki also feels that recruitment is becoming easier and it is time to select from the best.

However, when he thought about the abilities of liberal arts students, he felt it was a bit difficult.

In the past, Japanese college students, especially those majoring in liberal arts, had an easy life and could find very good jobs without having to do internships.

This makes it difficult for companies to tell which one is more suitable.

After all, except for a few geniuses and some fools, most people don't have very strong abilities.

"Oh, there's one more thing. When recruiting domestically, unless the candidate is from a top-notch major at a top-notch school, we only recruit students who graduated from our own universities."

The Japanese job market will become increasingly difficult, and more Japanese graduates must be selected. Because only when the domestic market is good, the development of Xinghai Group will be more stable.

This is the company's headquarters and the base for overseas expansion, and it must be firmly established.

In addition, many schools abroad have deceptive majors specifically set up to make money.

Xinghai Group does not have the time to conduct all the identifications, so it is better to take a one-size-fits-all approach.

"Don't worry, President. I also know the situation abroad. We won't recruit a large number of students."

"Yeah, that's it."

Masato Takeshita gave an appreciative look and then prepared to promote the relevant matters to the entire group.

In the future, companies will no longer be short of university graduates, and recruitment will become more difficult.

(End of this chapter)