AKEBONO REPORT 2014

10/72

fellow members, barriers gradually dissolved. Now we are able toidentify sticking points and smoothly reach consensus.Okada: Having struggled for a while, we eventually made a breakthrough,building a stronger sense of unity with an eye to holdingthe ceremony on April 1, 2014. Despite this, after discussions withtop management, we had to reschedule the date of the ceremony.Although this was extremely discouraging, on April 1, 2014, theAi-City headquarters held a “kickoff event” to herald the fiscalyear in which we are celebrating the 85th anniversary. Each of ourproduction bases also held a similar event on their own initiative.Looking back, I think the rescheduling was the right decisionbecause we had not yet succeeded in getting anyone other thanthe project members involved in our activities.Creating a “Celebration for All Associates”Nishiyama: It took a while after the project started for me to calmmy nerves as I initially thought that our group of 10 was solelyresponsible for organizing all the commemorative events.Okada: At first, when we reached out to associates outside of theproject members, things didn’t work out well. The problem wasthat our communications were too arbitrary and we were failing toeffectively share our passion for the project with them. As a result,they rarely accommodated our requests. The level of non-cooperationmade us determined to do everything on our own. However, whenthe secretariat team and the director overseeing us learned whatwas going on, they advised us, saying, “No, that’s not the way youwant to go.” Taking their advice to heart, we drastically changed ourapproach and began striving to share our enthusiasm with our colleagues,urging them to join our activities. This approach was successfuland the number of participating associates has grown. Forexample, volunteers from each department at Group business sitesin Hanyu City formed a steering committee to serve as a subordinatebody of the project team. They are in charge of solicitingevent-related suggestions from their co-workers. Our activitieshave come to involve an ever-growing number of associates.Ishii: Working at Iwatsuki Manufacturing, I can see that my colleagues’commitment to the 85th anniversary events varies widely.Nevertheless, I have adopted a forward-looking attitude. Althoughmost associates are busy with daily operations, I hope that celebratingthe 85th anniversary and reviewing Akebono’s history willA two-day retreat at “Ai-Village” global training center. The center’s lounge, designedto provide a place for exchange between visitors, proved a great venue to get to knoweach other to develop team spirit.The kickoff event at the Ai-City headquarters (Hanyu City, Saitama) on April 1, 2014.The Company president shared his perspective on Akebono’s 85th anniversary year withall associates. The McLaren P1TM, an ultra-high performance road car that incorporatesAkebono’s brake systems, was exhibited at the event.The Hanyu City steering committee, consisting of 85 associates, painstakingly reviewsideas posted by associates from each department at committee meetings and encouragesthem to present ideas from a range of viewpoints. As a result, the committee hasamassed a wealth of good ideas.

※このページを正しく表示するにはFlashPlayer9以上が必要です