“How well do you know your company’s corporate philosophy?”
On 27th April 2021, Asian Identity organized a one hour and a half small talk session under the topic, “Rinen” or “Corporate Philosophy”. We believe all organizations and companies have their own philosophy which is the answer to why a business exists. Unfortunately, we, as employees, do not often apply these concepts to our works. Therefore, we would like to take this opportunity to talk and share about this concept and hope that you, listeners, and readers, will get to know and understand it better.
This time, we had the great honor to invite Ph.D. Kritinee Pongtanalert, Lecturer in Marketing and Innovation at Chulalongkorn University who has great interest in Japanese business philosophy, to share and discuss together with Ms. Thiranart Napapruekchart, the senior consultant of Asian Identity who has worked extensively supporting and establishing Thai-Japanese joint-venture projects in Thailand as an investment and business analyst, on the topic of Corporate Philosophy.
Rinen or Corporate Philosophy is a company’s direction, or you can say it is a mission for the greater good. It identifies the company and gives the organizational members the passion and direction they should head toward. The Corporate Philosophy exists not just for the benefit of the company, but it can benefit other people as well. Both the employers and employees should believe and trust the Corporate Philosophy to succeed in their goal and mission.
The clearer the Corporate Philosophy, the clearer and better the company is. Corporate Philosophy serves as a guide for the company’s business strategy, culture, and identity. If employers and employees follow the Corporate Philosophy, they will see the same thing and act based on common beliefs. For example, when managers need to decide something for the company’s good, Corporate Philosophy will help them in the case. The manager can refer to the corporate philosophy to make the appropriate choice.
Below are some questions that were raised by listeners during the talk session.
Q: Can Public Organizations have Corporate Philosophy?
A: No matter big or small, private, or public, all organizations can have a philosophy. Every organization has its own goal, which can be written into the corporate mission and be used as a guideline in work practice. For public organizations, “to serve the people the best they can”, is an example of the possible philosophy.
Q: Can we adjust the philosophy according to the current situation?
A: We absolutely can adjust it, not according to the time but according to the company’s development; for instance, when the company expands its business. We can adjust for to create a clearer image of the corporate philosophy; however, frequent adjustment is not recommended. The core belief is still there, we only need to adjust some elements.
[Sample Case of how a company applied their philosophy]
“A company in Japan that sells healthy shoe for elderly has this mindset that “the shoe they sell might be the last shoe in the person’s life”, therefore everything they do is done with care. One of the simple gestures they do as a practice is to send postcards to their customers with every order delivered. From this kind gesture, the customers started to send postcards back to the company to show their appreciation. Just from this simple action, the company staff and the customers were able to clearly see the company’s philosophy, gaining more trust in their products and services.”
Now you can see and visualize the concept of Rinen or Corporate Philosophy. We hope that this article would help you understand more about your company and apply it to your job. See you next article!
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