Fujio Mitarai, Chairman and CEO of Canon has turned around Canons fortunes and multiplied its net profit since becoming chairman and CEO at this global camera, printer and photostat machine maker. Mitarai has made many changes in Canon that reflects his conscientiousness and openness to experience. To revitalise Canon he needed to take bold steps by shutting down weak businesses and divisions and pushing employees to find ways to cut costs and for rewarding employees for increasing sales and profitability.

His openness to experience has served him well all his life. As a child who only knew the Japanese language and culture, he longed to go overseas. After a few years in Canon Japan, he transferred to Canon New York where he served for 23 years, building the camera and copier business for Canon in USA.

Mitarais openness to both the Japanese and the American ways of managing has led him to be role model for other executives and he has been named one of Business Weeks Best Managers. For example, consistent with American practices, he believes in merit pay to reward high performers and consistent with Japanese practices, he values loyalty and lifetime employment. Rather than appoint outsiders to the board of directors, he prefers the contributions insiders can make. At the same time he empowers auditors to play a more active role in corporate governance.

Mitarais openness to experience is pushing Canon in new directions. For example, he envisions by 2020, equipment used in medical fields will be a significant part of Canons business. Researchers in Canon are working with researchers in Japanese and American universities to create medical imaging technologies and Mitarai hopes to create a major Research and Development Centre in United States to develop new technologies and products.

Protecting the environment is also important for Mitarai. He says, We want to create a more environmentally friendly cycle for our products. Thus, Canon has built a new factory in United States to make toners and cartridges so that cartridges will no longer be needed to be shipped from Asia in ocean freighters that pollute the environment.

(Source: adapted from George J.M, Jones G. R (2012) Understanding and managing

Organisational Behaviour, 6th edition, Pearson Education, pg 46)

Question

Explain how Mitarai has integrated elements of American and Japanese culture in Canon.

-Cost cutting

-Incorporated elements of Japanese and American culture

-Product development

(Explain using the above points as given and provide examples as well.)