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For my investigation I have chosen Canon Inc. a company, which got its start in 1937 as the first company in Japan to develop and produce 35mm focal-plane-shutter cameras and indirect X-ray cameras. Later entering the field of business machines, developing and marketing Japan's first plain-paper copying machine in 1970, and diversifying and expanding its operations with the launch of laser beam printers (LBPs) and Bubble Jet printers in the 1980s. Its overseas business began with the opening of a New York branch office in 1955 and a European sales company in 1968. A branch in Taiwan was established in 1970 to begin overseas production. Since then Canon Inc. has pursued development, production, and sales activities in the Americas, Europe, Japan and other parts of Asia. On June 26, 1935, a trademark application was made for the name "Canon" as a brand that signified "photographic machines, tools, and parts thereof." The trademark was registered on September 19 of the same year. Saburo Uchida made the application, and the registration number was 278297. The typeface for the name was the work of a designer specialising in advertising. It was well known by an inward curve in the upper tip of the "C"-a feature that is still reflected in today's logo. (See picture 1). Soon Canon became a world-renowned camera maker and is now a global multimedia corporation. However, the origins of its success remain unchanged: the passion of their early years and technological expertise combined over more than 60 years. Canon uses its corporate philosophy as a policy within the company and strives to develop its products with passion, ease-of-use and love, benefiting to people and becoming well known throughout the world. That is why I have chosen this kind of a business as I see it the one, which provides perfect customer service with high quality products (in its sphere of business) for a reasonable price. Corporate philosophy: Kyosei The corporate philosophy of Canon is kyosei. A concise definition of this word would be “Living and working together for the common good,” but their definition is broader: “All people, regardless of race, religion or culture, harmoniously living and working together into the future.” Unfortunately, the presence of imbalance in our world-in areas such as trade, income levels and the environment - hinders the achievement of kyosei. Addressing these imbalances is an ongoing mission, and Canon is doing its part by actively pursuing its corporate philosophy. True global companies must foster good relations, not only with their customers and the communities in which they operate, but also with nations and the environment. They must also bear the responsibility for the impact of their activities on society. For this reason, Canon’s aim is to contribute to the wealth of the world and the happiness of humanity, which will lead to continuing growth and bring the world closer to achieving their philosophy. Activity The freedom to imagine, to express, to record, to transmit. The creative possibilities of communication in the 21st century are like nothing global society has seen before. The key to this new era of expression is products and equipment based on networked digital imaging technologies. As a premier driver of these technologies, Canon is dedicated to enabling people to create and transmit unsurpassed images, anytime and anywhere (see appendix page 23). Aims Canon’s global business development is aimed at benefiting homes, offices and industries throughout the world. They are implementing their global diversification strategy by establishing a Three Regional Headquarters System, centering on the Americas, Europe and Japan and Asia. Canon Group consolidated net sales were approximately ¥2,940.1 billion (US$24,501 million) in 2002, of which about 75% was generated outside of Japan. Their 195 Group companies, with a total of approximately 97,800 employees, are pursuing R&D, production and sales and marketing activities around the world. They continue targeting initiatives consistent with its goal of becoming a truly excellent global corporation. Objectives For many years, Canon has developed its operations through technological reformation and the precise grasp of market growth under the keywords diversification and globalization. However, in the 21st century they see great changes in the management environment. The changes taking place, as illustrated by rapid developments in the network field, represent both opportunities and risks. They believe it is crucial to take opportunities and risks correctly and to respond with appropriate measures in order to assure continuing growth in the years to come. Specific objectives include reinforcing key components and basic technologies common throughout their operations, which will make it possible to create new businesses and to reach for the number one position in their principal business fields. Next, they must apply its existing businesses to new network environments under the “Canon Over IP (Internet Protocol)” concept, and then build new business domains from these environments. In addition, they will reform their group structure, reorganizing and strengthening their headquarters in the Americas and Europe with research and development, and manufacturing functions, aiming to successfully implement their global diversification strategy through the establishment of a Three Regional Headquarters System. At the same time, they will further make stronger their financial structure and R&D capabilities which they have fostered thus far. Meanwhile, they are striving to create new businesses and products by translating their ability to add value through networked imaging technologies into a core competence. Canon’s wealth of innovative expertise is playing an important role in this effort. In Japan, the Americas and Europe, they will continue working to provide high-value-added offerings in response to the rapidly evolving needs of society. Canon’s ‘Four Regional Headquarters System’ with an organisational structure Canon Incorporated has identified global diversification as one of the key initiatives in its five-year plan for the organisation. The move is designed to expand business opportunities as the organisation seeks to develop as a market-leading information technology solutions provider. As a result of this initiative, Canon Inc. has created four regional headquarters in Europe, Asia and Oceania, America and Japan. BOARD OF DIRECTORS 1) President & CEO Fujio Mitarai Chairman, Management Strategy Committee, New Business Development Committee 2) Senior Managing Directors Ichiro Endo Group Executive, Technology Management Headquarters Yukio Yamashita Chief, Global Marketing Promotion Committee; Group Executive, Human Resources Management & Organization Headquarters Toshizo Tanaka Group Executive, Finance & Accounting Headquarters Kinya Uchida President, Canon U.S.A., Inc. Akira Tajima Chief Executive, Optical Products Operations Tsuneji Uchida Chief Executive, Image Communication Products Operations 3) Managing Directors Takashi Saito Deputy Managing Director, Canon Europe Ltd. Yusuke Emura Group Executive, Global Environment Promotion Headquarters Nobuyoshi Tanaka Chief, Global Legal Affairs Coordination Committee; Group Executive, Corporate Intellectual Property & Legal Headquarters; Senior General Manager, Legal Affairs Coordination Division Junji Ichikawa Group Executive, Global Manufacturing Headquarters Hajime Tsuruoka President, Canon Europa N.V.; Managing Director, Canon Europe Ltd. Akiyoshi Moroe Group Executive, General Affairs Headquarters, Information & Communication Systems Headquarters Kunio Watanabe Group Executive, Corporate Strategy & Development Headquarters Ikuo Soma Chief Executive, Office Imaging Products Operations 4) Directors Teruomi Takahashi Chief Executive, Chemical Products Operations Hironori Yamamoto Group Executive, Core Technology Development Headquarters, Display Development Headquarters Yoroku Adachi President & CEO, Canon (China) Co., Ltd. Yasuo Mitsuhashi Chief Executive, Peripheral Products Operations Katsuichi Shimizu Chief Executive, Inkjet Products Operations Ryoichi Bamba Executive Vice President, Canon U.S.A., Inc. Tomonori Iwashita Deputy Chief Executive, Image Communication Products Operations; Group Executive, Photo Products Group Toshio Homma Group Executive, New Business Headquarters Shigeru Imaiida Deputy Group Executive, Global Manufacturing Headquarters; Senior General Manager, Mold Innovation Project, Production Engineering Center 4) Corporate Auditors Kohtaro Miyagi Masaharu Aono Tadashi Ohe Tetsuo Yoshizawa Organisational structure picture 2 Activities of the Global Legal Affairs Coordination Committee Monitoring and examining legal developments in the following areas: export regulations, dumping, anti-monopoly regulation, product liability, after-market service, the environment (RoHS, WEEE, etc.), information management, disability, copyrights, international tax law and local law in America, Europe, China and other countries. Four region headquarters 1) The Americas Canon Group sales in the Americas reached approximately US$8,418 million in 2002, with 10,151 employees in the region. Canon U.S.A., Inc., the Group’s headquarters in the Americas, is currently strengthening its R&D functions while integrating regional operations from development to production. Canon Development Americas, Inc., is responsible for a wide range of activities and is developing leading-edge technologies and products. Another key Group player is Canon Virginia, Inc., which has a production system enabling quick and flexible responses to local market needs. 2) Europe Canon Group sales in Europe generated approximately US$7,143 million in 2002, with 11,889 regional employees. Spearheading their regional operations in Europe are Canon Europe Ltd. and Canon Europe N.V., which are establishing a function-specific organisation geared to European markets. They have also formed a pan-European business organisation, called Canon Consumer Imaging. 3) Asia and Oceania Sales totaled US$2,835 million in 2002 in Asia and Oceania, where they employ 31,319 people. The Asia regional headquarters, which is located in Beijing, manages Canon’s regional operations along function-specific lines. Region wide activities are promoted by the Canon Asia Marketing Group, which is strengthening ties between their operations in Beijing, Hong Kong and Singapore. The Oceania region is overseen by Canon Australia Pty. Ltd., which strengthens solutions businesses. Canon Information Systems Research Australia Pty. Ltd., a key R&D base, mainly develops digital imaging technology. 4) Japan The Canon Group’s domestic sales totaled approximately US$6,105 million in 2002. Their workforce in Japan, including the employees of Canon Inc., numbers 44,443 people. Canon Sales Co., Inc., which handles sales and marketing, has begun restructuring the Group’s domestic sales organisation with the aim of centralising their sales and service systems while clarifying the roles of each member company. In line with the expansion of their solutions business, they are reinforcing the capabilities of systems engineers and salespeople, improving responsiveness to customer needs. Also, they have a domestic network of production affiliates, including Canon Electronics Inc., Canon Finetech Inc. and Ueno Canon Materials Inc. These companies are redoubling their pursuit of independent business initiatives, the Group’s consumer-oriented business throughout the region. The new organisation will strengthen and rationalize their European operations by integrating various marketing activities -such as sales, service, logistics and advertising - which were previously handled along national lines. At the same time, they are cultivating markets elsewhere, including the Middle East and Africa. Also, they have production facilities in Germany and France, as well as R&D centers in the United Kingdom and France. Canon is hierarchical organisation with a very complicated tall structure (see page 6, picture 2). It is one of those organisations where control of operating processes goes through standardisation of jobs. These jobs are separated into sequential steps and carried out under direct supervision. However, the line workers lack both the authority and motivation to improve these routine tasks and are limited by their local view of the business. Canon is a hierarchical organisation that has a clear management structure with lines of responsibility and control that allows managing the company stricter with closer supervision. Management processes still become hampered by the time it takes to recognise that change is needed. Another disadvantage for such companies as Canon may be that its workers have very little freedom of responsibility, but in fact like any Japanese company it follows its philosophy by taking into account that quality is the responsibility of everybody. By living in the atmosphere of quality assurance every person in the organisation knows that everything can be improved. As a hierarchical company Canon Group has a divisional structure (division by product and region), but giving business units the freedom and independence for decision-making makes the company work more efficiently. Also, communication flows from the first point of view may seem very complicated and too long, but computer networks help to overcome these potential problems through well-designed ICT systems and the work of system administrators who oversee the work and ensure efficiency. This kind of strategy called “Kaizen” is the single most important concept in Japanese management - the key to Japanese competitive success. Kaizen is not a technique, it is a cultural revolution, a way of living - involving everyone in an organisation right from the top management to the workers. Kaizen is everybody’s business. In the Japanese business system the concept of its philosophy is so ingrained that the managers and workers without any conscious effort practice it. If we compare Canons organisational structure with a smaller company such as Carver corp. (which is known for its high-end stereo components) we can easily see that Carver corp. is much flatter and less complicated. Many partnerships, cooperators and some ltd or corp. have this structure. These companies too have their own advantages, such as: 1) few levels of management 2) short chain of command 3) are much more flexible 4) Decision making is better 5) span of control is wider, so the managers may have diverse responsibilities.
Approximate Word count = 8425
Approximate Pages = 33.7
(250 words per page double spaced)
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