Visions - Summer 2011 - (Page 3)

EXECUTIVE VIEW Meet SCOA’s New President and CEO Takashi Kano M r. Kano arrived late in April of this year to succeed Mr. Shinagawa as President and CEO of Sumitomo Corporation of America, as well as General Manager of the Americas. He joined Sumitomo Corporation in Tokyo in 1975, and has worked in the General Products & Real Estate Business Unit, and was Manager of the Real Estate Group in SCOA during the 1980s. Most recently, Mr. Kano was head of the Corporate Coordination Group in Tokyo. Visions interviewed Mr. Kano and invited him to share some of his thoughts with its readers. You have said that the keyword of your business management philosophy is “trust”. Will you tell us what you mean by that? As SC in the Americas, we must perform well, and always do our best to reach our goals and targets. Remember, that trust happens over time. Throughout my career, I have increasingly realized that the most important value in business, as well for individuals, is trust. Without trust, it is difficult to build good relationships. How do we gain trust? I like to think in terms of three “C’s”. The first “C” is creed – which is defined as a formal summary or statement of one’s beliefs. It is important for everyone to spend time formulating their own creed because that creed will dictate their actions, both in business as well as in private life. Everything that a person does springs from one’s beliefs. And it is important to be faithful to your beliefs, your personal creed, and at the same time to recognize that it may change over time – with maturity, experience and wisdom. It is easy to work with people, and to trust them, when we see what they believe in, and see that their actions are consistent with their beliefs. That is why reliable companies like Sumitomo Corporation are proud of their mission statements, which are very much like creeds, and work hard to make sure that the company’s various stakeholders understand its creed. The second “C” is commitment – keeping one’s word helps to develop trust. Think conversely about how trust is lost. For example, if I promise something and do not keep that promise, that person’s trust in me will be jeopardized, and over time perhaps even lost. We must always keep our promises or commitments to one another and to business partners. As SC in the Americas, we must perform well, and always do our best to reach our goals and targets. Remember that trust happens over time. We have to keep our commitments every time and over time. SC in the America is a part of the SC Group, and we need to act in such a way that builds and maintains senior management’s trust in us in order to get approval for what we will require in human resources and financial assets to develop sound, growing, and profitable businesses. If we jeopardize that trust, we may run the risk of losing the support and resources we need. Thanks to the efforts of everyone in SC America, we are keeping our commitment to achieve the budget goals we set for the last fiscal year, which has helped to maintain the trust that SC has in us. This is very important. The third “C” is communication. Needless to say, trust cannot be cultivated without good communication, which includes internal and external efforts. A company’s work in investor relations, as well as corporate communications, is a good example of the importance of proactive communication in building trust in shareholders and in the community in which it operates. And for communication to be effective it must be two-way and on-going, whether internal or external. I have always encouraged my team to be proactive about sharing ideas, and about getting their message across to others. I sincerely believe that frank, open and honest communication is essential in business as well as in private life. How or when did you begin to develop this idea of trust as the basis of a management philosophy? As I said before, I’ve always known that trust is important in business, but in 2003 it took on new importance when I became GM of the Construction and Real Estate Division. At that time, senior management was almost losing confidence in our division because of its poor performance. I realized that we needed to reverse that trend and rebuild confidence so we could regain senior management’ trust. Sumitomo Corporation of America 3

Table of Contents for the Digital Edition of Visions - Summer 2011

Visions - Summer 2011
Table of Contents
Meet SCOA’s New President and CEO Takashi Kano
Tri-Arrows Aluminum Inc. Emerges To Help SCOA Conquer Aluminum Business
SCOA Brings New DMU Rail Systems to California and Canada
New Pork Product Enjoys “Silky” Smooth Sales

Visions - Summer 2011