Ina Food Industry, headquartered in Ina City, Nagano Prefecture, is a leading manufacturer of agar. Since its founding in 1958, the company has achieved growing sales and profits for 48 years, with current sales of 16.5 billion yen and approximately 400 employees. The company has an 80% share of the domestic market and a 15% share of the global market. With the onset of the recession, many companies are worried about their future, but the company's management style, which allows it to grow steadily every year, has many people interested in it, and executives from Teijin and the Toyota Group have come to visit the company.
<strong>Chairman of Ina Food Industry Co., Ltd., Tsukagoshi Hiroshi<br> </strong>Born in Nagano Prefecture in 1937. Dropped out of Ina Kita High School due to pulmonary tuberculosis. Joined Ina Food Industry Co., Ltd. in 1958, and became Representative Director and President in 1983. Has held his current position since 2005. His publications include "Let's Make a Good Company." His hobby is photography, and he creates calendars and postcards featuring the seasonal scenery of Ina Valley.
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Chairman of Ina Food Industry Tsukagoshi Hiroshi
Born in Nagano Prefecture in 1937. Dropped out of Ina Kita remove background image High School due to pulmonary tuberculosis. Joined Ina Food Industry in 1958 and became president and CEO in 1983. Has held current position since 2005. Author of "Let's Make a Good Company." His hobby is photography, and he makes calendars and postcards of the seasonal scenery of Ina Valley.
Chairman Tsukagoshi Hiroshi is the de facto founder of Ina Foods, and at the age of 21 he became involved in management as acting president.
What makes a company strong? I have been thinking about this as a manager. The answer I came up with is "motivating employees." If we can motivate our employees, the company will become stronger.
For example, machines will not work beyond the specifications written in the catalog. However, when a human is motivated, they will work about three times as hard as an unmotivated person. Humans use their brains, so they will devise their own ways to improve the efficiency of their work. So, what should we do specifically?
After much thought, he came to an answer. To motivate employees, he just needs to make them feel that "this is my company." He needs to make the company a place where employees feel like it's their home. Even if they're a bad person at work, there are many people who are great fathers when they get home. They earn money, take care of their families, and look after their children. No one cuts corners when it comes to taking care of their family. That's because they think that "the family is theirs."
The company should be a home for that person. In a normal company, they would create an employee stock ownership plan and divide up the stocks. However, that alone would not make the employee think of the company as a home.