the market the author is serving ”. By the 1990s, Honda had invested two billion USD in the US, and raised the localization rate for US-made vehicles to 75% in 1991.
3.2.2. Respect for individuals
Honda's effective management is based on trust. Everyone has a sense of common purpose, and each individual has a special role to play in achieving that common purpose. For this reason, the company involves its people throughout the planning process and in the work of achieving long-term goals.
At Honda, Waigaya (Japanese for talk, conversation) meetings are held at all levels to unify the thinking of two or more groups or areas of the company. It is worth noting that the talks are largely informal, and any topic is allowed. These meetings do not shy away from differences in rank or status. Satoshi Okubo, chairman of the board of directors of Honda in 1973, said: “A talk is a way through which a group of non-geniuses can use their collective brainpower to express their dreams and desires in order to generate new ideas and concepts” and “meetings like this are necessary to maintain an open, public forum where people feel free to express their thoughts.”
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Respecting intelligence and hard work and allowing people to participate in the common work has a positive impact on the team spirit and collective work in the factory. Everyone works together with a high level of precision to produce and sell excellent cars. Respect for the individual is the key to Honda's manufacturing success.
3.2.3. Face the toughest challenges first
If Soichiro Honda had avoided the tough challenges, there would never have been a Honda Motor Company like today. When it was first established, Honda was just a small motorcycle company with little capital, competing with 247 other companies in the market.
In 1959, Honda accepted the seemingly “fantastical” challenge of entering the world’s largest and most mature market, the United States. This choice was based on Honda’s philosophy at that time of finding ways to solve challenges that were considered the most difficult. Unexpectedly, a short time later, Honda went from selling cars to daring to produce motorcycles and cars in the United States. Honda was the first foreign company to produce motorcycles and cars in the United States, and was also the first company to establish a second car factory in the United States.
At Honda, not only is risk-taking encouraged, but people are also made aware that failure is never a fear. According to Soichiro Honda, “Failure itself is not failure. We know that we have failed because we have chosen a certain path, and this is how we now know which path is the right path to success.” He also said, “ Many people dream of success. In my opinion, success can only be achieved after many failures and learning from them . In fact, success is only 1% of your work and comes from 99% of the so-called failures .”
3.2.4. On-site operation
A popular Honda maxim is: “ There is more knowledge on the factory floor than in the office .” HAM executives spend most of their workday on the factory floor, where engineers work almost single-mindedly. Even the plant manager spends much of his time on the factory floor. Executives understand that when they go to the machine shop, they are directly touching the problem and getting to the root of it, thereby contributing to effective solutions.
3.2.5. Promoting the role of youth
The focus on the role of youth at Honda is rare, especially in a Japanese company. At Honda, seniority has never been a priority in considering individuals for high positions. As a result, people are promoted on merit, regardless of age. Throughout Honda's more than five-decade history, the company has always entrusted important responsibilities to young people. In 1981,
Twenty-seven was the average age of the design team that developed the City, a small car that sold very successfully in Japan. Both Honda and Fujisawa wanted to keep their young company strong, hiring people with high ability and imagination. Honda respected the flexible thinking of those who challenged established methods: “ If young employees don’t rebel against their superiors, it means there’s no progress ,” said Honda Motor Co. president Tadashi Kume.
The company continues to strive to maintain the agility of a small company. No matter how much the company grows, managers and employees are constantly reminded to be innovative and creative, to live up to the traditions established by those who have pioneered them. Honda Motor Company, the world’s youngest and most important automobile company, has a deep and rich sense of culture. The paradox of this is that the most hated word in the entire company is “ tradition .”
3.2.6. “ Holding the Honda torch ”
In the early days, Honda relied on its own technical innovations to apply to its products. Although it was easier to buy and copy ideas from other companies, Honda refused to seek outside sources for technology. This independence was certainly more expensive, but in the long run, the company avoided having to rely on others for technology it did not understand and could not implement.
3.2.7. A winning spirit
Honda's philosophy is summed up in its winning spirit, a way of life that demands perfection, no matter how difficult it may be. Honda is committed to producing products that are efficient and affordable. In design, engineering, and production, the company is never satisfied with merely achieving a reasonable level of efficiency. Each year, many new models are developed. Each succeeding year, every effort is made to improve on the previous year's efforts. In January 1985, Car and Driver magazine listed the Honda Accord among the
The magazine wrote, “There is nothing wrong with the Honda Accord. Nothing.” Yet the following September, the company completely redesigned the car. In 1986, 1987, and 1988, the magazine again recognized the Accord as one of the ten best-looking cars in America. In 1987, the magazine wrote, “The Accord is a car with the kind of acceptance the industry has never known…It is hard to imagine, but engineers and experts are planning a new Accord to replace the present model within a few years. Without the Sistine Chapel restoration or the Acropolis overhaul, we cannot conceive of a more difficult task.”
The spirit of competition is deeply rooted in Honda's corporate culture. The Winner Takes All attitude prevails. It is clear that in competition , winning second place is rarely remembered. At Honda, winning the race is the ultimate goal, worthy of all the dedication and effort put into it.
3.3. Lessons learned from building corporate culture of corporations around the world
3.3.1. Build the company into a unified whole.
During the development process, the Board of Directors of Microsoft and Honda both focused on building a unified structure between philosophy, goals, strategies, office architecture, management regime, communication methods, community activities...
With Microsoft, the philosophy of focusing on people and maximizing employee creativity is consistent with the office design style that focuses on concentration, building flexible working hours, and maximizing support for basic working conditions...
Built on trust, Honda also feels a sense of unity – inseparable throughout the company. Even in its homeland of Japan.
Whether in the distant United States, each Honda employee still demonstrates a winning spirit and a strong will to overcome difficult challenges.
3.3.2. Maintain core philosophy but always encourage continuous progress
According to the dualistic view, a company with a strong culture is one that continuously matures in its business operations while still maintaining its core philosophical values.
Faced with increasingly high market demands or fierce competition from rivals, Microsoft and Honda have had to constantly change their strategies, technologies, management methods, etc. But both have successfully maintained their core ideology (values and purposes). For Honda, it is the power of belief in victory over all challenges; for Microsoft, it is the effort to work, progress and innovate constantly. This is reflected in a flexible management policy to maximize employee creativity, but always accompanied by extremely strict regulations that all employees must comply with.
3.3.3. Creating a Perfect Operating Structure
Corporations have undergone leadership transitions. However, the growth of these businesses depends largely on the ability to maintain and strengthen the culture, not the vision of the leaders. For Honda, having visionary leaders is not a requirement; in fact, it is detrimental to the long-term development of the business. Some of the company's outstanding CEOs do not fit the image of a charismatic and successful leader. But by focusing on designing and maintaining the sustainability of the organization, these leaders achieve more resounding results than other CEOs.
3.3.4. Pay attention to investing in cultural environment
Preserve and develop spiritual values
Whether organized as formally as the Waigaya talks at Honda or as casually as the day-to-day communications at Microsoft, these activities
Cultural activities are maintained regularly to help all employees perceive and deeply engrave in their minds the unique cultural values of the company.
Along with this, companies are very interested in creating conditions for each individual to have the opportunity to develop their capacity, and at the same time receive appropriate treatment. Therefore, each member is very proud to be a member of the company and wholeheartedly contributes to the organization.
Building role models
Both Bill Gates and Honda and his associates are shining examples of the tireless work ethic that has become part of the company's culture. Moreover, they are pioneers in coming up with new ideas, creating a distinctive style for the company, such as the spirit of learning from mistakes at Microsoft or dedicating themselves to providing high-performance products at affordable prices worldwide at Honda. It is these role models that unite all employees of the company in a common spirit, creating a unique cultural identity.
Encourage multi-dimensional communication
Both companies place great emphasis on the flow of information throughout the company. Microsoft has been very successful with its “ feedback loop .” Honda is one of the few companies in Japan whose management is willing to listen to employee opinions. This policy of encouraging communication has helped all employees to always have a thorough understanding of the company and thereby actively contribute to sharing problems and solutions for the organization.
3.3.5. The principle of action is superior power
The development of the cultural environment as mentioned above cannot be without more specific elements of VHM, which are actions in VHM. These are the actions in production and business activities that create the distinctive strength of the enterprise. These outstanding and specific activities need to be built to maintain an ambitious vision, promoting continuous progress throughout the organization.
Take on a daring mission
To succeed in business, both Honda and Microsoft set out to achieve huge goals. Honda accepted the seemingly “fantastical” challenge of entering the world’s largest market. Microsoft seemed even more ambitious when it built a common operating system for all computers in the world. And it was these unexpected steps that brought success to the corporations.
Find, select and train the right people
Founder Bill Gates's unchanging recruitment principle is " Only hire the best people ". Therefore, Microsoft has always been a symbol of talented individuals, creative and full of personality. " Only curiosity, initiative and imagination are allowed to stay ".
Encourage people to always act, experiment
In these corporations, progress is always highly valued, so failure is a lesson for future success. Because they believe that " Failure itself is not necessarily failure. We know that we have failed because we have chosen a certain path to go, and this is how we now know which path is the right path to take to succeed ."
Build the next generation of management, build leadership resources
Nowhere is the building of the next generation of management considered as important as in the world's leading corporations. Up to now, the senior leaders of the two corporations have been architects and engineers with many years of experience in the company. Thanks to this policy, great spiritual values and valuable secrets and experiences are always maintained and developed.
Always aim higher
No matter how successful they are, no matter how perfect their products are, Microsoft and Honda do not stop, challenging themselves to create higher quality products for the market.
4. METHODS OF BUILDING A STRONG CULTURE FOR THE SURVIVAL AND DEVELOPMENT OF VIETNAMESE
4.1. Solutions from the State
Corporate culture is a system that is greatly influenced by national culture and the business environment. Therefore, for Vietnamese enterprises to successfully build a strong culture, the State must also maintain the core values of the nation and at the same time complete policy tools to create a favorable business environment. To do this, the State needs to perform the following tasks:
Firstly, the State needs to continue to improve the legal system and market economic institutions to create the best environment for businesses to develop and build corporate culture.
According to Mr. Vu Quoc Tuan, a senior expert of the Government, corporate culture can only be formed and developed when political and economic institutions arouse the entrepreneurial spirit among the people, encourage everyone and all economic sectors to enthusiastically enrich themselves and the country, encourage businesses to take legal measures in the pursuit of high profits; prevent illegal acts, uncivilized business practices, backdoor lobbying, and taking advantage of unhealthy relationships to make a profit.
That institution must be able to promote the national spirit of entrepreneurs, combine traditional and modern values, and especially be suitable to the economic and social circumstances of our country in the integration period.
To do this, it is necessary to have a complete legal system, in line with international practices. Without a fair, equal and healthy playing field for businesses, it is difficult to talk about corporate culture.
Second, promote administrative reform, creating cultural connections between state management agencies and enterprises and between enterprises.
It is necessary to eliminate cumbersome administrative procedures that cause difficulties for businesses to avoid negative business behaviors such as bribery, lobbying, and backdoor dealings... by subordinates towards superiors, and by businesses towards state management agencies.