A Flower of Philosophy Blooms on the Frontlines: A Path of Revival Budding in the Wilderness of Bankruptcy (December 2000)

A Flower of Philosophy Blooms on the Frontlines: A Path of Revival Budding in the Wilderness of Bankruptcy (December 2000)

In 2000, Japan's construction industry was in the midst of a deep winter. A decade after the bursting of the bubble economy, public works projects had been drastically cut back, and small and medium-sized local construction companies were disappearing from the market one after another. The wave of elimination was quietly but surely chipping away at the footsteps of those who had once been rooted in the local community and were known as "construction workers. Under these circumstances, the young second-generation president of a construction company made up his mind that "if nothing is done, it will be the end. He decided to revitalize the company by "changing the way of thinking and changing the type of business," rather than simply passing on the human network he had inherited from his father.

He turned to ISO certification, which at the time was just beginning to spread. It took him one year and two months to obtain ISO 9001 certification for quality management, followed by ISO 14001 certification for environmental management. It was not just a process of acquiring certification, but also a process of changing the culture within the company. Employees discovered the "social significance" of their work and the joy of learning and creating together. Eventually, the site began to change. Flowers were planted when sidewalks were widened, trash was thoroughly sorted, and smoking ashtrays were placed for passersby. Signboards were placed to clearly illustrate the purpose of the project, and the site was transformed from an inorganic workspace into a place to talk with the local community.

At the same time, the president stopped quarrying stone from the mountains, which was destructive to nature, and switched to recycled materials from concrete blocks, which were construction waste. While this was an environmentally friendly philosophy, it was also economically rational. The cost per ton was 300 to 400 yen less, and the reputation of the customers increased. He further shifted his business from mainly new construction to refurbishment, saying, "The era of scrap-and-build is over. The time for scrap and build is over. The time has come to fix and make the most of what we have, rather than tear it down.

This corporate transformation corresponded to the historical background of the time: in 2000, the Basic Law for Establishing a Recycling-based Society was enacted, and the Home Appliance Recycling Law and the Food Recycling Law were about to come into effect. ISO certification was not only a means of gaining international credibility, but also a qualification for small and medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) to bite the bullet for the future.

The president's words were quiet, but carried a certain fervor. I am sure you will make it," he said. It was a confidence in the path he had chosen, a pride in the change of his employees, and above all, a responsibility to the community and its future. In the soil of winter, they had indeed planted a seed. And on that site, a flower bloomed. It was a quiet and powerful flower called "philosophy.