I read 『コーポレート・トランスフォーメーション　日本の会社をつくり変える』冨山 和彦（著） (Corporate Transformation: Remaking Japanese Companies by Kazuhiko Toyama), so I’ll share the insights I gained from the book.

Background for Reading 'Corporate Transformation'

This is a sequel to 書評『コロナショック・サバイバル　日本経済復興計画』 (Book Review: Corona Shock Survival: Japan Economic Recovery Plan), and since I’m running a company myself and working on business promoting DX, I felt this was a must-read book.

Below are quotes from memorable passages and my notes.

Chapter 2: The Current Position of Japanese Companies in the Era of Ambidextrous Management

結局、組織能力自体をもっとも重要な経営対象として、その可変性を大きくしない限り、持続的に競争優位を保つことは難しい時代に入っているのだ。今や現実の戦略は組織能力の従属変数であり、急速に変転を続ける最適戦略を打ち続けられる組織能力を持っていることが真の競争優位性の源泉なのである。

(Ultimately, we have entered an era where it’s difficult to maintain sustainable competitive advantage unless organizational capabilities themselves are treated as the most important management target and their variability is increased. Now, actual strategy is a dependent variable of organizational capabilities, and having organizational capabilities that can continuously execute optimal strategies in rapid succession is the true source of competitive advantage.)

? Organizational capabilities = important management target

イノベーションの時代を経営するには、一方で既存事業を「深化」して収益力、競争力をより強固にする経営と、イノベーションによる新たな成長機会を「探索」しビジネスとしてものにしていく経営の両方が求められる。

(To manage in the age of innovation, both management that “deepens” existing businesses to strengthen profitability and competitiveness, and management that “explores” new growth opportunities through innovation and turns them into business are required.)

? We need to do this in the context of DX as well.

やはり腰を据えて取り組まなくてはならないのは「ＤＸごっこ」ではなく、両利きの経営力を手に入れるための真剣勝負の取り組みなのである。

(What we must seriously tackle is not “DX pretense” but a serious effort to acquire ambidextrous management capabilities.)

? Not DX pretense, but ambidextrous management capabilities

サッカーの素質のある人間を集め、あるいはＭ＆Ａで組織ごと獲得し、新しいモデルの中核事業、中核機能の一つと位置付け、今、稼いでいる野球集団と、これから稼いでもらうサッカー集団の両方が共存できるような、両利き的な組織アーキテクチャへと会社のカタチを作り直さなければならないのだ。

(We must gather people with soccer talent or acquire entire organizations through M&A, position them as one of the core businesses and functions of the new model, and remake the company’s form into an ambidextrous organizational architecture where both the baseball group that’s currently earning money and the soccer group that will earn money in the future can coexist.)

? In the company I’m running, we also need to pursue ambidextrous management, doing client work while developing our own products.

Chapter 3: CX Vision - The Desired Company Form and Organizational Capabilities to Have

オープンイノベーションごっこやＤＸごっこが好きな人たちは、ＩＴとかデジタルとかいうと、ＧＡＦＡやセールスフォース・ドットコム、ネットフリックスといった新興の破壊的イノベーターの話が好きだ。しかし、古くて大きい（おそらくは大きくなくても）既存企業にとって示唆が大きいのは、マイクロソフトやノキアのトランスフォーメーションの物語の方である。

(People who like open innovation pretense and DX pretense like to talk about emerging disruptive innovators like GAFA, Salesforce.com, and Netflix when it comes to IT and digital. However, for old and large (probably even if not large) existing companies, the transformation stories of Microsoft and Nokia are more suggestive.)

? Old and large existing companies should refer to Microsoft and Nokia’s CX and DX.

Chapter 4: CX = Methodology for Advancing "Completely Changing Japanese Companies"

私は多くの日本企業は、この時期、後者の組織能力ポートフォリオ評価を真剣にやるべき時が来ていると思う。例えば日本企業のソフトウェア構築能力の弱さ、組み込みソフトなどに多い低いレイヤーの作り込みやカスタマイゼーション対応力ではなく、標準アーキテクチャの設計のような高い次元のソフトウェアやソフトウェアサービスの構築力の低さは昔から指摘されている。しかし、その問題に手段を問わず本気で取り組んだ例を私はあまり知らない。グーグルやアップルと同じ土俵で、同等以上の条件（職場環境、勤務場所、裁量権、テーマの質、報酬などなど）のオファーで世界のトップ人材を獲得しにいっているとは思えない。最近、日本の大企業が、やっとこさ東大などのトップレベルのAI専攻の学生を特別に年俸1500万円で採用する動きを見せたりしているが、あまりに遅く、あまりにショボい。

(I think many Japanese companies have reached the time when they should seriously conduct organizational capability portfolio evaluations. For example, the weakness of Japanese companies’ software construction capabilities - not the low-layer development and customization capabilities common in embedded software, but the weakness in constructing high-level software and software services like standard architecture design - has been pointed out for a long time. However, I don’t know many examples of seriously tackling this problem by any means necessary. I don’t think they’re competing on the same playing field as Google and Apple, offering equivalent or better conditions (work environment, work location, discretion, theme quality, compensation, etc.) to acquire world-class top talent. Recently, Japanese large companies have finally started to specially hire top-level AI major students from places like Tokyo University for 15 million yen annually, but it’s too late and too shabby.)

? We should seriously conduct organizational capability portfolio evaluations.

しかし、意見がまとまりかかっている時に、フーテンの寅さんじゃないが「それを言っちゃあおしめえよ」的なちゃぶ台がえしのそもそも論を言い出し、自らの新しいアーキテクチャ観で世界を変えようと考える連中が、アーキテクチャの戦いの「頭脳」を制して新しい産業構造の支配者になってきたのである。極論すればそれ以外の単なる筋肉や骨格だけを作っているプレーヤーは頭脳を支配する会社の奴隷にされていくDXの流れの中で、オープンイノベーションの最重要な狙いは、国籍、老若男女を問わず、アーキテクチャ構築力、アーキテクチャ転換への対応力を組織能力として持続的に持ち続けることとなる。

(However, when opinions are starting to come together, those who bring up fundamental “that’s the end of it” table-flipping arguments like Tora-san and try to change the world with their new architectural perspectives have controlled the “brain” of architectural battles and become rulers of new industrial structures. In the extreme, other players who only build muscles and skeletons become slaves to companies that control the brain. In the flow of DX, the most important aim of open innovation is to sustainably maintain architectural construction capabilities and adaptability to architectural transformation as organizational capabilities, regardless of nationality, age, or gender.)

? I want to maintain architectural capabilities as organizational capabilities.

また、パナソニックは最近、これまたロボティクスの世界の「ロックスター」、カリフォルニア大学、MITそしてカーネギーメロン大を経てネストの創業メンバーとなり、グーグルがネストを買収したことでグーグルXのリーダーの一人となっていたYokyこと松岡陽子氏と彼女のチームを迎えた。彼女と彼女の仲間も典型的なアーキテクチャ発想、「そもそも私たちは家電製品や住設製品で何をするべきなの？顧客は何のためにお金を払っているの？」から発想するタイプの人たちである。

(Also, Panasonic recently welcomed Yoky, also known as Yoko Matsuoka, a “rock star” in the robotics world who went through UC, MIT, and Carnegie Mellon, became a founding member of Nest, and became one of the leaders of Google X when Google acquired Nest, along with her team. She and her colleagues are also typical architectural thinkers, the type who think from “What should we really do with home appliances and housing equipment products? What are customers paying money for?”)

? Architectural thinking: What should we really do? What are customers paying money for?

Chapter 5: The Main Focus of Japanese Economic Recovery - Medium and Small Enterprises Should Pursue CX at This Opportunity

大企業の経営よりも中堅・中小企業の経営の方が簡単ということは決してない。要は優秀な経営人材こそが希少資源であり、その希少資源に一つでも多くの企業体を経営させたほうが良いという意味でも、会社の数は減らしたほうがいいのだ。

(Management of medium and small enterprises is never easier than management of large enterprises. The point is that excellent management talent is a scarce resource, and in the sense that it’s better to have that scarce resource manage as many corporate entities as possible, it’s better to reduce the number of companies.)

? Excellent management talent is a scarce resource, so it’s better to reduce the number of companies.

Chapter 6: Where Are the Transformations of the World, Nation, Society, and Individuals Heading?

ペンローズの指摘の通り、どんな偉大な経営者であろうと、社会の次元から見れば使い倒すべき生産資源に過ぎない。その視点に立って、才能と意志ある者を若い時から選び、激しく鍛え、ダメな奴は落とし、絞り込んでいく仕組み、そして出来のいいリーダーは公共財として徹底的に使い倒す仕組みをこの国は再構築する必要がある。

(As Penrose pointed out, no matter how great a manager may be, from the social dimension perspective, they are merely productive resources to be used thoroughly. From that perspective, this country needs to rebuild a system that selects talented and willing people from a young age, trains them intensely, drops those who are no good, narrows them down, and thoroughly uses good leaders as public goods.)

? I want to always maintain the objective perspective that managers, from the social dimension, are productive resources to be used thoroughly.

That’s all from the Gemba, where I want to pursue ambidextrous management while being mindful not to fall into “DX pretense.”