Can Large Corporations Change Through Bottom-Up Initiatives?

The Key to Overcoming "Corporate Bureaucracy": Dialogue That Transcends Hierarchical Boundaries

 

After the event, we asked speakers Mr. Nishihama and Mr. Kitano to reflect on their insights.

"What is bottom-up?" We were able to contemplate its meaning and reaffirm its significance. Following the event, we continue to re-examine how we can increase the number of like-minded individuals who can propose and challenge identified issues in a timely manner, including mechanisms and ways to engage them, as a volunteer group. ONE JAPAN shares this same conviction. Its 54 member companies, each grappling with their own challenges, are steadily advancing to improve their current situations. ACTI, with its five-member secretariat, aims to support the revitalization of such volunteer activities within these companies. Whether at A2 or ACTI, I want to continue doing everything I can to realize my own aspirations. (Nishihama)

I was reminded that whether a large corporation can change hinges on "meetups between top management and the bottom (young employees)." Change won't happen unless both sides—not just the young employees or just the top management—are genuinely committed to transforming their company. It can't be treated as someone else's problem.
Fortunately, AGC's top management is proactive about young employees' initiatives and cultural reform. However, if the leadership changes, this policy could shift too. To ensure cultural reform isn't just a passing trend, we must keep our activities going. Similarly, if each company continues to promote volunteer activities and embeds them as part of its culture, that could be the key to overcoming the "corporate bureaucracy syndrome." We want to keep fostering a culture where both top and bottom levels take ownership to change large corporations, starting from ONE JAPAN. (Kitano)

Efficiency can also lead to a cessation of thought. When redesigning conventional wisdom

 

I feel the answer to this event's theme, "Why is bottom-up necessary?", is because "redesigning relationships through dialogue is urgent."

It's not about a binary choice between top-down vs. bottom-up. To survive today's business environment where past precedents no longer apply, we need a "top-bottom cycle" that circulates both approaches.

It's neither top-down directives nor a completely "flat" structure where everything is equal. Can we build relationships where each position fully executes what only it can do, mutually creating positive impacts?

Taking a broader view, isn't the fundamental challenge for large corporations to redesign the myriad relationships within their organizations? Systems like "seniority-based promotion," "lifetime employment," and "rewarding based on merit" have been synonymous with traditional corporate relationships.

The relationship between management and employees, between the company and employees, and among employees themselves. Establishing these fundamental principles across various relationships allowed collective decision-making to proceed smoothly under the assumption that "that's just how it is." This approach has been the foundation of large corporations' success to date.

Yet these fundamental principles also foster complacency. They can lead to abandoning original intent, where adhering to the principle becomes the goal itself. While this approach might still work if societal assumptions remained unchanged, we are now in a period of radical transformation. Isn't it imperative to reexamine all existing relationships—or rather, fixed notions—with the resolve to start from scratch, and redesign these relationships anew?

Within the company, the ones most capable of breaking free from fixed ideas are young employees and volunteer initiatives. To achieve the essential step of "bringing all opinions and ideas to the same table" for redesigning relationships, I am reminded anew of the immense value that bottom-up initiatives from the field can bring to large corporations.

How well is your company achieving "redesigning relationships through dialogue"?