[Director Interview] Directors talk about their thoughts on the company and work

My name is Komatsu, and I'm a PR worker who is angry about this year's intense heat and is planning to take advantage of the workation system. This is the third part of the manager interview project.

This time, we interviewed Mr. Morita, a director of the company. Please see the previous manager interview article below!

■ [Manager Interview] What is Beyond's new graduate recruitment process as told by Beyond's HR manager?

[Manager Interview] What is Beyond's new graduate recruitment process as told by Beyond's HR manager?

■ [Manager Interview] What is the Infrastructure Unit and Beyond System Solutions Department?

[Manager Interview] What is the Infrastructure Unit and Beyond System Solutions Department?

Let's go! Please watch till the end!

Please tell us about the appeal of Beyond.

Morita: I really feel that this is a company that is full of people who want to work together, and where good human resources are gathered together. Beyond values ​​``hospitality'' and ``communication,'' and I think we have members who embody these values.

When Beyond members pass each other or a customer in the company, it's normal to greet them, whether they're at work or on a break. I have had customers compliment me on this. I heard that there are many companies that don't greet people these days. I'm trying to convey to the members the importance of greetings, but whether or not they actually do it well is a different matter, so I'd be happy if you could objectively praise them.

I'm currently in Canada, but the last time I went back to Japan, I went to the Japanese office for the first time in a while, and everyone stood up and greeted me. This is my company, and I felt it was a good company.

Has there been a culture of valuing communication within the company since the beginning?

Morita: This has been going on since the beginning! If you were asked, ``Do you want to work at a company with a good atmosphere or a company with a bad atmosphere?'', everyone would of course choose the former. I paid particular attention to creating an environment where it was easy to talk, whether it was about work or small talk. Of course, you need to be considerate of those around you, but I also want you to have an environment where you can speak up when you have an opinion.

Email and chat are the most common means of communicating with customers. If we are unable to communicate smoothly with our customers, the number of interactions will increase and the total amount of work for both parties will increase. On the other hand, if the process is smooth, the total amount of work can be reduced.

This is a benefit for both Beyond and our customers. ``Let's get better at communicating'' is like ` Let's lower our communication costs I always think that communication is important, not just because I like to talk, but also to be able to communicate properly.

What kind of person is the president, Mr. Haraoka?

Morita: That's sudden. Hmm, I guess he's like a ``partner'' in a manzai duo. We met each other about 20 years ago at a company where I was a new graduate, and we've been working together ever since, so we've spent most of our working lives together. We've been working together for a long time, so we feel like an elderly couple these days. There's a song called "Run" by B'z that I used to listen to a lot when I was a student. There are so many things about the lyrics of this song that I can relate to. I'm really happy to be able to listen to it and relate it to myself (lol)

Of course we are partners, but I also think that we are rivals who are working hard together. Since I'm a partner, I find great things about Haraoka, and when other people say great things about Haraoka, I'm happy as if it were my own business, but sometimes I feel a little frustrated (lol)

He's my number one ally, but he's also the one I don't want to lose to, so I want people to think, ``He's doing something amazing again.''

Also, if I were to categorize them by type, I would say that I am a short-distance runner, and Haraoka is a long-distance runner, so I feel that my point of view is different. That's why I sometimes want to ask Haraoka's opinion, and it's interesting because I get things like that. When we're talking, there are times when we're all thinking exactly the same thing, and other times, it's like we're thinking the same way, but it's completely different.

Another thing that I think is amazing is that even though the number of people in the company has increased, there is a lot of love for all the members. I feel like I wasn't that kind of person in the past...I think that awareness of being the president has helped me develop a kind of love for everyone.

<Two people are seriously playing a game>

Do you ever have conflicts due to differences of opinion?

Morita: Of course, I used to do it a lot. At some point, I started to understand how to find landing spots, so I was able to land well. Sometimes our opinions differ until the very end, but in those cases, I respect the person who is more passionate about the matter, and that's how I do it now. I think it is very important to have strong feelings.

Mr. Morita, what kind of work are you currently doing?

Morita: I am responsible for all aspects of Beyond's management. Additionally, since I am currently working in the Canadian office, I am mainly responsible for a variety of tasks, including planning and implementing business plans and sales plans for the Canadian office, and planning and implementing business alliances with other companies.

Kids Programming School 8x9 (Hack) , a programming school for elementary and junior high school students mainly in the Kansai region, so I am responsible for management aspects other than direct instruction.

It sounds cool to say this, but I'm a jack of all trades.

What is your motto in your work?

Morita: `` not about what you're doing, it's about who you're doing it with .'' What I'm doing is changing all the time.

When I first started working, I worked as a server engineer, and then Haraoka and I quit that company, started our own business, and started selling used books on the Internet. Later, by chance, I decided to join Beyond as a founding member, and at the time I was creating mobile content on my flip phone, but it never gained popularity. Things weren't going well as it was, so I decided to sell the server and it sold.

From there, I became a server shop, and not only did the technical side, but also did BtoB sales and legal work for the first time. After that, I started working mainly in sales, and as the number of employees increased, I started focusing on management.

In addition, we started a programming school for children from scratch in a rental space, and have now expanded our dedicated classrooms to 5 stores. We provide programming education opportunities to companies and schools.

Now that I've come to Canada, I've started doing sales activities again to generate sales, and I'm starting new businesses, so what I'm doing is changing rapidly. I wonder what kind of shop it is.

In such a situation, I always think that ``Who you do it with is more important than what you do it with And Beyond has attracted a lot of people who want to do something together. I think part of it is because the hiring manager is working hard.

How do you deal with it and what kind of mindset do you have when you don't get any results from your work?

Morita: I think it's important to " continue to stand at bat without giving up I understand firsthand that when you do something, the results often don't come back right away.

At times like that, I wonder if I could manage if I just kept going without stopping. Unless you need to retreat.

I'm trying to figure out how to make things work by trial and error, and I'm slowly moving my focus. I can't think of any number of reasons why I can't or won't stop, but if I get dragged down by them, I don't think I'll be able to start anything. Also, sometimes it doesn't work even if you keep standing. And if this happens over and over again, it can become scary to even stand at bat. Therefore, I want to keep trying

I'm also grateful for my current environment, which gives me the chance to try things out, and I'm also grateful that I have friends who will do it with me when I want to try something.

By the way, I've talked about batting so much, but I've only ever played baseball in physical education class, so I'm not very good at it.

Is (Mr. Morita's) current consciousness built up through experience?

Morita: I think that's true to some extent. Not only from my own experiences, but also from listening to various stories from people around me and reading books. However, perhaps the most significant experience I have had was when I failed on my own Therefore, an environment that allows for failure is also important.

Also, I feel like there are more things that I can understand now that I've gone through the same hardships as I've gotten older, even though they didn't resonate with me at all when I was younger.

By the way, I feel like there's been a lot of talk about illness among Beyond's managers recently. I heard that ``the older you get, the more you talk about illness,'' and it's true. This is another example of learning from experience.

What kind of people would you like to create a company with in the future?

Morita: " It's not about what we do, but who we do it with ", so I want to build a company with people who I can trust and respect.

Lately, I've been thinking about the importance of passion when doing something. In the book ` ` Kyocera Philosophy I think that's a good word.

Because we are an organization that actively takes on new challenges, I would like to continue creating Beyond with people who are passionate about their own energy. This is similar to what I said when I disagreed with Haraoka, but knowledge, experience, and ability are important when doing something, but I think what's most important is having passion and passion.

Future business strategy and outlook for the Canadian office

Morita: The reason we originally opened an office in Canada was because we wanted to eliminate night shifts. Therefore, after considering the location, we decided to establish a base in Toronto. When I actually visited Toronto, I found that there were many communities where startups gathered, such as the University of Toronto, where Geoffrey Hinton, who is known as the "godfather of AI," is a professor emeritus, and MaRS, and this is a place where future development can be expected. I thought. That's why we built our office here.

I am thinking of three major steps for Canada.

The first is to eliminate night shifts in Japan. This was achieved. The second is to expand our existing in-house services to North America. The third goal is to take advantage of the geographic advantage of North America and the backbone of Japan to create new businesses and expand services on a larger scale. We are taking on various challenges to achieve this goal.

Currently, we are conducting sales activities to companies in North America and developing partners. As we search for new business, we are also considering bringing Japanese services and goods to North America and expanding sales there.

We are also collaborating with Idealogical , which has been providing client computer managed services in Canada for 30 years In Beyond, a Japanese company has set up a branch office in Canada, and in the case of Beyond, a Canadian company has set up a branch office in Japan. We have client computers, servers, Canada, and Japan, so we would like to cooperate by leveraging each other's strengths.

Go to the beyond GTA page
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lastly

Thank you for watching until the end!

In this interview, I feel like I learned a little bit about the relationship between Mr. Morita and Mr. Haraoka, which I didn't know until now. It was a great opportunity to listen carefully to Mr. Morita's thoughts and feelings.

I hope you will become more interested in Beyond after reading this article. There is also a lot of content written by members such as her blogs and YouTube where you can learn more about Beyond, so please take a look!