This feature article introduces TOYOBO President Takeuchi Ikuo (竹内 郁夫)'s views on connecting musical activities with management and how he embodies the company's founding principle, "Junri Sokuyu."
With the calmness and measured delivery of a singing voice, TOYOBO President Takeuchi Ikuo (竹内 郁夫) discusses the relationship between music and management. The article describes how his activities in a community orchestra, where he plays the bassoon, and Mozart's music influence his instincts as a manager.
The characteristics of the bassoon, which prioritizes overall harmony rather than taking the lead, are compared with the way an organization should be managed. The idea of sharing roles while listening to one another's breath, without acting too much like a conductor, is presented as an ideal for TOYOBO's management culture.
TOYOBO is said to have a history dating back to the founding of Osaka Boseki, Japan's first spinning company, at the time of its establishment. The article discusses the responsibility and pride of carrying the weight of a history extending back to 1879. It introduces "Junri Sokuyu" as the core of the company's founding principle and notes its efforts to create Japanese equivalents for technical terms.
The article explains that past challenges, including the downturn in the textile industry in the 1970s, rising Chinese imports from the 1990s onward, and quality issues and an industrial accident in 2020, have been viewed as opportunities for transformation.