Dialogue 05

Dialogue 05
Future of MARUI GROUP Forged through Co-Creation with Start-up Companies

Future of MARUI GROUP Forged through Co-Creation
with Start-up Companies    MARUI GROUP began co-creation with start-up companies with the aim of stimulating new innovation within theCompany. The following pages chronicle a discussion between four MARUI GROUP employees that are learning
new senses of value on secondment to start-up companies operating in areas such as e-commerce payment proxyservices, investment-style medicine, online store establishment support services, and comprehensive lifestylesupport services for non-Japanese individuals. In this discussion, these employees talk about the issues faced byMARUI GROUP and its future potential.

Kyohei Taguchi

Yusuke Nakashima
Seconded to investment-style
medicine company, MinaCare Co., Ltd.

Mai Mitsumori
Seconded to e-commerce payment proxy service
provider, GMO Payment Gateway, Inc.

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Seconded to provider of comprehensive
lifestyle support services for non-Japaneseindividuals, Global Trust Networks Co., Ltd.

Takayuki Shibao
Seconded to online store
establishment support service
provider, BASE, Inc.

Secondment to Start-up Companies as Extensionof Profession Change System    Nakashima: The proposal of being seconded to MinaCarecame suddenly for me. It occurred when I was in myfourth year at distribution company MOVING after beingtransferred from retailing company MARUI CO., LTD.
I had felt that the relocation to MOVING had been a significant contributor to my growth. For this reason, thisproposal filled me with excitement for the chance to once
again test my skills in a new industry and the growth tobe achieved therein. At MinaCare, I am responsible forplanning new businesses. This position has me wear
­several hats, performing tasks related to sales to corporate clients, human resources, public relations, and evenaccounting.
Shibao: My department at BASE is responsible for­planning new services, designing business models, andconstructing and performing daily operation of systems.
I personally enjoy trying out new things and tackling newchallenges, and I get great joy out of the constant senseof growth I feel in this position. Uncovering new social
needs through the development of new services is particularly exciting. This job also lets me meet people thatI would have never encountered at MARUI GROUP, forexample, women in their 20s that cannot use computers
but make tens of millions of yen a year through theirsmartphones or the fans that gather at pop-up stores.
Taguchi: I am being seconded to Global Trust Networks(GTN), a company that provides rent guarantee and otherservices based on its desire to improve the lives of nonJapanese individuals that live in Japan. Around 70% ofGTN’s employees are non-Japanese, and we can perform
debt recovery procedures in 15 languages. GTN’s credit
examinations standards are completely different fromthose of Epos Card Co., Ltd., which is another pointof interest.
Mitsumori: At GMO Payment Gateway, I conduct sales
activities that include preparing proposals for customers
that are considering introducing payment systems on
their online sales sites. I had spent the entirety of mytime at MARUI GROUP on the sales floor or in productdevelopment, and I had therefore felt aversion to FinTechand sales. As such, I was filled with uncertainty whennews of my secondment suddenly arose. Contrary to myexpectations, the job is actually a lot of fun, and I feel likeI grow every day.
Nakashima: I definitely feel that I have grown throughmy secondment. At MARUI GROUP, I didn’t really havethe opportunity to develop projects by myself, and it justfelt natural to split a task with my coworkers. Developing
projects requires a wide range of business skills. I have asevere lack of these skills, and I am constantly finding
new gaps in my abilities. However, I feel that the greatest
benefit of my secondment has been this, the ability todiscover such issues by working at a start-up company
and to learn and grow as a result.
Taguchi: The ability to grow by engaging in various typesof work that I experienced through MARUI GROUP’s­profession change system is even more pronounced in
the experience of secondment. Start-up companies
require each of their employees to perform various tasks.
Working in such a company made me realize that theconcept of diversity was less about specializing in a specific type of work and more about developing one’s own
style and calling and excelling in this area. I also learned
that MARUI GROUP employees can be more successfulin start-up companies than I had expected.
Shibao: It is important for people to possess both specialized skills and experience. After coming to BASE,
I lost confidence in my ability to compete with people intheir 20s in technological fields in terms of either skills orideas. However, these younger employees lacked experience in engaging face-to-face communication or indeveloping business, creating room for me to contributewith the insight I have accumulated. My time at BASE hasreminded me of the ability to identify skills you lack andgrow by interacting with people who are different thanyou. MARUI GROUP already has a framework for humanresource fluidity with its profession change system. If wecan incorporate personnel from other organizations andindustries that differ from ours, we should be able tocreate an even better cycle.

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Dialogue 05

Future of MARUI GROUP Forged through Co-Creation with Start-up Companies

MARUI GROUP as Viewed from the Outside    Taguchi: Start-up companies have no leeway when itcomes to resources. Accordingly, they have no choice butto employ people that have gained experience elsewhere.
Recognizing this made me aware of the extreme care
MARUI GROUP pays in developing its human resources.
Mitsumori: The employees at start-up companies tend
to be incredibly skilled and capable of generating profits.
However, they lack opportunities to thinking about thefuture of their company. Conversely, MARUI GROUP provides numerous opportunities to think about the future ofthe Company and its organization from a medium-to-longterm perspective. My experience at a start-up company
made me realize how powerful these opportunities are.
At the same time, I can’t help but wonder if this power isbeing effectively exercised by individuals.
Shibao: A major strength of start-up companies is theirincredible speed. Their corporate cultures often encourage employees to act first and make improvements later,using outside services and other tools as necessary.
This way of thinking is very different from that ofMARUI GROUP.
Nakashima: I am involved in planning a new business forpromoting the importance of preventive medicine. When
we had our kickoff meeting in April, I was shocked tohear that we were looking to commence service in thesummer.
Taguchi: The difference at start-up companies is clear
right from the scheduling phase, with tasks sometimes
allocated for only three days with the next step due
within a week. I want to transmit this type of speed toMARUI GROUP.
Shibao: The speed and frequency of output at start-up
companies is amazing. However, their services cansometimes be a bit unrefined and they are unable toimmediately launch large-scale projects.
Nakashima: I don’t necessarily think that large-scalecompanies need to move at the same speed as start-up
companies. Both types of companies have their own
benefits and roles. Ideally, the relationship between
these types of companies should entail mutually sharing
strengths and compensating for each other’s
insufficiencies.
Shibao: One thing that changed my views after my secondment was realizing that, rather than growing sales in74

the here and now, start-up companies have a responsibility toward the future. Specifically, they need to consider how they want to shape the future through theirservices. Of course, profits are something considered in
the end, but this pursuit of profits is not about the present, but is instead framed in the future they wish to realize.
Taguchi: The timeframe used at start-up companies may
be longer than we might expect. Rather than pursuing
short-term goals, these companies look at the businesses
they will need to develop to accomplish larger goals in thefuture. If one only focuses on short-term profits, they will
not be able to make bigger achievements.
Shibao: For start-up companies, their underlying goal,
their main businesses, is to accomplish some sort of mission. They therefore place more focus on resolving someissue than on growing profits. Short-term profits are, ofcourse, important. However, if a company focuses toomuch on the short term, it will fail to serve its customers
in the future and will thus be unable to accomplish
its mission.
Taguchi: If a company prioritizes its mission, concepts
like industry and business model will fade away. For
example, GTN says that its business is not that of a mobile
phone service provider or a rent guarantor but rather thatof a port for connecting two countries. As there are a lotof people that come to Japan, GTN provides support inJapan. However, its real targets are the 1.2 billion people
that live in other countries around the world. As immigrants tend to be neglected in any country, GTN’s expertise can be used to develop businesses anywhere in theworld with ease. From this standpoint, I recently often
find myself thinking about what exactly is MARUI GROUP’s
main business. I don’t think it is retailing or finance. No,I think MARUI GROUP has evolved further than that.

Future of MARUI GROUP Forged through Co-Creation with Start-up Companies

business plans is taken as an opinion, not as an order.
Fundamentally, everyone is expected to make their own
decisions and take responsibility for their outcomes.
Mitsumori: Doing everything related to sales, from proposals to estimates and follow-up, at one’s own discretion is a hefty task. I recognize that even a small explanation
deficiency or other mistake can cause massive losses forcustomers, and I try to act swiftly.
Taguchi: Start-up companies expect employees to exercise responsibility. After coming to such a company, I havestarted to think I may have lacked a sense of responsibility when I was at MARUI GROUP. Perhaps I was complacent with being in a big company.
Mitsumori: My more experienced colleagues at GMO
Payment Gateway make presentations based on thestandard of whether or not they can wager their year’ssalary on the proposal. I found myself wondering if I had
ever bet so much on a single proposal and if there werea way to inspire this level of commitment to one’s work
among all employees at MARUI GROUP.
Nakashima: In the past, I had never really had an idea ofCareer History of Four Seconded Employees

Yusuke Nakashima

Responsibility-Driven Action by All Employees    Nakashima: At MinaCare, there is a very frank atmosphere in which people refer to everyone, even their­supervisors, by their first name, with no mention of rank.
This atmosphere makes it easy to voice opinions. This lackof distance with supervisors is something that is very
important.
Shibao: BASE deemphasizes hierarchy in a similarmanner, and supervisors tend not to micromanage
work processes. Moreover, input from supervisors on

what I wanted to accomplish, leading me to simply follow
the instructions of those more experienced than me. If I
were able to create a service that I truly wanted to show
the world, wanted to have people buy, I think it would bereally exciting. This type of work would be more enjoyable, and I want to make teams with this type of mentality.
Shibao: I want to transmit the culture of taking action by
one’s own volition to MARUI GROUP and help it swiftly
spread and become entrenched in our corporate culture.
The ability to experience such a culture has perhaps
been the greatest prize of my secondment.
Taguchi: There is nothing that a start-up company cando that MARUI GROUP cannot. This is something I feelvery strong about. If everyone at MARUI GROUP thinks
more about what they can accomplish, exercising boththeir talents and a sense of responsibility, we will become
stronger as people and as a company.
Nakashima: Fostering that sentiment is the responsibility of those of us who were seconded. I look forward tousing what I learned from this experience to guide
MARUI GROUP in a better direction.

Mai Mitsumori

Kyohei Taguchi

Takayuki Shibao

Joined MARUI GROUP in 2011

Joined MARUI GROUP in 2014

Joined MARUI GROUP in 2006

Joined MARUI GROUP in 2005

Marui Family Mizonokuchi,
MARUI CO., LTD.

Ikebukuro Marui, MARUI CO., LTD.

Kawasaki Marui, MARUI CO., LTD.

Omni-Channel Retailing Department,
MARUI CO., LTD.

Planning Department,
AIM CREATE CO., LTD.

Advertisement Planning Department,
AIM CREATE CO., LTD.

Store Support Department,
MARUI CO., LTD.
Group Logistics Department,
MOVING CO., LTD.

System Planning Department,
M & C SYSTEMS CO., LTD.
Credit Management Department,
Epos Card Co., Ltd.

Demand Survey Department,
MARUI CO., LTD.
Omni-Channel Retailing Department,
MARUI CO., LTD.

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