New Concept Of Employees: Canon's Symbiotic Corporate Governance

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Germans can build cameras. Why can't Japanese?

Yoshida Goro, who was born in Hiroshima in 1900, got a camera from his elder brother in elementary school. He was very obsessed with it and took it apart and assembled it back.

After becoming an adult, Yoshida Goro entered the movie world to repair and make movie projectors.

To purchase raw materials used for movie projectors, Yoshida Goro often travels to Shanghai.

In Shanghai, Yoshida Goro was ridiculed by an American businessman: "can't you Japanese make big ships? Why can't even such a small machine be made? Why do we need to buy us?" stimulated Yoshida Goro thought, "a projector and a smaller camera than a projector, and German Lycra can make it. Why can't we Japanese?"

Yoshida Goro's idea of making cameras was supported by his brother-in-law Uchida Miro.

Uchida Miro graduated from the law department of University of Tokyo and entered the 31 securities business.

After being warned by the Japanese Federation of industry Confederation commander Ayukawa Yisuke, who has the knowledge of his own kindness, "in Japan's poor resources, he often wants to think about the high-tech industry", Uchida Miro is determined to work with Yoshida Goro on the trial production of cameras.

In November 1933, Yoshida Goro and Uchida Miro jointly established the predecessor of today's Canon Co: Tokyo Institute of fine machinery optics.

Uchida Miro became a legal representative.

At the beginning of 1934, Uchida Miro served as the manager of the 31 Securities Division of Osaka Branch, and former Tian Tian Wu Nan entered the Institute as an assistant to Yoshida Goro.

In 1934, the Institute produced the first Japanese advanced 35mm shutter shutter camera.

Yoshida Goro believed in Avalokiteshvara and named the camera "KWANON".

Uchida Miro objected to the name "KWANON" with the meaning of "Guanyin" and thought it "damaged the image of the advanced camera that set the modern precision machinery technology."

The institute once again studied the trademark issue of the company's products. The name is very loud, and has the meaning of "judging standard" and "classic". In 1935, CANON was registered as a trademark.

Corporatization of research institutes for financing purposes

In 1936, the Institute of fine machinery optics, Japan's largest optical instrument factory, was renamed "Japan Institute of fine machinery optics".

In August 1937, the Research Institute was pformed into fine machine optical industry Co., Ltd. (joint stock company) because of the difficulty of fund raising.

The company does not have a president (president), but Uchida Miro is the managing director of the company.

Japan's joint-stock companies need to set up supervisors, and then become supervisors. They actually built the Canon empire.

He was born in 1901 and graduated from the medical department of Hokkaido University in 1925.

In 1929, he went to Tokyo to work in obstetrics and Gynecology of the Red Cross Hospital of Japan.

Uchida Miro and his brother, Mitsui again, became the director of Canon Central Research Institute. He was the first president of Canon Research Institute. He was a brother and often treated Uchida Miro's wife, so he was very familiar with Uchida Miro.

From the time of the Institute of Optics and fine mechanics, he has given financial support.

He was chosen as a supervisor because he was an investor, on the other hand, because he had wide communication and strong fund-raising ability.

Imai Shuzo, a friend (who is the vice president of Dashi hospital), his brother (commander in arms) and his friend (DAL), became the company's shareholders.

Fine machine optics was registered with the capital of 1 million yen, but the initial actual funding was only 40%, and a large proportion of it was the physical investment which was too expensive in the past research institute.

Therefore, the precision optics is still very difficult financially.

It is on such a basis that the company that started the business started to share dividends from shareholders to 5% every year in the second half of 1938.

In 1947, the company was founded in 10th anniversary, renamed Canon camera Co., Ltd., and changed to Canon group in 1969.

Dr. empress Yi: a part-time president creates the Canon empire.

As one of the important sponsors of Canon Co, he did not take part in the operation of the company as a director from the very beginning: his doctor's career development is in full swing.

In 1935, he became director of Obstetrics and Gynecology of the international Notre Dame hospital. He received a doctorate in medicine in 1937 and has a plan to become an independent doctor.

He will be a fine machine optical supervisor. He will have a meeting once a month.

Since the invitation of Uchida Miro, he has been the director of precision optics since July 1939.

As a shareholder and director, he is part of the "part-time" nature of the company to do some business, but the focus of his career is practicing medicine.

In 1940, he opened a hospital in Mu Bai city.

In February 1942, after the Japanese occupation of Singapore, the military ordered Uchida Miro to come to Singapore as the executive officer of the occupied area, and Da Miro handed over the affairs of the company to the owner of the company.

In August 1942, he became the first official president of Canon history.

In this way, he began to live in two different occupations. He got up at 5 o'clock every morning, went to the company for a meeting first, and then arrived at the hospital at 11.

Because of the shrinking market of wartime civilian cameras, the company has developed medical supplies such as medical X ray cameras and binoculars.

In 1943, when Uchida Miro returned to Japan after completing the military task, although he still had the initiative of running the company, he saw that the company had established an effective operation system under the leadership of the company.

In 1947, when the company was renamed "Canon camera" with Japanese katakana, Uchida Miro saw the great change of the company and resigned from its directorship.

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New familism: symbiotic corporate governance

In 1963, when Canon successfully displayed its autofocus camera at the German international photographic equipment exhibition, the Herald Tribune reported that the image of traditional technology and high quality German building is collapsing.

The reason is that workers lack self-esteem, lack of labor and frequent job changes.

In the aspect of maintaining labor and capital cooperation, Germany has the legal protection of "labor and capital co governance" corporate governance. It seems that there is no Japanese legal protection, but the "symbiotic" corporate governance implemented by Canon, a culture backed company, is more effective.

Canon emphasizes strength (not academic background), health first and new family doctrine.

Canon has a series of employee benefits and security systems, such as the system of laborers' property formation, stock ownership and so on.

Canon not only employs employees, but also creates beautiful companies with employees.

In the words of the master, he said, "joy is sorrow, and sorrow is a blessing."

Since October 1950, Canon has implemented the three allocation system of profits allocated to three parties, including 1/3 of capital, business and labor.

Starting from 1960, we explored ways to shorten the working hours of workers, and began to implement every Friday working day in 1966, which is very advanced among Japanese enterprises (at that time, Panasonic implemented a five day working system), even being criticized by the Federation of Japanese economy.

Canon advocates the spirit of "three self": spontaneity, autonomy and self-consciousness.

In 1977, when Canon pferred its US company manager to Japan's inauguration sales company, he said, "appoint you to do this job. You needn't say anything. Go to your office quickly."

When Canon French company encountered a difficult matter hesitant, the agent said, "do it according to your confidence".

From Uchida Koji to Yi: seven presidents succeed

In 1974, due to the impact of the oil crisis, the reduction of Canon camera exports and the failure of the development of desktop electronic calculator project, the 73 year old hand washed Yi resigned from the position of president and assumed the post of President Maeda Takeo.

He died in 1984.

Maeda Takeo died in 1977, and Kaku Ryumiro became the third president of Canon.

Kaku Ryumiro was born in 1926 and graduated from the Economics Department of Kyushu University in 1954 and entered Canon.

At the age of 51, he became president of Canon, which was very young in the presidents of big Japanese companies.

He Lai long San Lang put forward the idea of "creating excellent enterprises" by Canon, and implemented the business unit system in 1978.

In 1989, Kaku Ryumiro retired to the second line and served as president only. Yamaru Kei three (1927--2003) served as president.

In 1993, the eldest son of Yu Shih Yi, the eldest son, took the post of president after nearly twenty years of experience in Canon.

He launched Canon's LBP series laser printers.

In August 1995, when the 56 year old Yu hand washed Zhao died, the board of directors decided to be the head of the vice president, Fuji.

Mitarashi Fujio is the nephew of Yu Shu Yi, born in 1935. He joined Canon in 1961 when he graduated from the Ministry of law and Centre College in Japan.

After taking office, Mitarashi Fujio introduced some American business philosophy to make Canon no longer only technology oriented, emphasizing profit and cash flow.

However, the tradition of Canon's emphasis on technology and technology as the driving force of enterprise development has not changed, and long-term adherence to R & D investment of about 10% of business income.

Since 1992, Canon has been among the top number of US patent registrations for 18 consecutive years.

In May 2006, Uchida Koji, the outgoing president of Fuji hand, was the chairman of the seventh generation of Canon technology.

Uchida Koji was born in 1941, graduated from Engineering Department of Kyoto University, and entered Canon in 1965.

In terms of American executives' terms of office, Tian Heng is the chairman and CEO (President and representative of the company), and the second is president and chief operating officer (President and representative of).

Equity and governance structure

Canon was listed on the Tokyo stock exchange in 1949. It was listed on the Osaka Stock Exchange (1953) and the Nagoya stock exchange, and was listed on the New York stock exchange in 2000.

The main shareholders of Canon are financial institutional investors in Japan and the United States.

At present, the largest shareholder is 6%, and the top ten shareholders share 32.1%.

Although there is no big difference in the ownership structure between Canon and the very Americanized SONY and even the US companies, they are highly dispersed and mainly based on financial institutional investors, but Canon maintains a very distinctive "Japanese character" in the corporate governance structure.

Unlike Canon and other Japanese electronics companies, Canon chose to turn to the committee system after the entry into force of the new commercial law in Japan in 2003, to abandon the supervisory system and introduce the independent director system.

Canon chose to continue to maintain the supervisory system, with 5 supervisors and 3 supervisors at home and abroad.

The board of directors maintains all the status of the company insiders and 17 board members.

According to the American Standard, Canon's corporate governance is not advanced. It has no independent director, and after 19 years of surname manager management, it has returned to the state of Founder family manager governance.

But Canon's performance is "not vulgar".

In 2009, Canon registered the fourth largest number of US patents in the world after IBM, Samsung and Microsoft, with a turnover of $34 billion 883 million in 2009.

In 2009, Canon ranked thirty-third among the world's best brands in BusinessWeek magazine. Canon ranked 190th in Fortune 500 in 2009 and 131st in net income.

The financial times ranked 104th in Canon's "global top 500" in 2009.

The successful and steady development of Canon in the past more than 70 years shows that American German style Japanese governance is not perfect. It is good to stick to self, study hard and work well.