In the aftermath of World War II, Japan must rebuild its economy. Certain products become vital exports in the revitalization effort, including the wristwatch. Seiko leaps to the forefront of the recovery, but there’s a problem: their watches aren’t good.
Seiko’s watches are so unreliable, in fact, some stop working while being tested at competitions throughout Japan. If they can’t even make the best watch in Japan, how can they hope to compete with the mighty Swiss, makers of the best watches in the world? A key decision is made: Rather than focus outside and continue to fail, the company will look within. To inspire creativity and innovation, Seiko fuels a constructive competition between its factories – one based in Tokyo, one in Nagano – each with distinct manufacturing practices and work cultures, different skills and strengths. And it works. Seiko goes from cheap alternative to king, ultimately dethroning the Swiss. In the process, they discover competition does enhance R&D, but only when its clear purpose is to advance the organization as a whole, not one team over another. In episode one of Teamistry’s second season, host Gabriela Cowperthwaite takes us on the journey of how Seiko turned its fortunes around – and those of Japan – by framing internal competition as a kind of sibling rivalry that led to ultimate success for the family – the company. We hear from Hirokazu Imai, a Seiko Epson representative who explains how the two factories worked as members of the same “family,” and David Flett, a writer for watch website “Beyond The Dial.” You’ll also hear from Daniel Moriwaki, a Seiko watch aficionado, and Roni Reiter-Palmon, professor of Industrial Organizational Psychology at the University of Nebraska. And Anthony Kable, who runs the website Plus9Time and has a finger on the pulse of the Japanese watch industry, also weighs in.
Teamistry is an original podcast from Atlassian.
