Leaping Forward After COVID-19

On January 1, 2020, it is likely that no one could have correctly predicted what was to happen in the coming year. Unexpected things really do happen. Even so, the vaccine to deal with the novel coronavirus rapidly became reality and, although the number of new infections may increase again in the future, we are gradually getting closer to an exit from the crisis mode where preventing the spread of infections is the top priority. However, many people in Japan and around the world think that, even when the COVID-19 pandemic is over, society will never return to what it once was.

In Japan, trends of population aging and decline have long been on the rise. This implies a large-scale transformation and contraction in the domestic market. Japanese companies cannot grow by supplying the same products and services domestically. Consequently, they are looking to overseas demand. Even consumption from inbound tourism, which had been booming before the coronavirus pandemic hit, ultimately called for overseas demand.

Regarding that overseas demand, several developing countries have grown into powerful rivals to Japan in the process of globalization, which was progressing quite rapidly until recently. The same applies here. If Japanese companies want to continue providing the same products and services that they provided before, in the face of stiff competition, they will find it harder to generate the profits they desire, and this will put downward pressure on the wages of their employees. This was the case even before the coronavirus pandemic occurred.

In addition, along with the COVID-19 pandemic, digitization to ensure social distancing accelerated across our lives in general, including work, home and transportation. And surely things will not go back to the old normal after the pandemic, as people already realize that they are quite happy with the new status quo. Thus, again companies will not be able to manage their business in the same way as before in a wide range of industries. Japanese companies must therefore accelerate the necessary changes if they want to continue writing their history going forward.

However, for these necessary changes, since we are entering a situation we have never experienced before, there is no way to know the best answer in advance in every industry. That is why the most crucial start at every business frontline would be the instinct that your new idea would surely lead to success. Honing these instincts among colleagues will probably be the only way to leap forward into an unprecedented future.

Recently, it is often said that "autonomous and organized thinking" is very important. In business, I think it will actually mean the attitude of valuing your own intuition, trying to get the people around you involved, and then connecting it to specific actions. Significant advances often follow times of difficulty. In the new year of 2021, I hope that you all start off motivated to turn your own visions into a fruitful reality.