In response to social changes and the future we aim to achieve, we are promoting the "Design-Driven Management Project," which involves considering what we should do from a long-term perspective.
In response to social changes and the future we aim to achieve, we are promoting the "Design-Driven Management Project," which involves considering what we should do from a long-term perspective.
What is the Panasonic Group's Design-Driven Management?
Strengthening the essential competitiveness of the business by iterating a cycle of future-driven and human-centric
Simply put, our design-driven management is about designing a future based on our own instrinsic motivation and managing the business toward that future. What is important is to conceive a future vision—a clear and detailed image of the future we aim to achieve that is ideal for people and society as a whole, not just for the Panasonic Group. We aim to establish a management style in which we operate our businesses based on this future vision from a long-term perspective. A future-driven approach that considers what needs to be done by backcasting from the future that we want to achieve, rather than from the current situation; and a human-centric approach that explores its value for people, their lifestyles, and the society and environment around them, rather than what simply benefits our company. These two approaches are the key to our design-driven management.
When discussing a future vision, members of business divisions play a central role. A support team that is composed of BTC (Business, Technology, Creative) members with backcasting and facilitation expertise supports the division members. Through discussions, we clarify the future society we want to achieve and what needs to be done to get there, prioritizing these tasks in our business strategy. By doing so, we aim to break out of the paradigm of existing businesses and strengthen our fundamental competitiveness.
Thinking about business while capturing change from a future-driven perspective
Thinking about business while capturing change from a future-driven perspective
Our founder Konosuke Matsushita pursued prosperity in both matter and mind throughout his entire life. In 1932, he boldly set out our true corporate mission to be accomplished over 250 years: “Only when spiritual peace of mind is combined with a limitless supply of material goods can true happiness be achieved.” More than 90 years have already passed since then. We at Panasonic today are now prepared to pass along our business to the next generations to achieve our lofty goal over the remaining 16 decades.
Needless to say, achieving good business performance is important as a corporation. However, at the same time, in this age of surging uncertainty, devising long-term survival strategies requires future-driven perspectives unhindered by current business opinions and conditions. In doing this, we must clarify many issues, including the kinds of changes that may occur in society as well as in technology and customer preferences, the expected influence of these trends on the industries we address, the approaches our rivals may take to handle such changes, how we can create new contributions, and how we should proceed with our transformation to respond to these changes.
The “Design-Driven Management Project” has provided support to our senior management executives, and to staff engaged in business strategy planning, so that they may define what their respective businesses aim to become in the future in a more focused manner. Through these activities, positive outcomes have been generated Groupwide. These include formulation of business policies based on long-term vision in several businesses, effective updating of product & R&D roadmaps and R&D themes, establishment and enhancement of business development organizations, and development of a corporate culture that encourages employees to meet new challenges. This said, however, there is still much room for improvement. Therefore, we at Panasonic are resolved to steadily promote this project and thus accelerate the Group’s transformation.
Yuki Kusumi
Representative Director, President
Group Chief Executive Officer
Panasonic Holdings Corporation
Panasonic's Design-Driven Management and emerging changes
Here are some of the changes that are beginning to take place within the Panasonic Group as part of the programs related to Panasonic's design-driven management that we have been working on since 2021.
Here are some of the changes that are beginning to take place within the Panasonic Group as part of the programs related to Panasonic's design-driven management that we have been working on since 2021.
Technology Future Vision formulated toward
2040
Technology Future Vision formulated toward 2040
Panasonic HD Corporate Technology Sector has established its Technology Future Vision, which outlines the future to be achieved in 2040 and the direction of R&D for its realization. In developing this vision, the sector has adopted a new framework using the Future Vision Program, in which the future to be achieved in 2040 is defined as a society where individual choice naturally leads to caring for each other and the planet. This vision outlines how Panasonic should listen to our customers and actively work on co-creation with its partners, as well as the future society we want to pass on to the next generation. It serves as a guide for achieving the future we envision.
Future vision created by the Electromechanical Control Business Division
For the survival and growth of the business, it is not enough to meet customer needs; rather, we must envision an ideal future ourselves and collaborate with customers who resonate with us. With this idea in mind, members of the Electromechanical Control Business Division worked together with the Design-Driven Management support team to create a future vision. After discussion, they came up with the concept of "a society in which everyone can live comfortably." Specifically, this refers to a society where digitalization and automation enable comfortable lifestyles and for which a sustainable energy infrastructure is in place. This envisioned future helped the division members reaffirm their mission and vision.
Fresh dried food? The potential of atmospheric freeze-drying, an achievement of basic research on water behavior
Panasonic's atmospheric freeze-drying technology, which has been under development for some time, was presented to the public through the Future Vision Program of the Design-Driven Management Project—an unusual step for a technology still in the research stage. The development of this technology is being accelerated in collaboration with universities and other external entities.
Envision the future we aim to achieve with the management team - a new role for design
I clearly remember Group CEO Kusumi telling me at the beginning of the Design-Driven Management Project, "Your role is to design ways of thinking, not colors or shapes." To continue creating value that exceeds people's expectations in a highly uncertain and rapidly changing society, it is essential to manage our business with a future-driven and human-centric perspective, rather than being constrained by the paradigm of existing businesses. The Design-Driven Management Project aims to create a framework that enables people from business or technology backgrounds to apply the future-driven and human-centric approaches designers use to solve problems, allowing us to envision our future together.
When our founder Konosuke Matsushita returned from his visit to the United States in 1951, he said, "The era of design is here." My interpretation is that he was urging employees to envision the future. I believe that picturing the future and striving to achieve it is the Panasonic way, passed down from the founder's time. We will continue to design the future ourselves and work to make it a reality, staying true to this simple approach while involving various business divisions of the Panasonic Group.
Executive Officer
Design-Driven Management Project Leader
Panasonic Holdings Corporation
Shigeo Usui
