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.
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 and think about it through backcasting
Our founder, Konosuke Matsushita, envisioned an ideal society in his 250-Year Plan and put future-oriented management into practice. Today, our society is brimming with an abundance of goods; however, environmental problems and other social issues are emerging. In these turbulent times, it is increasingly important to have a clear vision of the future we aim to achieve over the next 10 to 20 years, and to think and act in ways that will create that future.
The Design-Driven Management Project incorporates design methodologies that enable the support team and working group members directly involved in the business to work together to predict future changes from a long-term perspective, envision the future we want to achieve, and develop a concrete action plan to achieve it. Our project helps the working group members in each business division, including the director of the business division, to envision future hypotheses for the next 10 to 20 years and to experiment with enthusiasm, unconstrained by the conventions and limitations of their existing business. The goal is to establish a management style with a long-term perspective.
Through this project, we articulate the future we want to achieve and strive to realize it in a way that resonates not only with our employees, but also with our partners and investors. In doing so, we will fulfill our mission as a public entity of society. We will continue to work together with the business divisions of the Panasonic Group on this fundamental task of independently envisioning the future and taking action to make it a reality.
Shigeo Usui
Our founder, Konosuke Matsushita, envisioned an ideal society in his 250-Year Plan and put future-oriented management into practice. Today, our society is brimming with an abundance of goods; however, environmental problems and other social issues are emerging. In these turbulent times, it is increasingly important to have a clear vision of the future we aim to achieve over the next 10 to 20 years, and to think and act in ways that will create that future.
The Design-Driven Management Project incorporates design methodologies that enable the support team and working group members directly involved in the business to work together to predict future changes from a long-term perspective, envision the future we want to achieve, and develop a concrete action plan to achieve it. Our project helps the working group members in each business division, including the director of the business division, to envision future hypotheses for the next 10 to 20 years and to experiment with enthusiasm, unconstrained by the conventions and limitations of their existing business. The goal is to establish a management style with a long-term perspective.
Through this project, we articulate the future we want to achieve and strive to realize it in a way that resonates not only with our employees, but also with our partners and investors. In doing so, we will fulfill our mission as a public entity of society. We will continue to work together with the business divisions of the Panasonic Group on this fundamental task of independently envisioning the future and taking action to make it a reality.
Shigeo Usui