Keeping Sound House Afloat - Ferocity is the Key to Survival!

Can it only be a mere dream that our company continues to thrive and all our employees are able to receive good salaries so that they can accumulate wealth and be happy? It sometimes feels like reality, but then I realize that it was just a delusion. Those hazy thoughts soon disappear from my mind. We are all living in a fiercely competitive society, and Sound House is no exception. I just wish all of our employees to live happy lives. There is nothing better than knowing that Sound House can be the base to support their prosperity.

Over the past 30 years since Sound House’s founding, the company has been barely inching along on a growth path, but now it is losing momentum. The reason is because society has changed drastically, and past experience that we have accumulated over the years no longer means anything to the modern work culture. Even the slogan since the company’s early years, “provide better products at lower prices” now even seems passé. The buzzwords DX, AI, or SDGs represent the terminology of today’s ever-advancing tech culture and can now be heard everywhere. Is it just me, or is there anyone else who fears that the wonderful traditions and classical arts that are the foundation of Japanese culture may have a complete overhaul from the bottom up?

Sound House has always persevered to maintain the same management policies since our founding while we also aim to live by the mantra “duty and humanity” that is used regularly in society. However, the younger generation doesn’t seem to understand what this motto means. Consideration, thoughtfulness, caring, mindfulness, modesty, and sincerity - It appears to me that these words that reflect the virtues unique to Japanese culture are now being disrespected. It would be my great pleasure if Sound House could contribute to society in some way through music. However, many people believe that we will be left behind in this competitive society if we just stick to devoting ourselves to social contributions. If we don’t keep evolving to fit into modern society or adapting to its rapid transitions, will our company also cease to exist?

At any rate, my top priority is Sound House’s survival as a business. With the basis of this fundamental principle in mind, the staff and I use our words to speak to society. Sound House must continue to succeed in business and stay profitable in order for all our staff members to live comfortably and spend every day with confidence and in comfort. This will bring peace of mind to staff members so they in turn can contribute back to society. However, how can we make this happen? What should we do to ensure that our company survives and everyone can live a life of happiness? There is only one solution: Everyone must do their best to use their intelligence. It’s important to strive for achievement for the sake of the company, for everyone involved, and for our customers. This should not be done out of selfishness, but all of us need to cooperate with each other. After all, if we put in the effort and work together, we will eventually create great results.

Sound House is now one of the largest companies in Japan so we won’t be brought down easily, but it is extremely difficult to grow further beyond this point. This is not only because of the upheaval of culture in society, but also because I have yet to receive the basic standard attitude of cooperation and unity from my employees. An era has come to an end where a general would call out, “Dress right!!” or “About face!” and everyone would just follow my orders. In this day and age, it’s no wonder why no one is there to follow me. It’s so common to see people act this way lately, but then how can I bring everyone together? I’m sure that the market is fiercely competitive, and our rival companies are trying harder to do everything they can to defeat Sound House. If things continue as they are now, we will be forced to confront the risk of closing our business.

Perhaps Sound House could stand to learn a lot from Twitter Inc., now led by Elon Musk, CEO of Tesla Inc. Musk took measures that are against the international trends and told all Twitter staff members to work “long hours at a high intensity” or leave so the company can get out of the red and improve its profit structure to survive in the long run. This is a tremendous feat. As a result, at least 1,200 of 7,500 full-time Twitter workers have reportedly chosen to leave the company as of November 17th.

Many people think that Twitter will decline and falter due to this outrageous statement made by Musk since the company has been abandoned by so many employees. However, I don’t think they have reached that point but rather, I believe that this is an opportunity for Twitter to proceed to an unprecedented level of success and they will thrive. Elon Musk is a management genius. There is no way he would just sit back to let the company implode in on itself. Moreover, he has invested a great deal of money into the company, so I believe that he will take many cunning measures and implement them to follow his vision.

Anyway, the employees who chose to stay in the company have also committed to work extremely hard and moreover, they will have to pick up the slack for the employees who quit. This also means longer work hours will correspond to much higher salaries. That is not the only incentive, but Twitter’s employees will actually be getting paid more so they can be more enthusiastic about their work. In other words, now Twitter only has employees who really want to work hard for the company and for the users, making it more likely that they will succeed.

Sound House is now beginning to look like we’re full of lazy people and our workplace seems to be less serious than it was in the past. This is truly the first symptom of big company disease. More and more staff members don’t seem to feel responsible for completing a task or are willing to discuss openly with their colleagues. They don’t seem to be engaged in work even though they have a lot to do. The relationships between older and younger workers have weakened: The number of staff members who can teach their job and those who are not afraid to interact with others has devastatingly plummeted. I can foresee the fate of a company where many employees only complete the bare minimum in their work without giving opinions or suggestions for improvement, and these workers just repeat the same routine every day. Our company will end up facing financial losses and collapse as an organization, and it is difficult for us to figure out the solution to these issues.

This is why Sound House needs reformation now. This reform is about the powerful message “Let’s furiously work harder, achieve success, and change the world together.” I am by no means the only one who agrees with Musk’s idea. If something needs to be done, there is no other time to do it but now. Only the companies that can carry out this work ethic will be able to grow. This is the principle, but I have to wonder if this will end as just another fleeting dream.