In a session hosted by IIMB’s Mizuho India Japan Study Centre as part of the ‘Tatsujin-Speak’ series, Takashi Ishikawa, Managing Director of Toshiba Software (India) Pvt. Ltd, discussed why India and Japan could be the best of partners for innovation despite challenges
02 November, 2021, Bengaluru: The Mizuho India Japan Study Centre (MIJSC) at IIM Bangalore hosted Takashi Ishikawa, Managing Director of Toshiba Software (India) Pvt. Ltd (TSIP) and Chairperson of the Japanese Chamber of Commerce and Industry, Bangalore, at the centre’s flagship lecture series ‘Tatsujin-Speak’, that is, ‘Expert-Speak’, on October 29 (Friday), 2021. In this 10th talk in the webinar series, which was titled, ‘Innovation Triggered Transformation: Sustaining a Shared Vision of India-Japan Partnership’, Ishikawa San discussed, through several case studies, why he believes India and Japan could be the best of partners for innovation despite the challenges, and also shared a vision of the future of collaborative innovation amongst these two nations.
Ishikawa San started the webinar by acknowledging the ongoing collaborative relationship between Toshiba and IIMB over the past six years, stating that, “Innovation and Entrepreneurship are in Toshiba’s DNA”. He went on to discuss the broad range of innovative services offered by Toshiba; from energy systems and solutions, infrastructure systems and solutions building solutions, retail and presenting solutions, electronic devices and storage solutions to digital solutions and battery business; developed over the years through the organization’s groundbreaking global research and open infrastructure.
Pointing out that the conversion to renewable energy was being promoted worldwide, Ishikawa San said, “We are also faced with the threat of natural disasters, we have never experienced. There is a growing need for the vigilance of intercessions such as power supply and water switches. The crisis of the new Corona Virus is expected to be long term. Moreover, there is a need for a shift to new life cycles and social systems. On the other hand, there is also a need to utilize cutting-edge technologies and fast medical care that contribute to healthy life expectancy and quantum related technologies. Many global companies including Toshiba are working to solve these problems the world is facing by developing new technologies from the experiences cultivated through many years of energy and infrastructure businesses.”
Ishikawa San believes that Japan’s current fast technologies and global expertise, combined with Indian partners' engineering skills and cultural and business influence, can provide high-quality solutions, not just for Indian customers, but also globally, thus also taking India-Japan synergy to the next level. However, he admits that the journey is not often as smooth as it seems.
Talking about the various challenges that arise because of the differences between two countries' business and work styles, he said: “Language is always a barrier. But apart from that, other fissures that often come up especially when there is a software development collaboration are quality mind, decision-making process, punctuality, documentation, mobility of human resources, patience, and requirement specification and criteria. No side is right or wrong. These are the gaps that are present, and it is imperative for the cumulative growth of an organization, whether in India or Japan, to recognize these gaps and find innovative ways to shorten them.” He commended IIMB’s role in providing such a helping hand in shortening that gap through conducting a Global IT Training programme for young Japanese engineers in collaboration with TSIP since 2015.
“The other aspect that the countries should focus on building is ‘entrepreneurship’, which is currently lacking. One idea is, major corporations should be willing to promote ‘intrapreneurs’. For example through ‘Toshiba Accelerator Program (TAP)’ Toshiba supports its employees to start so-called carve-out businesses - they establish a start-up company based on technologies invented by Toshiba. Similarly, some of the graduates from the Global IT Training Program have established start-up companies as their side businesses.”
From an operations perspective, Ishikawa pointed out that the Japanese often devote a lifetime to continue to study and master a specific technology or art. This trait goes hand in hand with choosing to stay in single employment or a career with a lifelong commitment. However, he added that this works only for Incremental Innovation and not for a Disruptive/Leapfrog Innovation (Transformation) scenario. “Because once the transformation happens, whatever their achievement, or whatever the accumulated, may become obsolete, so sometimes the Japanese are resistant to transformation. However, Indians are the opposite. They are not hesitant to take a leap of faith and try new ventures. Understanding and filling these differences like a jigsaw puzzle is another way for the Japanese and Indian businesses to forge cross-country partnerships and create success.”
The webinar ended with a Q&A session with the audience.
Link to the full video: https://youtu.be/RGaNyloq51I
For more details, contact MIJSC at - india.japan.study.centre@iimb.ac.in
About the speaker:
Takashi Ishikawa is the Managing Director of Toshiba Software (India) Pvt. Ltd and Chairperson of the Japanese Chamber of Commerce and Industry, Bangalore. He also has a three-year experience as the President of a Toshiba subsidiary – Toshiba Software Consulting Corporation. He joined TSIP in June 2014 and since then, has established a Global IT Training course and contributed to the business expansion of TSIP by leading software development projects in the Social Infrastructure Division as the General Manager. He is a postgraduate in Mechanical Engineering from Stanford University, USA.
In a session hosted by IIMB’s Mizuho India Japan Study Centre as part of the ‘Tatsujin-Speak’ series, Takashi Ishikawa, Managing Director of Toshiba Software (India) Pvt. Ltd, discussed why India and Japan could be the best of partners for innovation despite challenges
02 November, 2021, Bengaluru: The Mizuho India Japan Study Centre (MIJSC) at IIM Bangalore hosted Takashi Ishikawa, Managing Director of Toshiba Software (India) Pvt. Ltd (TSIP) and Chairperson of the Japanese Chamber of Commerce and Industry, Bangalore, at the centre’s flagship lecture series ‘Tatsujin-Speak’, that is, ‘Expert-Speak’, on October 29 (Friday), 2021. In this 10th talk in the webinar series, which was titled, ‘Innovation Triggered Transformation: Sustaining a Shared Vision of India-Japan Partnership’, Ishikawa San discussed, through several case studies, why he believes India and Japan could be the best of partners for innovation despite the challenges, and also shared a vision of the future of collaborative innovation amongst these two nations.
Ishikawa San started the webinar by acknowledging the ongoing collaborative relationship between Toshiba and IIMB over the past six years, stating that, “Innovation and Entrepreneurship are in Toshiba’s DNA”. He went on to discuss the broad range of innovative services offered by Toshiba; from energy systems and solutions, infrastructure systems and solutions building solutions, retail and presenting solutions, electronic devices and storage solutions to digital solutions and battery business; developed over the years through the organization’s groundbreaking global research and open infrastructure.
Pointing out that the conversion to renewable energy was being promoted worldwide, Ishikawa San said, “We are also faced with the threat of natural disasters, we have never experienced. There is a growing need for the vigilance of intercessions such as power supply and water switches. The crisis of the new Corona Virus is expected to be long term. Moreover, there is a need for a shift to new life cycles and social systems. On the other hand, there is also a need to utilize cutting-edge technologies and fast medical care that contribute to healthy life expectancy and quantum related technologies. Many global companies including Toshiba are working to solve these problems the world is facing by developing new technologies from the experiences cultivated through many years of energy and infrastructure businesses.”
Ishikawa San believes that Japan’s current fast technologies and global expertise, combined with Indian partners' engineering skills and cultural and business influence, can provide high-quality solutions, not just for Indian customers, but also globally, thus also taking India-Japan synergy to the next level. However, he admits that the journey is not often as smooth as it seems.
Talking about the various challenges that arise because of the differences between two countries' business and work styles, he said: “Language is always a barrier. But apart from that, other fissures that often come up especially when there is a software development collaboration are quality mind, decision-making process, punctuality, documentation, mobility of human resources, patience, and requirement specification and criteria. No side is right or wrong. These are the gaps that are present, and it is imperative for the cumulative growth of an organization, whether in India or Japan, to recognize these gaps and find innovative ways to shorten them.” He commended IIMB’s role in providing such a helping hand in shortening that gap through conducting a Global IT Training programme for young Japanese engineers in collaboration with TSIP since 2015.
“The other aspect that the countries should focus on building is ‘entrepreneurship’, which is currently lacking. One idea is, major corporations should be willing to promote ‘intrapreneurs’. For example through ‘Toshiba Accelerator Program (TAP)’ Toshiba supports its employees to start so-called carve-out businesses - they establish a start-up company based on technologies invented by Toshiba. Similarly, some of the graduates from the Global IT Training Program have established start-up companies as their side businesses.”
From an operations perspective, Ishikawa pointed out that the Japanese often devote a lifetime to continue to study and master a specific technology or art. This trait goes hand in hand with choosing to stay in single employment or a career with a lifelong commitment. However, he added that this works only for Incremental Innovation and not for a Disruptive/Leapfrog Innovation (Transformation) scenario. “Because once the transformation happens, whatever their achievement, or whatever the accumulated, may become obsolete, so sometimes the Japanese are resistant to transformation. However, Indians are the opposite. They are not hesitant to take a leap of faith and try new ventures. Understanding and filling these differences like a jigsaw puzzle is another way for the Japanese and Indian businesses to forge cross-country partnerships and create success.”
The webinar ended with a Q&A session with the audience.
Link to the full video: https://youtu.be/RGaNyloq51I
For more details, contact MIJSC at - india.japan.study.centre@iimb.ac.in
About the speaker:
Takashi Ishikawa is the Managing Director of Toshiba Software (India) Pvt. Ltd and Chairperson of the Japanese Chamber of Commerce and Industry, Bangalore. He also has a three-year experience as the President of a Toshiba subsidiary – Toshiba Software Consulting Corporation. He joined TSIP in June 2014 and since then, has established a Global IT Training course and contributed to the business expansion of TSIP by leading software development projects in the Social Infrastructure Division as the General Manager. He is a postgraduate in Mechanical Engineering from Stanford University, USA.