On the afternoon of December 1, 2017, Mr. Yasutaka Kawamura, President of Yoshinoya Holdings, gave a special lecture entitled “Why Yoshinoya Holdings goes global” with students and lecturers from Vietnam Japan University (VJU), Vietnam National University, Hanoi (VNUHN).
By putting people at the center of all activities, the philosophy “For the people” represents the aspirations that Yoshinoya Holdings always aim for. In his lecture, President Yasutaka Kawamura said: “In our philosophy, people are comprised of customers, shareholders, partners and employees. To our customers, we promise to bring them the best quality service at affordable price; to our employees, we promise not to discriminate among employees, regardless of qualification, age or gender.”
Best quality service for customers
At the beginning of the lecture, Mr. Yasutaka Kawamura shared not only his experiences after joining Yoshinoya but also very before joining Yoshinoya as a part time worker. Mr. Kawamura’s unique experiences impressed imcomparably VJU students, lecturesre and staff.
“I remember the days when I was young, I had nothing but good health and tenacity, but I was given the opportunity at Yoshinoya, and that is also how Yoshinoya Group fuels its growth up to today.” President Yasutaka Kawamura shared. “Not everyone has an access to high quality education. I myself have no degree, born in a poor family, and I believe there are a lot of people like me, when you are 20 years old and still unsure about what to do next in our life. I want to tell those young people: You can come to us any time; we are willing to open up opportunities for you. “
In addition, his comments on the catering service style in two major markets, namely the United States and China impressed VJU students, lecturesre and staff From Japanese’s perspective, he found that the service style there was surprisingly lacking in professionalism and friendliness. “Things that are natural to us at Japan are not there abroad,” he said.
Driven by a desire to bring Japanese values to the international market, Yoshinoya Holdings has consistently upheld professionalism in all of its stores worldwide. This practice not only creates opportunities for customers to enjoy the best services, but also indirectly contributes to changing customer service approach of local service providers.
A classic example is Hanamaru chain in the Chinese market, “At first, other restaurants complained a lot because our style of serving customers put them at a disadvantage of being criticized by customers.” Soon after that, driven by the reaction of the customers, these restaurants gradually changed their service approach. Beyond our expectations, a regional manager even praised us because the presence of Hanamaru virtually helped to raise service quality and standards in the area.”
Career development opportunities for employees
Derived from the name McDonald’s, the jargon “Mc Jobs” in English refers to low paid jobs, lack of skills, hard work with no future prospects. And the catering professions are therefore classified as Mc Jobs.
Obviously, there are many reasons why this industry is considered to be Mc Jobs. It is a common knowledge that fast food chains run by US companies, in many countries, where local staff are paid minimum wage and have no chance of advancing to managerial positions. Fast-food outlets are expanding rapidly, resulting in a surge in catering staff, but their jobs are still just Mc Jobs.
However, Mc Jobs are not there at Yoshinoya Holdings. Yoshinoya, regardless of what national border we span, always uphold our philosophy of creating opportunities for many people, thereby contributing to the local society.
Through his special lecture at VJU, President Yasutaka Kawamura not only shared his experiences but also conveyed a broader message with the students – young, highly educated, dynamic people who have opportunities to learn in an enabling environment. “I hope later on, when you become managers, you will always remember to pay forward by facilitating your colleagues’ development without any discrimination. In that way, you will contribute to promoting Vietnam’s development. “
About special lecture series at Vietnam Japan University
A series of special lectures are held on a regular basis at VJU with the aim of providing in-depth, multidimensional analysis and academic knowledge, updated research on current scientific, economic, political and social topics.
VJU hopes that the special series of lectures will become a bridge of knowledge between leaders, managers, eminent scientists and learners from different background, whether from Vietnam or foreign countries.
The special lecture series also helps students at VJU to broaden their global mindset, develop innovative interdisciplinary thinking, stimulate entrepreneurial spirit and absorb good values from key opinion leaders around the globe and great cultures of the world. Special lecture series is an important activity to actualize the philosophy of liberal arts education that VJU embraces.
