How does one hand down the entrepreneurial spirit to one’s successors? This is a great challenge for businesses that create value. No matter how many talented personnel you gather from around the world, without being able to hand down entrepreneurial spirit, it is difficult to create real value, generation after generation.

So what is entrepreneurial spirit? I think it is the ability to paint a vivid picture of what has yet to be seen. To put it in our company’s language, it is “Searching for a New Balance.” And that is exactly what excites me and is the driving force behind my work. It is none other than the philosophy handed down by the first president of our company, Toyoharu Teraoka and his successor, Takeharu Teraoka.

As of 2015, I have taken on the role of Chief Technology Architect. This is not an officer in the company organization. It is simply a person working in the field, such as an architect or a painter – a craftsman, so to speak.

My job is to search out opportunities for innovation. I want to visit our customer sites, where people are working hands-on, and carefully listen to what they have to say. Then, I want to visit our factories and R&D facilities and talk with our engineers and customer representatives about what we can do to better serve our customers. I want to be directly involved in the value creation process and play the role of a catalyst for innovation. This means breaking with convention and daring to create new standards. I would be delighted if, by sharing in this process with our employees, I could contribute to handing down the entrepreneurial spirit to the next generation, and beyond.

Kazuharu Teraoka
Chairman of the Board
Chief Technology Architect