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| SHIGEYASU SAKAMOTO |
Brief profile of the author: Shigeyasu
Sakamoto, P.E., an Electrical Engineering graduate from Osaka Institute of
Technology, Japan, Senior Consultant & Davison Vice-President of Industrial
Engineering, in Japan Management Association Consultants, Tokyo, Japan, has published
seven books in Japanese and one in U.K., in Industrial Engineering field. He
has developed Managing Office Productivity (MOP in brief). He has specialised
in Work measurement, Methods improvement, Cost reduction & control,
Production planning & control and Inventory control etc. Several of the
leading firms have retained him as a Consultant, some of which are Mitsubishi
Motor, Kubota Iron works, Toyota Body, Sumitomo Chemicals, Nippon Aluminium,
Nippon sheet glass, Nippon sea foods and Meiki etc. Further he has presented
papers at International Productivity Congress at Sydney in 1977, Singapore in
1982 and Bombay in Jan 1983.
Q;
In your opinion, should Consultancy services be rendered through Government run
organizations or privately run Organizations?
Consultancy services in Management
field should be rendered through private sector; however Certification of
adequate qualifications for Consultants should be done by the Government.
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Q:
Kindly give an outline of the nature and the mode of training, which an
individual should get to enable him to become a professional Consultant.
One aspect is class room training
in wide range of management techniques, including on-the-job training. Another
aspect is about application of techniques or experiences, such as how to change
Organization climate, how to motivate for Productivity improvement and so on.
Success or otherwise of professional Consultants depends more than 60 % on
their nature, techniques and application ability for the particular
organization. Techniques themselves are of little value, for growing up
professional Consultants.
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Q:
If you maintain a full scale organization of Consultants, you would like to
have a continuing load of assignments. How can this be achieved?
Yes, I would like to have a
continuing load of assignments. At first I have to make good services available
to the clients and obtain good results for top management. Second is endeavour
for refreshing ability and range of experience in particular fields of
management.
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Q:
Do small Organizations also hire Consultancy services?
Small size Organizations may not
hire Consultancy services, because of services fee.
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Q:
If failure is observed in the work completed by Consultants, what do you think
should be done to the Consultants and by the Consultants?
A failure in meeting original
target of improvement or original suggestion of Consultant will cause very
delicate problem. The result of consultancy services depends not only on the
advice of the Consultant, but also on the Company attitude. It is very
difficult to differentiate, if failure is caused. This is why we never charge Consultancy
fee, as related to the results.
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Q Sometimes it is observed that a Consultant is
at a disadvantage, since the outsider is considered to be an intruder and the
people resent his views being thrust on the Organization. What are your views?
I do not agree with this.
Consultancy services are good, not only in view of Return on Investment (ROI),
but also neutral position. Revolutionary change is not made by management
techniques. However, if Consultants advise same management techniques and
company members follow the proposal, it causes neutral position of Consultants.
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Q
What is your opinion about free-lance Consultants and their working?
I do not recommend free-lance Consultants.
They usually work in wide range of any kinds of management fields, but their
services are not by their originality. These Consultants spend a lot of their
time for services, but they spend little time for study, for developing new
useful services.
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Q
: Could you give a brief idea about the philosophy behind Quality Circles?
The philosophy is making their
role a leading part of company activities. Through Quality Circle activities,
employees experience their important role in companies. When I organize or
advise companies about Quality Circle activities, these are for motivating
employees that means I never expect remarkable ratio of Productivity improvement.
If employees feel their role as a leading part of company activities, it is a
success.
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NOTE: Following books have been published
by him till 1983, out of which first seven books are in Japanese language: Managing Office Productivity in 1983, Practice
of Industrial Engineering in 1981, Work Measurement in 1979, Practice of Cost
reduction, Industrial Engineering view points in 1980, Practice of work
Measurement in 1972, Work Measurement for Foreman in 1969, Japanese firm
doubles Productivity in 1977 in U.K.
This interview was conducted in 1983.
The profile, photograph and the actual contents of the interview reflect the
status as in 1983, i.e. thirty years ago, but the contents are relevant today
also, though there are changes in the profile and the photograph, which are being reflected in the next interview in 2013.
-------vijaiksharma
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