28: Hideki Matsubara, President & Representative Director, Miele Japan

Hideki Matsubara Summary


 


Mr. Hideki Matsubara began his career in government banking but
switched into cosmetics, working for globally renown brands
including L’Oreal, Lancome and Unilever. He then moved on to
Miele, a German manufacturer of high-end household appliances
where he currently serves as the President and Representative
Director. Mr. Matsubara obtained his MBA from the University of
Pennsylvania.


 


With a wealth of academic and real-life experience, Mr. Matsubara
successfully revised a staggering business at the Swiss cosmetic
company, La Prarie, as their first Japanese Managing Director and
President. During this time in the early 2000s there was a boom
in the high-end luxury brands and cosmetics, which Mr. Matsubara
took advantage of, and increased La Prarie’s profit by 2.5 times.
Mr. Matsubara was also blessed with mentorship from Chris
McDonald, the late President of Rolex Japan who introduced him to
the Swiss Chamber of Commerce where he has made invaluable
connections with other talents.


 


Mr. Matsubara made the switch into Miele, where he leverage his
experience with high-end consumers to revive the company’s
Japanese market. There, Mr. Matsubara gradually turned around the
business and gained the trust of his employees, which was
challenging at first due to previous drastic changes. Comparing
the Japanese, French, American and British way of leadership, Mr.
Matsubara talks about the importance of having a framework, a
clear structure of reporting lines, in order to gain trust and
increase engagement in Japan.


 


Mr. Matsubara is often the mediator between the Japanese staff,
clients, business partners, and German headquarters. He
encourages his staff to communicate more by holding small group
discussions, creating an internal communication committee,
holding engagement surveys, and being open to implementing change
through a bottom-up approach. To increase employee engagement,
Miele holds celebrations, both large and small, including an
annual celebration at the Roppongi Hills Club or cooking as a
team building activity with Miele’s appliances. To maintain
creativity, Mr. Matsubara values the company’s philosophy, Immer
Besser, meaning better and better. To ensure constant growth in
an engaging environment, Mr. Matsubara has set clear KPIs for
each division so that outputs are quantifiable, while also
valuing his employee’s voices, in the form of encouraging
presentation of new ideas in senior meetings or having voluntary
committees.


 


To newcomers in Japan, Mr. Matsubara advises them to learn the
language, understand the culture and the way of the Japanese
people in order to build trust and teamwork.