Finding the JIKU – ‘Guiding Principle’: How the Niterra Group Developed Global Leaders for Sustainable Growth

 

In today’s rapidly changing business landscape, organizations seeking to expand overseas face a multitude of challenges. Chief among them is the need to develop leaders who can thrive globally, regardless of nationality or culture of origin. When organizations globalize, many find their management systems struggle to keep pace.

Niterra Co., Ltd. (formerly NGK SPARK PLUG CO., LTD.) has operations around the world, with overseas sales accounting for 85% of company totals. Niterra has been carrying out a joint talent development initiative with GLOBIS since 2017, titled the HAGI Program. The program aims to nurture future global leadership and equip them with a strong sense of purpose and mission. The program focuses on the Japanese term JIKU, which translates roughly to “guiding principle”.

We sat down with Tomohiro Yamaguchi, Executive Officer and President of HR Communication, and Tomomi Seki, Team Leader of Talent Development, to discuss the origin of their collaboration with GLOBIS, the implementation of customized leadership training programs, and the resulting changes within the organization since the initiative began.

Program Overview

The Niterra Group oversees the development of technologies like semiconductor peripherals, medical devices, and automotive parts. Notably, they boast the world’s leading market share of spark plugs.

Amid rapid changes in the automotive industry, Niterra leadership foresaw the need for continued sustainable growth, particularly in global markets. With this goal in mind, they implemented the HAGI Program, an internal training initiative to systematically develop their next generation of global management.

In the HAGI Program, management candidates are selected from across the world and asked to spend a year of constructive reflection. Program leaders prompt learners to think deeply about their personal sense of mission and leadership aspirations, ultimately presenting their conclusions. Since the initiative began in 2017, four cohorts totaling 52 participants have taken part. About half have been subsequently promoted to executive positions.

Challenge: Facing a Global Leadership Shortage

Mr. Yamaguchi:
Our overseas sales ratio exceeds 80% and our overseas subsidiaries used to be managed by Japanese leaders. However, simply sending out expats from Japan does not make an organization global. While machines and equipment can be transferred, building trust and establishing local leadership capabilities takes time.

Moreover, considering today’s rapidly changing environment, we felt we needed to expand business beyond our core automotive sector. To make this a reality, we required leaders who could formulate new strategies and drive execution. However, our talent development at the time was not designed to foster such global leaders. We felt a sense of urgency – unless we changed our approach to talent development, we would soon face a severe shortage of leaders.

Therefore, for sustainable growth, we decided to develop global management talent by providing equal opportunities to everyone, regardless of nationality.

Aspiration, Personal Mission, and JIKU – ‘Guiding Principle’

Mr. Yamaguchi:
We named our global management talent development project the HAGI Program. The name originates from both the initials of “Human Asset Global Institute” and Hagi City in Yamaguchi Prefecture. Hagi City is historically known for producing leaders who helped transform Japan. We wanted a program where our company’s future leaders could learn together.

The program’s objective was to produce management talent with strong aspirations and a sense of mission who could lead the Niterra Group into the future. The goal was for participants to identify gaps between their ideal image of themselves as leaders and their current reality, and to create action plans to bridge those gaps.

With this goal in mind, we designed the program for comprehensive, hands-on learning from a company-wide perspective. Through discussions with management, we arrived at the idea that a leader’s will drives the company. Thus, the project focused more on mindset than skillset.

What we value most is JIKU, or guiding principle. Leaders are often required to make tough management decisions – it is crucial to have an unwavering JIKU. We believe this becomes the foundation for making important decisions, and we devoted ample time to relentlessly ask, “what is your JIKU?” We designed the program so that participants thoroughly confront and define what their JIKU means to them.

Action: Finding One’s JIKU

Mr. Yamaguchi:
This project was designed for participants to explore their own JIKU–guiding principle–based on 13 competencies required of management leaders in the Niterra Group. Through case discussions, dialogues with our company’s chairman, president, and outside directors, as well as lectures from external leaders, participants were asked to think deeply on their JIKU. With guidance from GLOBIS facilitators, they thoroughly considered what it means to be a leader and, at the end, presented their own commitments to each other.

The program alternated between group sessions and interval periods over about a year. Because we also have non-Japanese participants, we use the term JIKU even while conducting the program in English.

Although the concept of JIKU is central to the project, we intentionally did not provide a clear definition. For non-Japanese participants, it may have sometimes been hard to grasp. However, if we were to give them a ready-made answer, there would be no need for them to think for themselves. Of course, facilitators may share their perspectives, but by not providing an official definition, we encourage participants to think for themselves about what JIKU means and why it is necessary for them.

A Unique Program for Unique Objectives

Mr. Yamaguchi:
In designing this program, we focused on using original content optimized for management talent development at our company. Having clarified our goals, we were strongly committed to creating a program that really fit those needs.

Launching a mindset-focused program like this was a first for us. Since we couldn’t fully imagine what kind of program would best achieve our aims, we consulted Mr. Yoshihiko Itakura from GLOBIS, who joined as a partner in designing the program.

The GLOBIS team understood our intentions and engaged in numerous in-depth discussions with us. Through constructive discussions about what we wanted to accomplish and what was necessary to achieve it, GLOBIS helped us deepen our own thinking as well. The support we received—from building a clear concept to the subsequent program design—was extremely helpful.

Since its launch in 2017, the project has reached its fourth cohort. We review the program structure every year, both to adapt to the significant changes in our business environment, as well as to fine-tune the program based on the particular circumstances of the selected HAGI Program participants each term. For this reason, each cohort is limited to 12 to 15 participants. For efficiency, one might be tempted to run it with 30 to 40 people at a time, but then it would be impossible to give everyone the attention they deserve. We keep the group to a number where we can grasp each person’s situation. This approach—designing the project based on the latest external environment and the pool of selected talent—is one of the distinctive features of this program.

Ms. Seki:
As the business environment changes, the kind of leaders our management expects also continues to evolve. For those of us planning the program, it’s challenging to design something in line with these expectations, but thanks to our consulting with one of our GLOBIS partners, Mr. Yuki Tadokoro, we have been able to carry the program through four cohorts.

Looking back, because our global businesses and regions are so diverse, I have come to believe it is important for the Niterra Group to foster unity while sharing common values across the organization. Moving forward with the program design for the fifth and subsequent cohorts, we want to continue creating an environment where leaders at our sites around the world can articulate the organization’s direction in their own words and share their aspirations throughout the Niterra Group.

Shifting Perspectives to Drive Transformation

Mr. Yamaguchi:
Because nurturing the next generation of leadership is such an important project, our chairman and president are highly committed. They always attend the first and last group sessions, and also make opportunities for dialogue in additional sessions with participants.

Since top management takes this project very seriously, as program organizers, we’ve at times received tough feedback from the chairman. For example: “If this is supposed to be a place to produce corporate leaders who will drive major transformation for the company, the presentations are too neat and tidy—are we really nurturing people who can boldly shift perspectives?”

This feedback prompted us to place more emphasis on uniqueness in the final presentations. If we only continue along the current path, there will be no transformation—just incremental improvement. That’s why we now look for perspectives that differ from conventional values and ideas that can lead to new changes for the company.

We also visited Hagi City in Yamaguchi Prefecture, where the HAGI Program’s name originates. For both Japanese and non-Japanese participants, it is often their first time visiting the city. By visiting in person, we hope participants can reflect on the leaders who drove Japan’s transformation, return to the roots of this program, and reconsider the purpose of their learning.

Our company has grown thanks to a strong core business foundation, but this has also made generating new ideas a weaker area for us. By learning together with colleagues from different business divisions, sites, and backgrounds—including global staff and mid-career hires—participants gain ideas not bound by existing thinking. They become leaders who can drive transformation, not just incremental improvement.

Result: Global Leaders Who Found Their JIKU

Mr. Yamaguchi:
So far, 52 people have completed this program, and many are now active as global leaders. For example, many division heads in our regional headquarters system are HAGI alumni. Some new business leaders are also global graduates of the program, illustrating the increasing number of HAGI graduates taking on leadership roles.

Our business faces rapid changes, such as automotive electrification and growing semiconductor demand. Amid this, our leaders are expected to identify new issues and achieve both profitability and social contribution. We’re seeing program graduates recognize these trends and revitalize their organizations accordingly.

I believe this success is largely thanks to the GLOBIS facilitators, who challenged participants struggling to break out of their shells and asked questions that drew out their inner thoughts. I am grateful for their support and deep expertise in executive development.

Ms. Seki:
Connections across business divisions and regions have also developed among program participants. For example, a business development leader contacted a manufacturing division leader with whom they had studied together during the program, leading to practical cross-functional collaboration. Previously, such horizontal links across divisions or regions were insufficient, so this is a significant change.

After the end of the fourth cohort, we organized an alumni gathering for past participants. Everyone shared their JIKU again, and we held a panel discussion with the chairman, president, and vice president. As a program planner, it was wonderful for me to hear that members from different cohorts interact and maintain connections even after the program is over. For alumni members, this gathering was a chance to revisit their JIKU. Having a common language to discuss across generations really reinforces the value of this project.

Mr. Yamaguchi:
Additionally, I sense an internal change within those who have completed the HAGI Program. I believe their determination to lead their departments and commit to their missions has grown stronger.

Looking Ahead: What to Change and What to Preserve

Mr. Yamaguchi:
Moving forward, we want to focus on the follow-up with program alumni. Taking into consideration their career aspirations, we aim to design a seamless succession plan which includes assignments that stretch their abilities, opportunities for continued learning, and regular performance evaluations.

Ms. Seki:
From an overall talent development perspective, we want to ensure the alignment of this program with other initiatives. Next term, we plan to clarify our development framework to provide participants with clear career pathways.

Mr. Yamaguchi:
As a large and long-established company facing transformation, it is vital for us to carefully distinguish what to change and what to preserve. Today’s world offers no single, absolute right answer. Diversity in both our business and our talent pool is increasing. With this in mind, it is increasingly important to clarify Niterra’s own standards—what diversity means to us and what ethical standards we must uphold.

We look to our partners at GLOBIS not just for support in individual talent development programs, but for comprehensive assistance with Niterra’s overall talent development. We hope that GLOBIS will provide recommendations from a third-party perspective regarding our company-wide challenges and solutions related to employee careers. We want to continue to design training programs together from scratch through in-depth discussions, as we did with this program.