Masami Komatsu, President and CEO of Seven & i Food Systems Co., Ltd.

Aiming to become a bottom-up company where everyone can participate in management

Masami Komatsu, President and CEO of Seven & i Food Systems Co., Ltd.

■ Profile

Born in Chiba Prefecture in 1960. After graduating from Nihon University's College of Literature and Science, he joined Denny's Japan Co., Ltd. (now Seven & i Food Systems Co., Ltd.) in 1986. After gaining experience as a store manager and district manager, he went on to serve as general manager of the sales division, head of product development, and head of the restaurant business division, before becoming representative director and president in March 2017.

"The greatest joy is being able to be involved in the growth of our full-time and part-time employees," says Masami Komatsu, president of Seven & i Food Systems Co., Ltd. He says that his involvement in assisting people with disabilities during his university days led him to think about how he could improve society. We spoke to him about the value that Denny's, the family restaurant chain he currently oversees, can provide to customers, and his passionate message for today's young people.

■What I learned from assisting people with disabilities

The most memorable experience I had during my university days, and one that still forms the basis of my thinking and actions today, was providing assistance at a facility for people with disabilities.
Nowadays, there are many barrier-free facilities such as elevators and multi-purpose toilets, but back then it was difficult for people with disabilities to go out. For example, nowadays, station staff will assist wheelchair users when they board the train, but when I was a student, wheelchair users would often ask people around them for help when they had to go up the stairs. Through this assistance, I realized that there are a certain number of people who will help regardless of age, and I felt the kindness of people.
However, at the same time, I began to sense the contradictions and distortions in society.

■ I find joy in seeing people's growth process

Initially, I wanted to become a teacher, but in my fourth year I began to wonder if I was really suited to become a teacher, so I graduated without earning one of the credits required to become a teacher, and after graduating I joined a hotel.

I chose a hotel because I had experience working part-time in the food and beverage industry. While attending university, I was providing care for others about five or six times a week, so I did a variety of part-time jobs to cover the cost of travel and daily meals. During that time, I was involved in cooking at one of my part-time jobs, which sparked my interest and made me want to become a cook.

At the time, it was rare for someone with a university degree to become a cook, so people around me were skeptical, but I continued to work hard and gradually gained the respect of my seniors.

At that time, the school where a friend of mine worked happened to be expanding, and he asked me if I wanted to try my hand at it because they were short of teachers. I knew I could become a teacher if I completed the one remaining credit through a correspondence course, so I wanted an environment where I could study while working, so I changed jobs to Denny's.

However, once I changed jobs, I found that work at Denny's was busier than I had expected, and it was difficult to find time to study. Furthermore, after a year of working there, I fell ill, which made me wonder, "Why did I quit my job as a cook and stay at Denny's?" and I began to reexamine my work.

At the time, I enjoyed watching the part-time employees at Denny's grow through my education. When I realized this, I thought, "Maybe this is more rewarding than being a teacher," and chose to continue working at Denny's instead of becoming a teacher.

■A noble job that deals with people's lives and health through food

The most rewarding aspect of my job is meeting people, including customers, and feeling the impact that comes from that. Ever since I started working, I have felt that I am doing a noble job that is related to the very foundations of human life, namely, human life and health, and that this feeling has never changed.
I also think the best part of this job is seeing people grow. Our employees and staff embody our philosophy and are a treasure, so I'm truly grateful to be able to be a part of their growth. We receive a variety of opinions from customers every day, and it makes me really happy when I receive words of praise. On the other hand, we sometimes receive criticism from customers, so we use the opinions we receive as a reference and work on improving every day.

However, even if I know in my head that "this is the best way to do things," it's meaningless unless my employees and staff embody that philosophy. That's why I'm constantly thinking about how I can communicate my ideals and the company's philosophy to all 11,000+ employees every day.
I'm working on a variety of things to communicate my thoughts, and one of them is writing a letter to all employees every week. In these letters, I write about my vision for the company and my ideal image of customer service. I'm fortunate to receive comments in response to these letters not only from full-time employees but also from part-time and casual employees, and I look forward to reading them and writing back to them.

■ The appeal of Denny's is its friendliness and ability to accommodate subtle changes

I think the appeal of Denny's as a family restaurant is that it is deeply rooted in the local community and has a close relationship with its customers. For that reason, we strive to provide friendly service every day, and even the greeting "Welcome to Denny's" was thought up to make customers feel at ease.
I think the charm of Denny's is the friendly atmosphere and the distance it maintains with its customers, as some regular customers will have their order accepted with just the simple words "the usual."
Denny's also does not have a central kitchen. We develop each product not only through our own product development and purchasing departments, but also in collaboration with business partners such as manufacturers, which I think differentiates us from other companies. Manufacturers have the most technology and information, so by combining their knowledge with our own, we can develop even better products. Another benefit is that we can respond carefully to changes in customer preferences.

■Because we are in a time of change, people who can express their opinions are key people

Our company mainly works in face-to-face customer service, so we would like to work with people who enjoy building relationships with others, who are interested in people, and who are energetic, cheerful, and have a spirit of challenge.
We are currently in a time of great change. The changes are so rapid that no one knows the correct management answer or path forward. In such a situation, policies and measures based solely on the experience and knowledge of top management and executives may not be able to adapt to social changes and may be slow to respond.
That's why I think the key person will be someone who sympathizes with and resonates with the company's philosophy, but also has their own opinions and is able to actively debate.We are also currently reforming the company's structure to become a bottom-up one where anyone can freely express their opinions.
In fact, some of the initiatives we are currently undertaking have reflected the opinions that emerged from the bottom-up approach and are already producing results. Going forward, we will continue to bring together the experience and knowledge of our 11,000 employees and overcome these rough seas through repeated trial and error.

■Message
There are two things I would like to say to university students.
The first thing is not to be afraid of failure. Failure helps you expand your horizons and leads to growth. I hope you will continue to try new things and take on new challenges.
The second point is that it is important to accumulate small actions.
There are many things we can do in our daily lives to create and protect a prosperous tomorrow. I believe that each small action will lead to solving social issues and realizing a sustainable society.

Student Newspaper Online March 24, 2022 Meiji University 3rd year student Sakai Yaku