Mayuko Uno, Corporate Strategy Office, Olympus Marketing Corporation

We continue to support our employees to ensure our products are loved for generations to come.

Olympus Marketing Corporation Corporate Strategy Office　Mayuko Uno(Uno Mayuko)

■ Profile
After graduating from the Department of Marketing at Aoyama Gakuin University's School of Business Administration, he joined Olympus as a new graduate in 2013. He worked in sales of gastrointestinal endoscopes and treatment devices at the Shizuoka Sales Office for four years. After that, from 2016 he was in charge of market introduction and sales promotion of transnasal endoscopes, as well as webinars, in the Endoscope Sales Planning Department. In the fall of 2021, he was transferred using the company's internal volunteer system and is currently in charge of organizational development at the Olympus Marketing Company. He will lead the development of an organizational culture within the newly established company, working to improve employee motivation and strengthen teamwork.

Olympus Marketing Corporation manufactures and sells endoscopes and other medical equipment. Among the various departments at the company, we spoke to Mayuko Uno to find out more about what the Corporate Strategy Office does.

■A job that you can be proud of being the best in Japan

There are many reasons why I decided to join Olympus, but the main one was that I wanted to work for a company that was the best in something, regardless of industry. In fact, the Great East Japan Earthquake occurred when I was studying abroad in Canada as a university student. At the time, people from various countries around me told me that Japan's technology was amazing and that it could bounce back, and I vaguely began to think that I wanted to do something for a Japanese company. It was around this time that I learned that Olympus' endoscopes are the best in the world. I remembered how my grandmother was diagnosed with stomach cancer through an endoscopy, and I was attracted to the idea of ​​endoscopes, which can detect disease early, so I decided to apply to Olympus. Endoscopes allow you to actually observe and confirm your health, giving you peace of mind, and they also allow for the definitive treatment of disease. I'm proud to be working in a position where I can be involved with such products.

■ Not just individuals, but everyone's ability to acquire skills will strengthen the company.

I want Olympus products to remain Japanese products that are loved by many people, even through the ages. I find my job rewarding by creating a more lively workplace for the employees who sell these products and making them feel more energetic. Specifically, I work to create systems that increase efficiency by taking a bird's-eye view from various departments when problems cannot be solved by one department alone.
When I first joined the company, I worked in sales, which allowed me to work closely with customers and was very rewarding because it contributed greatly to society. However, before I knew it, I was so focused on developing a sales style that only I could do that I ended up working blindly. It was at this time that a senior colleague told me, "Ultimately, the ideal company would be one where work can run smoothly even without you." Since he had been a senior colleague who had seen me work hard up close, I was initially taken aback by his words, but after hearing his thoughts later, I understood that what makes a truly strong company is when everyone can do the same things. I began to think that in the future, I wanted to be in a position where I could create a system that would allow anyone to run the company, rather than just doing the work that only I could do.
I then left the field where I interacted with customers, gained experience in sales promotion, and now work hard every day as a member of the company in the Corporate Strategy Office. In my current job, I don't have the opportunity to hear directly from customers, but I remember the feedback I received from them when I was in sales, and I am working hard to create an environment for employees so that we can hear the words "Olympus is the best" all over the country.

■What is important to you when working?

There are three specific things I keep in mind when I work.
The first is to "never forget to be grateful and be honest." I believe that patients and medical staff trust and use our company's products. That is why we believe it is only fair to be honest and sincere in our approach so as not to be rude to them. We are always trying to learn from those around us and keep updating ourselves, by quickly improving anything that needs improvement and imitating what is good. We want to continue to be honest and never forget to be grateful for the environment in which we can learn.
The second is "don't take the easy way out." This is something I'm conscious of because I'm the type of person who likes to take the easy way out (laughs). When you overcome something you're not good at, you can discover a side of yourself that you didn't know existed. I believe that even if you don't succeed, you will discover a more mature version of yourself. So when I have to choose something, I try to choose something that I believe is definitely a mountain (challenge) that I must overcome, even if it's not easy.
The third is to "give it your all even when you're playing." When you enter the workforce, work becomes your main focus, but I also consciously play. I've only ever worked for one company, Olympus, and I don't know anything about other industries, so instead of focusing solely on work, I try to get various stimuli and hints from outside through play and apply them to my work. Also, in order to concentrate on my work, I approach it with a sense of gameness, such as setting a time limit for each task. By doing this, I can continue to give it my all while enjoying my work.

■ What I want from myself is to have a third-party perspective and adapt to change

Going forward, I would like to challenge myself to become more objective and more resilient to change. Having worked in sales myself, I sometimes unconsciously proceed with things based on my own rules of thumb. To be able to see things more objectively, I consciously stop and ask myself, "Am I looking at things from various perspectives?" and seek opinions from a variety of people. As I said earlier, I want our products to continue to make customers say, "Olympus, after all," even as time passes. To be a brand that continues to be loved in this ever-changing era, I feel it is important to adapt flexibly to change and constantly question current conventional wisdom.

■Message to university students

Being a student is a precious opportunity to immerse yourself in something, and everyone is given the same amount of time. I want everyone to enjoy their university life to the fullest. I personally do this, but I think you can spend your time more meaningfully if you take on challenges with a sense of fun, even in the short time you have. Also, you never know what will happen in life. There are times when what you learned in university will come in handy, so I think it's best not to neglect your university classes (lol). Anyway, I think it's fine from any angle, so enjoy "now" to the fullest. I'm going to enjoy this time as much as you all!

Interview with Student Newspaper Online on October 13, 2023 by Maho Wada, a third-year student at Nihon University