Yoshinori Ueno, President and CEO of Yamada Denki Co., Ltd.

The goal is to propose comprehensive lifestyle solutions and expand overseas business

President and CEO of Yamada Denki Co., Ltd.　Yoshinori Ueno(Yoshinori Ueno)

■ Profile
He joined Yamada Denki (then Yamada Denki) in April 2014. After serving as head of the sales strategy department, he was appointed director in May 2016. In April 2021, he became a director and executive officer of Yamada Denki, and on April 1, 2022, he became representative director and president of Yamada Denki.

Yamada Denki is a leading company in the industry with sales exceeding 1 trillion yen.
Currently, the company is promoting a strategy of proposing a complete lifestyle solution, selling not only home appliances but also furniture and household goods.The company is also actively expanding overseas and continues to expand its business.
This time, we asked Yamada Denki's President Ueno about what he values ​​in his work and his future prospects.

I was born in Kyushu as the third son of three brothers. My father was a youth baseball coach, so I was devoted to baseball from a young age. My childhood was entirely devoted to baseball, and I even made it to the national Little League tournament. I continued playing baseball from elementary school through high school, and learned a lot during that time. In particular, I learned the importance of teamwork and how to interact with others, and these lessons remain a great asset to me today. Also, work is not something that can be done alone, but is based on communication between people. I feel that it was truly meaningful to have been able to learn these things from a young age.
After graduating from high school, I was worried about my future career path, but I decided to get a job. I didn't have a specific job I wanted to do, but I liked talking to people and was recommended by my career guidance teacher, so I decided to work in the home appliance industry.
I got a job at Best Denki, which was number one in the industry, and decided to pursue a career in customer service.
At Best Denki, there was a sales competition in which employees from all over the country competed. Winning first place was my goal and my motivation for work. After the store closed, I would start my strategy. I would stamp my face on Best Denki advertising flyers and post them to houses in the neighborhood. This was my daily routine at the time. By continuing to do this, customers with flyers with my face stamp on them would come into the store, and I was successful in attracting customers. This is how I achieved my goal of winning first place in sales in the country three times.

The challenging attitude I learned at Yamada

I moved to Yamada Denki when Best Denki merged with me. At first, I was worried about whether I could keep up with the speed at which Yamada Denki was expanding its business, but Chairman Yamada told me, "Ask me anything you don't understand, and there's nothing embarrassing about asking about things you don't understand," so I asked him everything.
I wanted to absorb all of the know-how the chairman had gained from building Yamada Holdings from a small store into what it is today, so I would go knock on his door whenever I had the time. Everyone has their own pride, but it's important to put that aside and be eager to absorb everything you can.
Another important thing is to take on challenges without fear of failure. Think hard about what you can do to solve the problem and take action. There is no success without challenges. It is important to start with small things. For example, you might say, "I'm not good at customer service, but I'll try serving three people today!" It is important to take on challenges on a daily basis, even if it is something small. I believe that a company's growth potential is determined by how many people are willing to take on challenges. We are focusing on creating an environment where those around you will support you if you try and fail, and where you can reconsider and try again if you make a mistake.
"The company won't go under if you make a mistake, so don't worry and take on new challenges." These are the words I tell new employees at our induction ceremony. If you approach the challenge with that kind of mindset, it will become an experience that will surely have a positive effect on your life. Whether or not you can seize the opportunity depends on your courage.

Yamada aims to offer comprehensive lifestyle solutions

Currently, Yamada Denki is focusing on two things. The first is expanding overseas. We have stores in Singapore, Malaysia, and Indonesia, where the average age is young and the population is expected to reach 350 million by 2050. We hope to continue to expand into overseas markets with such potential for growth. The second is promoting complete lifestyle proposals. We are focusing on creating new large-scale stores based on the concept of offering everything you need for "living," from furniture to interior design, toys, household goods, and even renovations.
Yamada Denki currently employs 30,000 people, including part-time workers. In order to protect the livelihoods of these employees and their families, we will put more effort into the businesses mentioned above. At the same time, we would like to improve the working environment for our employees. For example, we will thoroughly implement a hands-on approach. Head office is a cost management center, but it is the field that actually generates sales. I convey this to employees every time I visit the field. I also teach people at head office that when they receive a call from the field, they should not pass the problem around, but should take responsibility and resolve it themselves. I would like to continue improving the working environment in this way.

＊message＊

It seems like there are a lot of students who don't know what they want to do in the future. When I was job hunting, I myself hadn't decided what I wanted to do in the future. However, there's no point in continuing to worry about your future. First, try to find out what you want to do and what you can do now. There's bound to be something out there. Start with small challenges and steadily build up. Then, gradually, you'll start to see what you want to do.
Life is still long, so try lots of new things.

Student Newspaper April 1, 2023 Issue by Yusuke Suzuki, 4rd year student at Hosei University