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.
