Originally an engineer from Bologna, Italy, Lorenzo Scrimizzi arrived in Japan 26 years ago, and has been working for Carpigiani Japan for the last 19 years. He currently serves as the Representative Director. Previously, Mr. Scrimizzi worked in industries including consumer goods, automotive and trade, which has led him to gain a wealth of experience and knowledge.
According to Mr. Scrimizzi, hiring the right people and retaining them, as well as engaging and gaining trust from staff, customers and headquarter are all challenging aspects of leading in Japan. Mr. Scrimizzi tries to recruit people with a sense of individuality and creativity instead of focusing too much on language capability. In doing so, he has created a team that is capable of adjusting to the Italian work culture which sometimes values individuality and initiative over structure and organization.
Over the years Mr. Scrimizzi has worked to gain trust and encourage innovation from his staff by listening to them through smaller meetings, allowing some margin for mistakes, and being consistent with his words and actions. Moreover, Mr. Scrimizzi has found that having face to face meetings between his Japanese customers and headquarters has also helped increase a “certain level of awareness and sensitivity on both sides.” These efforts have benefited his organization as Mr. Scrimizzi claims, “the level of detail, the level of attention, and that level of a need that Japanese customers have, probably has no matches in any other country in the world. So, if you're able to satisfy that, then what you gain is that you already have something which is ready and very reliable and good to be marketed in any other country in the world. “
Mr. Scrimizzi advises to any foreigner looking to lead in Japan to learn the Japanese language and use body language to communicate. Despite living in Japan for 26 years, Mr. Scrimizzi is also open to new experiences. He explains: “I'm always curious to learn…we still have to be prepared to be surprised and to learn that there are other aspects of the Japanese business culture that we have not understood yet.”
