Wolfgang Bierer takes us through his journey of leading various companies in multiple fields including consulting, fashion and retail. Mr. Bierer first came to Japan on a youth exchange program under the German government. He landed an internship with Hitachi at their software development centre on a six-month contract initially, and later joined them as a full-time staff. He recalls being the “only gaijin living in a male dormitory” and experiencing the raw Japanese working culture “the hard way.” Already in his 20s, Mr. Bierer worked with clients in the US and India on development projects, and quickly became unit manager for his development team. Mr. Bierer then went into consulting and returned to Germany for four years, becoming more knowledgeable in management consulting. Mr. Bierer then returned to Japan with his family to start his own consulting firm, Endeavor SBC, which celebrated its 17th year in business in April. Mr. Bierer additionally leads 12 other companies including 1-Stop-Solution.com, Mephisto Japan, Bree Japan and Seeburger Japan, mainly in the fashion and retail industry.
One of Mr. Bierer’s first work through Endeavor was with Adidas from his old contacts where he learned much about the business processes within the fashion and sports industry as well as utilizing SAP. Overtime Mr. Bierer built a business model that minimized companies from buying inventory to reduce warehouse costs and improve their profitability. This business model has become a template for Mr. Bierer’s other retail companies. Additionally, the company brands managed by Mr. Bierer are sold by one buyer at Mitsukoshi Isetan, instead of each brand having multiple staff representing them.
For his other companies, although Mr. Bierer has a core team of managers that take care of the daily operations of each organization, he himself keeps in close contact with his staff and clients by holding meetings and selling at the retail stores. When stepping into a new company, Mr. Bierer takes a process approach by carefully listening and consulting the team and looking at the cost drivers to analyze how costs could be reduced. Once he is set on a certain direction for that company, Mr. Bierer uses his knowledge and connections to work towards a set goal with his team. Mr. Bierer explains: “I think overall in Japan…you need to try to get in the inner circle of your Japanese team. Like…you need to maybe make a fool out of you at the karaoke evening, or you need to be approachable and understand the details. And I think there are many leaders in the ivory tower [who] don't really know what is [operationally] going on.”
By closely communicating with his staff, Mr. Bierer has been able to build trust with his team. He also adds that by paying his staff consistently including full timers and temporary staff even during tough times like COVID, has further developed this trust. Mr. Bierer also gives incentives by giving out company products or unexpected rewards from time to time and has received positive feedback from his team. Mr. Bierer credits the multiple revenue streams he has from his various companies that secures his staff and his own lifestyle, as well as his core management team which allow him to work efficiently between various companies.
On advice to new incoming foreign leaders, Mr. Bierer recommends having a good translator to be able to communicate with the Japanese team. He also explains that Japanese staff may need more guidance on their work and leaders need to understand that each team works differently. Thirdly, Mr. Bierer advises to “be approachable and not sit on your highchair or somewhere overlooking [the team]. You need to gain the trust of the people and show that you actually care.”
