Hitachi, Ltd. has been advancing initiatives to articulate what defines “Hitachi-ness” and communicate it both internally and externally to build a stronger and more unified organization. As a first step, the Corporate Communications and Human Resources departments collaborated to hold a workshop aimed at putting into words the unique qualities that distinguish Hitachi from other companies.

The workshop incorporated a “blind communication” exercise, in which participants wore eye masks to block visual cues and engaged in dialogue relying solely on verbal communication. This was combined with “graphic recording,” a technique used to visualize the ideas and discussions that emerged. Through this approach, a program called “Vision Quest” was held to explore and define the essence of Hitachi. The workshop was conducted in two sessions and involved a total of 20 participants from the Corporate Communications and Human Resources departments. Participants representing diverse roles and different levels of experience reflected on Hitachi’s past, present, and future, expressing their thoughts in their own words. Based on the hypotheses generated through these discussions, the initiative expanded into a full-scale project to rediscover the unarticulated essence of “Hitachi-ness,” including interviews with senior executives, group interviews with managers, and a company-wide survey.