REPORT

As mentioned in previous articles, I was involved in importing redwood and melamine veneer as a preliminary step to launching my construction project management (construction PM) business. Each of these businesses was started for the company to survive, but in retrospect, I believe that the connections I made and the discomfort I felt in the business then led to my later construction PM business.

 

The reason Gensler is excellent is bringing a design perspective to corporate productivity improvement.

 

It has been common now that the change of office layout and moving routine would improve active communication among the employees, creating corporate identity and aligning products with the company’s image. These were all started by Gensler. Gensler brought the concept of design to management, thereby creating methods to increase labor productivity and brand image. Many Fortune 100 companies have been impressed by their innovative approach and have become their clients.

 

At Berkeley, we were just teacher and student, but Art paid attention to me additionally, as I was curious about Gensler's business model. After returning to Japan for a while, I was out of the melamine veneer business, and when I was thinking about what to do next, I thought of Art. “Right! I can do Gensler’s business in Japan,” I thought so.

 

Then I contacted Art asking for his investment to start the same business in Japan, and I was surprised that he agreed immediately. Furthermore, he wanted me to serve as a board member. By then, Art’s name was well known in Japan already, so major Japanese companies such as Mori Building(current Mori Trust) agreed to invest in the joint venture with Gensler and dispatch personnel to us. That is how International Design Exchange was established in 1994.

 

The moment the importance of project management was understood

The joint venture with Gensler started from office interior as the same as Gensler in the U.S. Foreign companies knew of Gensler, so I began by getting projects from the Japanese branch of foreign companies, a designer from Gensler would design it, and then place the order with a Japanese interior decorator or general contractor.

 

After a while in this business, I recognized the potential of the construction PM business. As a sales representative, I listened to clients' requests and budgets. On the other hand, the designer from Gensler was American, so he wanted to put new designs and functions into his plans. However, if we followed the designer's directions, we would exceed the budget and delivery date, so we must manage the project. I had controversial discussions with the Gensler designer. Naturally, I took on the role of the project manager when we came up with ways to reduce costs, such as competitive bidding and individual ordering.

 

After a while, I began to suspect that working on design and construction PM in the same company was a conflict of interest, so I discussed it with Art and decided to split the companies. Gensler re-established a Japanese branch, and I purchased Gensler's and the other shareholders' shares and renamed the company Index Consulting, which specializes in construction project management.

 

I decided to specialize in construction PM because I saw the potential for overall construction project management through interior project management, and I also wanted to change the construction industry in Japan.

 

"Changing the construction industry on behalf of the client"

As previously stated, we encountered Japan's irrational distribution structure when importing melamine veneer. Why make it more expensive through inefficient trading companies and wholesalers when it can be sold at a lower price? I also questioned the construction industry's layered subcontracting structure at the time of the joint venture with Gensler. Although the craftsmen do the work, various companies increased the middleman margins. This results in higher costs for the client.

 

To change this situation, the only way is to put direct order as an owner. However, we cannot be the owner of every construction project, so let us change the construction industry by acting as the owner's representative. That is why we decided to specialize in construction project management.

 

However, when we first began specializing in construction project management in the early 2000s, there was no market for construction project management, and project managers were unfamiliar to clients. It wasn’t easy to find projects because general contractors and design firms sometimes called themselves project managers and worked on behalf of the client. However, it was fortunate that the time had come for construction project managers.