Hope this find you all in best health and spirit!.

The New Year 2015 is now less than a month away already.  In this period, many people look back over the year and plan for the coming New Year.  But I heard that many people feel very difficult to plan for the New Year as we are facing the sluggish economy development phases continuously.     

People are saying that they feel scared when they open and read newspapers as it is filled with many depressing news.  The pinch from the global recession is not fresh news any more, now more news covers on the threatening from the technical gap reduction with China, weakness of the price competitiveness compared to the level of the technology with Japan and weakness of the price competitiveness from the exchange rate effect despite it have covered about our being sandwiched between the technology of Japan and the low price attack from China before.  The leading large and export medium corporations are suffering, and these difficulties make the small corporations even worsened.     

Meanwhile, domestic market also has been slowed down due to the lowbirth and aging trend which keep weakened the consumption increases, and the labor problem at the field become big burden to many businesspeople.

But from the point of the individual corporation, smart managers must do their best in the boundary in which they can handle rather than sticking to the area they could not solve, as they have many things they can do and solve in the bigger range.

The role of the smart managers is to predict at their best way about the change of direction of the matter for which he could not decide.  It is smart management to cope with changes based on the reasonable prediction.  For example, those boundaries include not only interest rate, exchange rate, labor issue, real estate policy, but also foreign economic situation, and these require the reasonable prediction.  The objective and reasonable preparation based upon the accurate information is necessary for these areas.

The strategies which are necessary to survive and grow in these sluggish development phases as an individual corporation are listed hereunder (‘extracted and edited')

Firstly, predict reasonably as described previously. 

I think that the virtue of the manager is to predict reasonably.  If manager could not accurately and objectively predict the future, manager could not predict the rise and fall of the corporation either.  The corporation and the environment surrounding the corporation actually are like living things.  The smart managers always should predict reasonably on their own way about the future of corporation and their own.  And they should be prepared reasonably based on those reasonable predictions.

And next, set strategies focusing on the corporate original core values and competencies

It is the best strategy for survival and growth to realize and analyze the field where the corporation can play best, and should focus on it.

‘Make our strength even stronger, make up the weakness as much as possible'

The blue ocean doesn't mean the new market we seek and do business in it.  It means the market where the corporation can play with the competitive edge and where they can do better than any others, not new business field like IT, BT, BIO.  It is the red ocean if the corporation just follows the others.

Thirdly, be faithful to the basic, and be faithful to the principle.

There is a saying that “more haste, less speed”.  And also similar saying, “Haste makes waste (do not thread to the waist of a needle)”.

“Start from the principle if you are confused”

The belief that any problem could be solved if we start from the principle, as we start to unravel from the beginning of the skein of thread which is all tangled up, even though it looks impossible to solve the complicated problem like a skein of thread which is strongly tangled up.  If the individual or corporation faces the harsher difficulties, they are able to overcome those when they return to the basic and become faithful to the principle. What is important is the direction and trend of the problem solving.

However difficult they face, once the corporations go forward to the direction in which the corporation could be better, then, the corporation will be recovered and stronger, and more solidifying and bigger profit creating corporation if they have already been a strong corporation.     

Fourthly, no reckless management

I have seen many cases that the reckless management causes the corporation failure in an instant no matter how successful they have been.  Sometimes bold investment is necessary in order to make the growth of the corporation, the decision should be made by the accurate prediction, and should be appropriate to the size of the corporation.  We should be aware that the reckless management could cause the dangerous results to the corporation.  As the corporation grows, what is necessary to the corporation is the ability of the risk management.   

It is said that the extravagancy of the corporation is more dangerous than those of the individual.  The extravagancy of corporation occurs from the nonexistence of the discipline in the corporation, and we can say that there's no future for the corporation where the discipline is not equipped. 

Last but not the least, be equipped with your own specialized business strategy

The marketing is an essential activity to the survival of the corporation.  In the severe competitive environment in these days, the requisite factor for survival is to be equipped with the own specialized marketing strategy.  

It is difficult to get profit and survive with products and marketing strategy which are same with others.  The differentiated and sustainable marketing strategies are required.  In order to set up those strategies, we should analyze accurately about ourselves (about corporation) first (quote: “If you know your enemy and yourself,”), and set up the business strategy which is the most optimized and specialized business strategy of your own.  This is the required conditions for the success (quote: “you can win every battle”).

Saying goodbye to the eventful year of 2015, I'd like to express my wishes to all of you who are reading this article, hope you round off the passing year of journey and make many good things in coming year, too.  And I'm pleased to introduce the famous quotes for your perusal in this timing of welcoming the New Year and sending the old one.

-  quoted from “Health Letter” by SJ Lee -

10 Famous Inspirational Climbing Quotes to look back upon our lives.

①     “One may walk over the highest mountain one step at a time” – Barbara Walters

②     “It is not the mountain we conquer but ourselves.” - Edmund Hillary

③     “Over every mountain, there is a path, although it may not be seen from the valley.” - Theodore Roethke

④     “I climb the mountain to enjoy myself, not for the sake of national prestiage.” - Giusto Gervasutti

⑤     “ It is the matter of the Attitude but the Altitude.  The nature of mountain climbing is to fight and overcome the suffering, not to reach to the top of the mountain.”  Albert Mummery

⑥     “ I like to describe Mountain-climbing as a kind of art of suffering - Voytek Kurtyka

⑦     “ It is not absolutely necessary to climb up to the top “  - Voytek Kurtyka (descending from mountain as passing the main summit ridge after he successfully climbed up to the dangerous Gasherbrum IV West Face of Himalayas. 

⑧     “The mountain climbing starts where the road ended” – Alain de Sapelius

⑨     “The mountaineers are those who know how to act on the rules of the mountain, and who feel that they always have to learn.” – Hermann Huber –

⑩     “Because it's there.” – George Mallory, “answer to the question, “why do you want to climb Mount Everest”