The office was so quiet that only the faint hum of the air conditioner could be heard.
"I want to see the real revenue and gross margin trends by product and by region. What is the success rate of new product promotions? At what stage are the old products in their lifecycle? The accuracy of sales forecasts must be improved; this is directly related to the production department's scheduling and inventory." Takuya Nakayama pushed the summary report back in front of Yoshimura. "Take it back and redo it. Don't try to fool me with that set of good news you presented at the meeting. I want firsthand, real information, more specific, especially regarding client quality and risk assessment."
Yoshimura took the report and retreated sheepishly.
Takuya Nakayama picked up the cup of cold black coffee and drank it in one gulp.
To hold down this game, relying solely on the old man's support and the expressions of the old shareholders was not enough.
He had to subdue the arrogant soldiers and fierce generals under him with professional competence backed by real results.
His current strategy was very clear: watch more, speak less, do less.
See through the bottom line of the finances, see clearly the veins of sales.
Before he had fully grasped every gear of this enormous machine, he did not intend to easily issue orders for major personnel or structural adjustments.
The internal phone on the desk rang again.
"Managing Director, President Nakayama would like you to come to his office," the assistant's voice came through.
Takuya Nakayama stood up and smoothed the hem of his suit jacket.
The old man calling him at this hour meant he had most likely heard the rumors from the sales department.
In the president's office on the top floor.
Hayao Nakayama stood in front of the floor-to-ceiling window, rolling two walnuts in his hand.
Hearing the door open, he turned around.
"I heard you gave Yoshimura a dressing-down?" The old man walked over to the sofa and sat down, gesturing for him to take the seat opposite.
"I didn't dress him down, I just told him to redo the report," Takuya Nakayama replied calmly as he sat down. "The sales department's old habit of chasing volume without regard for payment cycles needs to be fixed."
Hayao Nakayama let out a scoff. "You kid, you want to start swinging the axe as soon as you take over. Yoshimura has been with Sega for fifteen years; even if he hasn't achieved great things, he's put in the hard work."
"Hard work doesn't pay the bills," Takuya Nakayama said, looking his father in the eye. "You didn't ask me to take over just to act as a figurehead. I need to re-evaluate the backgrounds and performance stability of the sales directors and regional managers. Are there any irreplaceable star salespeople? Does their client base belong to them personally, or does it belong to Sega? If these landmines aren't cleared, they'll become future liabilities."
The old man stopped rolling the walnuts and stared at his youngest son for a long while.
"The fact that you can see this level shows that the reports you've been reading these past few days haven't gone to waste," Hayao Nakayama said, placing the walnuts on the coffee table. "I built my career on arcade machines, and I believed in conquering the market. As long as the goods could be distributed, the money would always come back. But Sega's operation is too big now, with tens of billions in funds rolling through the accounts. A single slip-up could mean total ruin."
Takuya Nakayama nodded in agreement.
"That's why internal controls and approval processes must be tightened. Cross-departmental collaboration—especially between sales, finance, and production—can't be handled by each department doing its own thing. How sales meetings are conducted, whether cross-departmental cooperation is smooth... these are the details I need to get a grip on."
"Go ahead and take charge. But don't rush; make sure the materials and plans are fully prepared before you make your move," Hayao said, leaning back on the sofa and letting out a long sigh. "These old bones of mine really don't want to look at those dense columns of numbers anymore. Kazuki has a trial class at kindergarten tomorrow, and I have to go and film it."
The conversation ended with the old man's concern for his grandson.
Takuya Nakayama walked out of the president's office and glanced at his wristwatch. 5:10 PM.
Twenty minutes left until it was time to get off work.
Back in his own office, he sorted the stacks of documents on his desk and locked them in the safe.
The financial cognitive framework had been established, and he had already grazed the core lifeline of sales.
Over the next few months, he would need to map these theories one-to-one with the actual data.
No need to rush.
One bite at a time; he would slowly take the helm of this giant ship.
Although he had already assigned tasks to Yoshimura, Takuya Nakayama's own steps did not stop there.
The next day, he took several thick books out of his drawer.
"Modern Corporate Financial Management," "Principles of Auditing," "Detailed Explanation of Japanese Tax Law."
These were books he had specifically had his assistant bring back from Maruzen Bookstore a couple of days ago.
In his previous life, Takuya Nakayama understood games, markets, and had a rudimentary grasp of capital operations, but if he really had to examine every single entry in the account books, he would be at a loss.
Previously, being able to make Yoshimura break into a sweat relied on a "focus on the big picture" management logic and the business common sense accumulated from the future. The numbers in reports are processed layer by layer; what is presented is always what management wants the higher-ups to see.
To avoid being deceived by those below, one must possess the professional capability to penetrate this fog of numbers.
Sega's accounts had long been audited by an external, third-party accounting firm.
In Japan, this is a mature system that has been in operation for many years.
Any accounting firm practicing in Japan must register with the Financial Services Agency and possess the corresponding professional qualifications.
Globally renowned accounting firms from the West, if they wanted to conduct business in Japan, could only do so by affiliating with local Japanese firms through partnerships.
This created a very unique industry landscape.
In 1995, the Japanese audit market was firmly controlled by the "Big Four Audit Firms": Ernst & Young ShinNihon, KPMG Azusa, Tohmatsu, and ChuoAoyama Audit Corporation.
These four giants carved up the audit business for the vast majority of listed companies in Japan.
Shin Nihon is backed by the Ernst & Young network, Azusa is affiliated with PricewaterhouseCoopers, Tohmatsu belongs to the Deloitte system, and ChuoAoyama is a member of the PwC network.
While their names sound impressive, their operational logic is steeped in uniquely Japanese characteristics.
These four so-called "audit corporations" were not tightly organized entities built from the ground up, but rather patchwork organizations formed by the merger of over seventy small, local firms.
This piecemeal structure led to loose internal management and deeply intertwined, complex interest relationships.
Each small firm retained strong local characteristics and their own client networks.
They serve Japan's large corporations, and their market position is rock-solid.
Takuya Nakayama opened his "Principles of Auditing" textbook and stared at the chapter on "Independence."
Japanese corporate culture is deeply rooted in the concept of "Wa" (harmony) and the "lifetime employment" system.
Employees possess an extremely high level of loyalty to their companies, but this loyalty often degenerates into blind obedience to departmental interests or even to direct superiors.
Coupled with the "gekokujo" (the low overcoming the high) gene ingrained in their bones, it is not uncommon in Japanese business history for subordinates to conspire to deceive higher-ups in order to meet performance targets or cover up certain mistakes.
A scandal that shocked the world in his previous life flashed through Takuya Nakayama's mind.
Please Support me by becoming my patreon member and get 30+ chapters.
[email protected]/Ajal69
change @ with a
Thank You to Those who joined my Patreon