Fuji Xerox China-New Working Style
About Fuji Xerox (China) Limited
Fuji Xerox (China) Limited (FXCL) was registered as a wholly-owned foreign company in Beijing on January 3, 1995 with a total investment of US$ 39 million. The company has 28 branches and offices in different cities, including Shanghai, Beijing, Guangzhou, Chengdu, Shenzhen, Shenyang, Wuhan, Hangzhou, Tianjin, Dalian, Qingdao, Nanjing, Dongguan, Hefei, Xi’an, Chongqing and Fuzhou etc. FXCL also invested a wholly-owned subsidiary—Fuji Xerox Industry and Development (Shanghai) Co., Ltd. (FXID) in China (Shanghai) Pilot Free Trade Zone (previously Shanghai Waigaoqiao Free Trade Zone) In April 2005, FXCL and Fuji Xerox Asia-Pacific Pte Limited established a joint venture—Fuji Xerox Leasing (China) Limited (FXLCL). In 2013, Fuji Xerox (China) Limited registered Fuji Xerox Service (China) Limited (FXSCL).
Currently, there are more than 2,800 employees in FXCL (excluding manufacturing enterprises).
FXCL mainly provides China market with document management devices, solutions and services that satisfy various needs of all customers including the entry-level laser printers and multifunction devices for personal printing, home users and SMEs; digital multifunction devices tailor-made for SMEs; smart and low-carbon digital multifunction devices and document management solutions and services to help offices achieve high-efficiency and low-cost and bring enterprises a valuable communication environment; digital printing systems and engineering systems which meet the needs of customization and in-demand printing; and the global services aiming at the need of enterprise’s out-source document printing management.
Fuji Xerox has one sourcing company and three plants in China including Fuji Xerox Procurement & Consulting (Shenzhen) Limited, Fuji Xerox of Shanghai Limited (FXSL), Fuji Xerox High-Technology Company of Shenzhen Limited (FXSZ) and Fuji Xerox Eco-Manufacturing (Suzhou) Co., Ltd. (FXEMS), among which, FXEMS is the earliest and the only one being equipped with the professional integrated resources recycling system to deal with electronic waste in the industry.
Given the new normal of Chinese economy, most foreign companies in China have experienced slow growth and painful restructuring. To achieve sustainable development now becomes the main objective of FXCL after its high-speed growth in the past 15 years in China. Although FXCL is still the top leading firm in the industry in China, the gap between FXCL and its competitors has become smaller. FXCL is paving the transforming way to the leader of document solutions and services. As the top management team suggested, FXCL is accelerating the business transformation to solutions and services. With effective integration of CSR into the company vision, FXCL will provide customers with more sustainable value.
CSR Initiatives
FXCL takes responsibility for all business processes in its value chain, from materials procurement to 3R (reduce, reuse, recycle) and disposal. Wherever it operates, we work hand in hand with stakeholders in all business processes to create value at every stage of the value chain. By pursuing "unity of words and deeds", the company strives to deliver that value both to its customers and to society as a whole.
FXCL regards itself as a “Good Company” and established this concept as a foundation of management. According to this concept, a good company should be 'strong', 'kind' and 'interesting'. A 'strong' company delivers excellent products and services that satisfy customers, and is able to reward its shareholders continuously. A 'kind' company contributes to local and global communities in terms of environmental conservation, ethical behavior, and social contribution. Employees find their life and work fulfilling at an 'interesting' company. FXCL aims to be a company with a good balance of all three attributes.
The FXCL Learning and Development Center helps companies develop human resources and enhance their organizational strength through educational training and consulting services. LDC was founded in year 2005 July with $1.8 million (USD) invested and covered 1,685 square meters. Since it was founded, the LDC has been focusing on the fulfillment of diverse training needs and building up the Learning Culture within FXCL. There are 41,368 participants benefited from the training programs and 1,027,253 learning hours contributed in total by the end of year 2016. Various training programs and workshops have been introduced to all employees in FXCL as it is always the priority for LDC to satisfy the changing needs of training services during FXCL business transformation progress. ICT Training Program, as an example, was launched in 2016 for all Sales employees in China in order to support the business transformation progress. What LDC strives for in the coming 12 years was aligned with the vision of FXCL to be a Good Company, to provide excellent training services for creating innovative work style and realizing valuable communication; for being the leader in Document Solutions and Services; for being a “Good Company” that is most admired by the local society and a source of pride for its employees..
Launching the Project on New Working Style
Under the rapid development of information technology, if FXCL wants to become the leader of document solutions and services, it has to maintain high customer satisfaction. Accordingly, FXCL realize it is important to change the mindset and set up a new working style for all employees.
At the beginning of Fiscal year 2017, FXCL decided to launch the project named “New Working Style”. The main objective is to think about an adapted new working method in order to match/align internal situation and external needs by motivating employees to be more active and supportive toward their customers. Meanwhile, New Working Style also encourages employees to intimately collaborate with each other so as to achieve efficient and effective outcomes. Currently, the project is still at the initial stage and needs more sophisticated implementing disposition.
The Challenge and Concerns
Current main challenge for FXCL is how to accelerate the business transformation progress to be a real leader in document management and solution & service market in order to achieve “Good Company” vision. Under this main challenge, there are some important issues, such as how to make changes in terms of our internal working method, improve the internal business process, how to manage the young generation and let them contribute their passion to the organization to achieve our goal in the next 3 years as leader for Service Solutions.
On one hand, youth is the time of life full of promise, aspiration and energy. Young employees possess skills that can make FXCL flourish and competence strengthen. They seek opportunities for personal autonomy and self-esteem. Actually, FXCL endeavors to promote more opportunity for young employees and provide more freedom so that their voice can be heard at all levels within company.
On the other hand, older employees having more experience are always proud of the glorious performance they have achieved in the past. When they become senior, they certainly prefer to implement “the best practice” they have adopted. How can young & old employees find common ground and establish a new working style together in the workplace? This becomes an important issue.
In order to carry out the NWS project and achieve sustainable development during business transformation, FXCL need to take some actions to resolve the above issue. Through the implementation of NWS project, FXCL would like to motivate employees to maintain high customer satisfaction, and enhance the cohesion of the firm and centripetal forces as well.
The challenge: In your teams, we would like you to create a strategic plan or suggestion the NWS project for Fuji Xerox China, to be shared with FXCL’s Vice President.
Teams will need to consider;
- The innovative strategies they would implement to strengthen the NWS project of Fuji Xerox China.
- The ethical implications of your recommendations, for FXCL as a business, as well as the wider society
Deliverables
Each team to produce;
3-4 page executive summary, outlining findings and recommendations
4-5 minute video, highlighting their key findings and recommendations
2 page summary of how the team collaborated virtually, chosen methods of communication and learnings from the competition experience
Tips on how to approach the case
1. Issue identification
What does your team perceive to be the key ethical issues for employees facing the Vice President of FXCL, surrounding the questions raised by this case?
How does your team anticipate the path of FXCL into this next Century? Are you in agreement with the perspective presented in the case?
What are the core values of FXCL? Of the key stakeholders it serves?
2. Facts
Are there additional facts that your team needs to gather beyond those offered by the case document in order to reach an effective response to this case?
What additional data will inform your decision?
3. Alternatives
Your team has identified issues above. What options do you have to resolve these issues?
What do you recommend to FXCL? Do you agree that there may be an adverse impact on its businesses? If so, how should it respond to that impact? Are there other disruptive changes that might occur and how should FXCL anticipate a response to those?
4. Stakeholders
Based on your identified options, above, who has a stake in your recommendations to FXCL, who will be impacted and how?
5. Impact
What are the benefits and risks of each option you have on each of these stakeholders?
6. Additional assistance
Can some perspectives from UN SDGs guide your analyst team?
7. Final Decision
Based on this overall analysis, what are the innovative strategies that your analyst team would recommend to FXCL’s VP and why? What is your most effective argument to him? Evolve a strategy for FXCL, and defend it.
Timeline
Date / ActivitiesTuesday 31st October / - Competition briefing
- Website launch – containing case information and guidance on how to approach the task
- Teams are assigned and contact information is given out
- Students are introduced to their mentors (hopefully meeting the academic mentor in person)
Tuesday 31st October – Wednesday 15th November / - Teams are to work in their own time with the help of their mentors through the preferred communication method
- Mentors provide feedback to the teams on executive summary and video draft
- Academic mentors are asked to meet each of their three assigned teams once a week (twice in total)
Wednesday 15th November, 12pm (noon) GMT / - A 3-4 page executive summary outlining their findings and recommendations
- A 4-5 minute video, highlighting their key findings and recommendations
- A 2 page document outlining how the team collaborated across time zones and continents (what methods and what they learnt) - this submission will help judges determine which team will be awarded an additional prize for collaboration
- One team member must email these to by this time
Friday 17th November (option to move to the 19th if easier for Fuji Xerox) / - Competition judging, estimated 12 – 2 GMT
Week beginning 20th November / - Winners are announced at some point during this week once judging has been finalised