Social and Behavioral Sciences Commons^™

Toshiba's Approach To Customer Value Design, Tatsuyuki Mikami

Markets, Globalization & Development Review

This paper describes the practice of "design thinking" in a Japanese company that tends to operate in an in-house-completed work context under a rigorously divided function-based vertical organization. In order to respond to significant shifts in the business environment accompanied by technological advances and changes in people's values, Toshiba introduced "Customer Value Design,” customized design thinking. Customer Value Design is characterized by "co-creation" of customers’ value with customers, "collaboration" in a Cross-Functional Team (CFT) of various experts transcending organizations and categories of expertise, and the "customer perspective" in co-creating experiential value, enterprise value, and social value. In order to compensate …