The purpose of this article is to provide an alternative solution to management and employee issues faced by entrepreneurs. In this review we share our experience with FileMaker, a program that proves to be useful in your everyday life at work.
2. True
Entrepreneurship
by FileMaker
In five parts, under the title “True
Entrepreneurship by FileMaker”, I will
provide information that is useful to
management.
Written by Hiroshi OKAMOTO
and Yusuke MAYUZUMI
Designed by Clémence BONNET
3. True Entrepreneurship by FileMaker
Recruiting by FileMaker
For 25 years, our company has been engaged in the import retail business. In May
2011, we stopped selling records, which had been our core product for over 20 years, and
departed on a new venture of selling music software, along with other software used in
business.
Upon our withdrawal from the record-selling business, many of our record- and CD-
“At this crisis point, when it was
imperative to keep the business running,
FileMaker was of great use to us.”
enthusiast staff left us. For our company that, with a staff of just less than thirty, imports
Hiroshi Okamoto, dmr! CEO
who wished to leave. At this crisis point, when it was imperative to keep the business
products and runs an online shop, the loss of a few employees was a massive blow, and
threatened our ability to run our day-to-day business. Despite this, we willingly let go those
running, FileMaker was of great use to us.
It is people who support business. As such, recruitment holds exceptional
significance. To achieve recruitment success, there is a need to evaluate applicants from
multiple perspectives. In other words, by examining candidates from various angles, we can
prevent distortions in evaluation that arise from the biases of the various decision-makers.
However, when several people are involved in evaluation, it is very difficult to devise and
adjust a recruitment schedule.
Furthermore, in the recent business environment, where companies are emphasizing
the diversity of working practices among employees as an essential part of their arsenal, it is
a daunting task for an eclectic team to manage the recruitment process efficiently and
thoroughly. At that difficult time, FileMaker was extremely useful. By creating three tabs,
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4. “Document Screening”, “Primary Screening”, and “Secondary
introduction of FileMaker Pro 7. It appears that Pro 7 was launched in
Screening”, we were able to efficiently manage the necessary
2004, meaning that this database will celebrate the 10th anniversary of its
information.
construction next year.
As for many companies, part-time and temporary employees are an
I believe the reason we have continued to use this database for so
important part of our forces. When it suddenly became necessary to
long is quite simply that FileMaker allows us to customize our databases,
employ several new staff, by using
with no extra cost or hassle, at a time that suits us.
FileMaker to manage resume screening,
multiple interviews, and various evaluation
tools, we were able to quickly and
prudently go about recruiting people who
fitted our company’s recruitment criteria.
Another benefit of FileMaker is that this kind of database can be
processed within a single day. As it is a database we construct ourselves,
it is possible to make small-scale corrections right there and then. In fact,
I have even been able to edit the database layout during the free time at a
company information session.
As for any company, recruitment is a difficult task for us. However,
I will describe a case that illustrates the effectiveness of this kind of
careful selection process. Recently, there have been applications from a
variety of overseas students, including a student of a French MBA
school, a graduate of a well-known Russian University, and an African
student who was set to enter graduate school at MIT. Of course, we have
not been using one of the “students of prestigious overseas universities
recruitment support” services that are often found nowadays. I made the
database to process these foreign applications at the time of the
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5. True Entrepreneurship by FileMaker
Credo by FileMaker
The other day, an intern who had returned to France, his home country, said
something interesting about The Beatles’ song, All You Need is Love. As you will discover
if you search for this song title along with “La Marseillaise”, its intro mirrors that of the
French national anthem.
An interpretation often found on the Internet is that this song was
used to promote friendship between the two countries. However,
according to the French intern, the use of La Marseillaise by The
“Since the start of operations, the Credo
has been announced more than five
thousand times.”
Hiroshi Okamoto, dmr! CEO
Beatles was an exercise in high irony. In fact, the lyrics of La
Marseillaise are extremely aggressive (please refer to Wikipedia et al).
It seems that using All You Need is Love as a title, and putting it to
music designed to fire up warriors, was a first-class joke on the part of The Beatles.
In any case, the connection of this story to this book, “FileMaker Entrepreneurship”,
is that this story was part of a speech that the French intern delivered at our daily morning
meeting.
The Famous Credo of the Ritz Carlton
I think there are many companies who have decided upon and are using this Credo.
However, all too often, once adopted, the Credo is left to one side.
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6. Our company has also established a Credo. There is the approach
In these days of fierce inter-company competition, the importance
of creating a Credo, only to look back on it when something happens. On
of mutual understanding between employees and management is
the other hand, I think there is also the approach of consistently
increasing. However, we cannot waste time. On such occasions, as
implementing what is written in the Credo. Our company takes the latter
described above, FileMaker facilitates the efficient handling of business.
approach. However, as a result, we must be careful to avoid increasing
the burden on our operations. We are operating our Credo on a FileMaker
FileMaker is also an effective tool in human resource management.
database, and we are using it along with some mechanisms to prevent
I strongly encourage you to try it at your company.
operational overloading.
For example, I have heard that there is a system
whereby one employee can, by way of a “thank you letter”,
express gratitude to another for their contribution. I think
there is considerable joy in receiving such a letter that
someone has taken the trouble to write for you. However,
there is also some time and effort involved in exchanging
letters within the company, and in terms of quantity, problems may arise
from the accumulation of letters shut inside desks.
In our company, in place of these letters, we have our employees
announce their gratitude in front of everyone, and we record and store the
announcement as audio data. By doing so, we can share the audio data
instantly, even between distant locations. Also, each employee of our
company announces “staff who do business to a high standard in
accordance with the Credo” in front of everyone.
Since the start of
operations, the Credo has been announced more than five thousand
times. The speech by the French intern mentioned earlier was delivered
on the occasion of such a Credo announcement.
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7. True Entrepreneurship by FileMaker
Raising Motivation by FileMaker
It’s out of the blue, but I have a question for you. Did FileMaker used to run a
commercial on television, or did they not? The answer is, they did.
The commercial used to be aired during Tetsuya Chikushi’s show, News23. It seems
that there are not many people who know about this; in fact, upon searching on Google, I
found only one result. The only software commercials being broadcast that come to mind
are OBC’s “Accounts Magistrate” accounting software, and OBIC’s software.
“You may well say, “What, that’s it?”,
but in my experience this has proven to
be a greatly effective technique.”
Hiroshi Okamoto, dmr! CEO
However, perhaps due to the effect of that commercial, FileMaker’s share of the
Japanese market is extremely high compared to their market share in other countries. In
fact, it was seeing that commercial that led me to introduce FileMaker into our company,
dmr!.
The other day, I took part in the final day of a series of lectures held at a particular
university by one of our company’s officials. I spoke mostly on the subject of
entrepreneurship. Afterwards, one of the participating students brought up this problem: “I
am thinking of starting a business, but it is not working out very well with my associates”. I
advised him that rather than working together “because we’re friends”, it would be a good
idea to work together with people who share the same view of themselves, and the same
philosophy, and to continue to seek out more people like that.
However, as is often pointed out in Management Studies field research, there are
some companies that start out with as yet vague views and philosophies, and that then
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8. evolve and prosper through a process of policy corrections and
adjustments as time goes by.
photo on Google or social networking sites. Upon entering a company,
In the management of a business or a club, the role sought of a
leader is to raise the motivation of members. In terms of management,
what course do you take when you are appointed the leader of a
Nowadays, it has become commonplace to be able to display your
and working only with text and charts within the company system, it
would be a shame if a new employee were to feel ill at ease, and if their
performance were to drop, even if only slightly, as a result. Happily,
unlike Excel et al., one special feature of FileMaker is that it is
project? Nowadays, a great deal of practical knowledge on
easy and hassle-free to display photos.
this topic is available in books and online, and there
are also many IT services that support such
FileMaker no longer broadcasts commercials,
knowledge.
and general familiarity with it has diminished.
However, if by posting a photo, in the style of the
This time, I will introduce a device for raising
much-used social networks, an independent spirit and
motivation that employs FileMaker. That is, to display
each member’s photo in FileMaker-made documents (databases)
which are circulated between members of a company or team. You may
a sense of initiative were to arise naturally in employee’s
input, then that makes it worth a try.
well say, “What, that’s it?”, but in my experience this has proven to be a
greatly effective technique.
also follow the style of wearing our casual clothes to work, so I can use
If you spend all day reading a web page packed with text and
information, that page will start to appear very dull. However, what if
(By the way, we re-take the photos annually at our company. We
the photo taken for work as my Facebook or Google profile picture. It
has proven quite useful!)
your own photo were to be displayed there? When you have a group
photo taken, and look at the finished result, where do you look first? I
think the majority of people will first search out their own face.
Databases that have been made with FileMaker come to be used
throughout your company or club; what if pictures of employees, parttime staff and club members were to be displayed in, for instance, the
sales results report of the sales department staff, the daily report of a
part-time job, or the activity log of a club.
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9. True Entrepreneurship by FileMaker
Adaptability by FileMaker
The other day, a French female exchange student began working for us as an intern. It
seems that shortly after she arrived in Japan there had been an earthquake while she was
sleeping, and that she had since been unable to sleep well out of fear. Among those who live
in the Kanto and Tohoku regions, there are many who have become accustomed to feeling
the aftershocks of the Great East Japan Earthquake. Nothing should make us forget that
“In the current fiercely competitive business environment, even apart from our
own company, all organizations are being forced to make major or minor
changes.”
Hiroshi Okamoto, dmr! CEO
unprecedented disaster, but recently there have been fewer palpable aftershocks, and for
many it has thankfully become easier to sleep soundly.
Listening to the intern’s story, it occurred to me again what a terribly frightening thing
familiarity can be. On the bright side, we may have become able to control our fear of the
shaking brought about by an earthquake, and this could be taken to be an improvement in
our powers of adaptation; however, this fear of shaking is instinctive, and there is a danger
that control of our fear could actually delay our response to danger. How, then, should we
deal with these “gradually changing circumstances”?
In this fourth article, I would like to write about the usefulness of FileMaker as a
means of properly grasping “gradually changing circumstances”.
As I have already written, our company has been in the import retail business for
twenty-five years. In May 2011, we stopped selling records, which had been our core
product for more than twenty years, and we dramatically changed course to start selling
business software such as FileMaker, along with music software and miscellaneous goods.
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10. I think that, in the current fiercely competitive business
things in the company each month. Around 200 improvements are made
environment, even apart from our own company, all
annually.
organizations are being forced to make major or minor
changes. Whether organizations are expanding or
repeatedly experiencing the initial fear of the aftershock,
shrinking, people, things, money and information need to
people gradually grow accustomed. “Things accumulating
be scaled accordingly; if the durability of the organization
little by little” is also a “gradual” process. In corporate and
is to be assured, we can’t avoid these realities.
organizational management, grasping that condition of
Formerly our company had two direct retail outlets
gradual change is essential.
and a separate headquarters, and FileMaker was very
useful in managing the “things” at each base. With the
management of things. We define the meaning of each of
present example, FileMaker is also effective in the
standardizing, and sustaining), and we have established a system
whereby every month a person in charge patrols and checks the things at
all our bases, and makes immediate improvements.
Furthermore, at our company the monthly checks are not
performed by one particular person, but are conducted on a rotation
basis, in order to give everyone a sense of involvement.
management of things. There is no organization without
Artist
the 5 S’s (sorting, set in order, systematic cleaning,
The words “database software” tend to stir up the
image of dealing with numerical data, but as shown in the
concept of 5S as a foundation, and using FileMaker as a
starting point, we continually strive to improve our
As I mentioned at the beginning, I think that, through
In the seven years of implementation since we started in 2007,
1475 improvements have been made. From the proposal for a drastic
change of the storeroom layout, to dealing with the employee’s chocolate
bars left behind in the fridge, we have put a system in place to check all
things. This is even truer for retailers like us. In addition,
once the management of things has been allowed to become sloppy,
when you finally set about reforming, improvements will take time and
effort, and will impede everyday business. It is possible to prevent this
situation in advance by using FileMaker in the way I have mentioned.
Although every organization must tackle the “management of
things”, there is the issue of not wanting to waste time. By applying the
excellent concept of 5S in combination with FileMaker, which facilitates
its implementation, it is possible to efficiently boost results. Please try it
out for yourselves.
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11. True Entrepreneurship by FileMaker
Shikumika by FileMaker
My hobby is collecting records. As mentioned in previous issues, our company used
to specialize in selling records, and so has many music-loving staff, more than a few of who
still purchase records to this day. I am one of them.
The other day, I was asked by a friend who manages a café in Harajuku to make a
summer-themed compilation CD as background music for his shop. I agreed, thinking I just
“...as the number of proposals increased,
so did the volume of data, and it became
difficult to quickly access the required
information.”
Yusuke Mayuzumi, dmr!
needed to pull out some records from my collection, but as I set to work, I discovered that,
no matter how hard I searched, there were certain records that I simply couldn’t find.
I own about 1500 records, and it is a tremendous hassle when I
can’t find one of them. Even after laboriously checking each and
every record the missing ones didn’t appear. I was absolutely sure I
had bought them: where on earth could they have gone? Eventually,
out of frustration, I gave up the search for the records I had gone to all
the trouble of buying, and decided to find the music online.
In this case, it was my fault for being poorly organized, but this is also a problem that
is prone to arise in business. In this issue, using our company’s Shikumika Suggestion
System as a case study, I would like to describe improvements that can be made in
organizing information, and in making it easier to locate.
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12. The Shikumika Suggestion System is a system whereby, every
Thanks to the fact that it was now possible to narrow down
quarter, all our staff including part-time workers, make proposals for and
searches to a particular project, after the data was imported into the
vote on the introduction of new projects. We only allow approved
FileMaker database it became easier than ever to check the status of each
projects to be implemented. Furthermore, after three months, the results
project, evaluation, or presentation proceedings. Furthermore, using
of the approved projects are presented in front of the whole staff, and are
Excel requires a lot of scrolling, so it can be stressful to check the
scored based on an independent evaluation standard.
information at the bottom of a page, but by using the FileMaker tab
By doing this,
members of staff who proposed a good idea that raised performance get a
chance to be evaluated. The DMR Online Shop and the service at the
feature, we can review all the information within one screen.
Shibuya store were born of this suggestion system.
This system has become the driving force of our company, and
precisely because it is essential that all staff access this data, I would like
“Shikumika” is a word that you have probably heard if you
to make it stress-free to use. Also, I want to make its operation as
frequent the business world in Japan, and it is a concept that our
seamless as possible. The appeal of FileMaker is that it intuitively
company values greatly. It serves as a means of boosting the added value
responds to such needs.
of our services.
However, when this system was initially devised, the overall
I am really keen to avoid further frustration by also using
FileMaker to manage my home record collection.
process was complicated, and we used an Excel list to manage
everything, including the status of each project, the proceedings of the
presentations, and the evaluation grades. As a result, the effort required
just to operate the system was much too great. Also, as the number of
proposals increased, so did the volume of data, and it became difficult to
quickly access the required information.
This is where FileMaker helped. I proposed importing the
operation of the Shikumika Suggestion System into a database. This is
because I believed that by switching from accumulating data in Excel to
managing it with FileMaker, we could increase the visibility of the
information, and also reduce the operational load.
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13. True entrepreneurship by FileMaker
About the authors
Hiroshi Okamoto
Yusuke Mayuzumi
Hiroshi Okamoto is the Founder
Yusuke Mayuzumi joined dmr! in
and CEO of dmr!. Established
2007. Directed all aspects of the
Dance Music Record in 1988
company’s web-site. Maintained
and reshaped business model in
and Managed the company’s
2010. 24 years of extensive
infrastructure.
experience in starting up and
growing business.
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