The LIXIL Headquarters has moved to a new location as of November 14 2022

Updated: October 29, 2020.

Walking through the doors at LIXIL’s former Kasumigaseki headquarters in 2015, it would be hard to differentiate the office from any one of the traditional Japan Inc. or government offices that dominate the central Tokyo neighborhood. The long rows of desks and top-down corporate culture were at odds with the company’s focus on developing innovative water and housing products to make our homes more comfortable and livable.

After taking over as President and CEO in 2016, Kinya Seto set LIXIL on a new path to become a purpose-driven entrepreneurial company. The aim was to radically transform from being a complex and often-times inefficient conglomerate, into an agile, consumer-focused organization that understands and meets consumers’ fast changing needs.

For LIXIL, this would be achieved through a combination of concrete structural changes to create a simpler, stronger organization, as well as by embedding a more agile, empowering, and open culture that enables employees to succeed to their full potential.

One of the first signs that old ways of operating were changing came when Seto abandoned the company’s dress code. There was a clear message; the focus would be on the work, not the formalities of corporate Japan. This was just the beginning of a transformation journey to create a more agile organization. Since then, the company has unified globally around a standard set of LIXIL Behaviors and transformed internal collaboration through new digital platforms and global integration. LIXIL also divested non-core businesses and will soon formally transition to a simplified operating company structure.

Being Ready to Face Unprecedented Challenges

Individual contributors have themselves started to break the mold of rigorous, hierarchical barriers. Leveraging the internal collaboration and communication platform, Workplace, employees have been inspiring and connecting with one another across borders: teams in EMENA and Japan came together to collaborate on 3D printing of the same ‘elbow-controlled’ door handles in response to COVID-19. During the pandemic many employees were now working from home, but 66%¹ said they felt more productive, taking advantage of the digital tools the company had at the ready and improving their work-life balance.

Focusing on the Job, Not the Title

For Seto, “Everyone has the capacity to lead – not just the person carrying the biggest title. People’s contributions shouldn’ t be limited to the title they hold. An environment without concerns about titles enables employees to stretch beyond where they believed their title would have allowed them to participate.”

Mohan said, “This is a milestone step towards us becoming a simpler, more open culture. What’s important is the actual work individuals are responsible for, not the title or rank they carry. We are focused on strengthening agile, team-based work. Teams create value for the organization by capitalizing on the collective strengths and diversity of thought. However, deference to hierarchy, fear of consequences, and lack of transparency can be barriers to effective teamwork. We want the best ideas to win, rather than a person’s rank.”

The move is also aimed at LIXIL better serving its partners and consumers, by placing an even greater focus on the actual services provided. With right expertise and decision-making capabilities at the table, the emphasis will be on collaboration and innovation to quickly find the right solutions, not the title on the business cards LIXIL people carry.

Yugo Kanazawa, Leader, Digital added, “The simplification of titles across the organization can be a catalyst for further positive culture change in LIXIL, ensuring that we embed a more agile and empowering culture. Our LIXIL Behaviors of “Do the Right Thing” , “Work with Respect” , and “Experiment and Learn” are all anchored in specific notions to encourage speaking-up and sharing views, acknowledging that everyone is a steward of our company’s success.”