BUSINESS: IT’S ALL ABOUT KANDO KANDO
WORDS TIMOTHY S. MESCON, Ph.D.
Yamaha Motor Corporation is celebrating its 50th anniversary this year. The company’s mission statement is simple, lucid, direct and bold: “Be the leader in creating a lifetime of exciting and memorable experiences.” Through the manufacturing and distribution of Star Motorcycles, motocross and off-road motorcycles, scooters, snowmobiles, ATVs, boats, Waverunners, outboard motors and more, Yamaha truly inhabits the universe of exciting and memorable experiences. Yamaha’s core company values include:
There is a force at Yamaha that truly reflects the kind of commitment that drives great organizations. That force is Kando (pronounced kondo), the Japanese word used to express feelings of excitement and deep satisfaction, and a higher level of customer satisfaction using ingenuity and enthusiasm to enrich people’s lives. Yamaha’s corporate objective is to continue to create Kando—inspiration for the heart and spirit—and to enrich culture with technology and passion. When Kando is felt deeply it becomes one’s hopes and dreams, and the sharing of hopes and dreams is what links people together.
To the more cynical among you, this may seem a bit overdramatic, even a tad schmaltzy. But in reality, when we look at hyper-performance organizations, this is what differentiates the world-class from the rest. So how about a few other examples of Kando at work?
Surpassing customer expectations Respecting employees, partners, community and environment Improving through innovation
Brave New World
As the nation’s largest operator of bagel bakeries, and the leader of the “quick casual” segment of the restaurant industry, Golden, CO-based New World Restaurant Group (NWRG) has 690 locations in 34 states and the District of Columbia. Having started with a 270-square-foot coffeehouse in Manhattan’s Greenwich Village, New World now owns one dough production facility and five successful independent brands, including Einstein Bros Bagels, Noah’s Bagels, Manhattan Bagel, Chesapeake Bagel Bakery and New World Coffee. With each sporting its own identity, the brands work independently in niches nationwide, and they are growing stronger each year under the powerful umbrella of New World Restaurant Group.
NWRG’s family of brands boasts a portfolio of tastes that is the result of two things: superior ingredients and culinary creativity. The company was sloshing around in balsamic vinegar before it was “in,” and it also started using Gouda cheese long before it was cool. From utilizing a state-of-the-art test kitchen facility to supporting constant innovation aimed at meeting ever-changing consumer tastes, they obsess over getting the food right, getting it to the customers, and doing both those things two steps ahead of the competition. The company practices Kando daily, and performance is exceptional.
Go Caribou
In 1990, during an adventure through the Alaskan wilderness, a young couple journeyed to the top of Sable Mountain. After a strenuous climb, they reached the summit and were rewarded with a sensational view: the boundless mountains, a clear blue sky and a herd of caribou thundering through the valley.
That was truly the “aha” moment. Two years later, Caribou Coffee was launched in Minneapolis, MN. Today, Caribou is the second largest US specialty coffee company, with hundreds of stores and more than 4,000 employees across 13 states.
The breathtaking panoramic view became the entrepreneurial vision for Caribou Coffee— a company that believes excellence is a product of hard work and that life is too short for anything else. This vision serves as a guide, as Caribou strives to create a special experience for every customer at every location. This is the spirit of Kando at work.
If you look at the Caribou mission and values, it reads like the Yamaha creed, exuding the spirit of Kando. The mission: “An experience that makes the day better.” The core values are brilliant in their simplicity and in the picture they paint for employees and customers alike:
Life is short…
Blaze new trails
Be excellent, not average
Enjoy what you do Respect diversity
Teamwork builds success
Success and profit create opportunities
Make a difference in our community
What resonates with these core values is the constant focus on excitement, satisfaction, hopes and dreams. This truly reflects the spirit and insight of Kando, and clearly drives Caribou and other great enterprises focused on customer, market and long-term success.
Whether your business is large or small, the tenets and great operating principles of Kando are simple. The tough part is in the execution. Great companies large and small understand this and build on greatness one day, one transaction and one customer at a time.