Winning Trust the Key Factor

CEO Lee of Hyechang Michael reveals how he won the confidence of Japanese managers

Following is an exclusive interview with CEO Lee Chang-ho of Hyechang Michael Co. on how he managed to export the company’s interior decoration materials made with Hinoki trees to Japan, where 80 percent of the world’s Hinoki trees grow. He singles out winning the trust of Japanese managers as the key element for the company to continue to be the general agent for Fuji Co. in Korea. He said he named his company Hyechang Michael because he is Christian and Michael means ‘an army of angels’ in the Bible.
Question: Can you tell us your management ideals as you have been running Hyechang Michael since its establishment?
Answer: We plan to develop Hyechang Michael further and turn our profits over to society with the management know-how we have accumulated over the years. We plan to give 20 million won monthly to society as a means to help social welfare and I would also like to give money to the church, as I am a Christian and would like to practice my Christian beliefs. The company started out as a general agent and got the patent rights in Japan and China to export our products to those countries to the tune of some 4 billion won per year.
Q: What are some of the parts that require cooperation and mutual support among SMEs in the business exchange between Korea and Japan?
A: The most important element has been trust, which I earned from dealing with Japanese managers for many years, and it has enabled me to work as a business companion with them. I have been making inroads into Japan, where some 80 percent of the world’s Hinoki cypress trees are planted, owing to the trust they have in me.
Q: Do you have a special philosophy as the CEO of your company?
A: I would like to have hope all the time as the CEO of Hyechang Michael. I start each day with a prayer with a positive mindset to develop myself. I always give prayers of thanks to God as I am a CEO with a deep religious faith and know how to control my mind.
Q: Can you update us on the technologies that the company developed through its own research and patented technologies in China and Japan?
A: The company’s multi-purpose ultraviolet coating line system only selects clear and delicate designs so that customers can enjoy an environmentally friendly well-being culture. UV silk print and high-gloss print technology are new growth engines and differentiated print technologies developed by an affiliated company’s technology team to produce high-tech goods.
Hinoki in our own language means old pine trees or “hoe” trees. The Japanese think they are trees given by the gods and look upon them as sacred trees. The trees are called Hinoki, as they are grown mostly in Japan.
Chairman Kageyama of the All Japan Trees for Interior Material Manufacturing Association said a half log, 35 mm thick and 80 mm wide, is most effective when used as interior decoration and is better than concrete materials in such matters as room temperature control, generating smells, cutting off ultraviolet rays and antibacterial effects, among others, speaking from his experiences in handling Hinoki interior materials stretching for over three decades. His company’s Fuji plant is located near Mt. Fuji where many Hinoki trees are planted. The high-tech plant is fully automated and is located deep inside the most famous mountain in Japan. The plant won the Best Hinoki Plant award in Shizuoka Prefecture with the special tree chips taking up 8 to 9 percent of interior decoration materials produced at the plant, with the company’s policy being to take up quality as the best element of its products. R&D activities on Hinoki have been conducted extensively, sometimes with rats, to test the tree’s ability to absorb moisture, its acoustic effects and heat conduction and other tests with lights, which showed that it is far better than concrete interiors. This company’s head office will be located in Songdo, Incheon, and we will have the initial public offering shortly.
Q: Please tell us more about the Hinoki tree.
A: People feel very pleasant when they breath fresh air in an open space covered with grass and trees, and their heads are cleared of all kinds of thoughts after getting out of the polluted city streets and rows of apartment buildings. This is because Hinoki trees have the phytoncide element that forests usually have. One can feel the element inside thick forests covered with trees owing to the phytoncide, a peculiar smell that calms down the minds of people when exposed. Phytoncide is a turpentine-like inflammable chemical compound that trees make to protect them against other plants and insects.
Phytoncide is absorbed into human bodies and eliminates various viruses and bacteria harmful to humans, along with bad smells, and it calms the minds of people. Hinoki trees generate the largest amount of phytoncide among trees and many Japanese recognize the benefits that the Hinoki trees bring to people. The Gusang trees growing in Korea are second best in generating phytoncide and the trees are well appreciated in the United States and Europe. In Japan, they used the trees to decorate palaces, temples and residents of powerful families. nw

In this photo are CEO Lee Chang-ho, center, and two Japanese executives related with Hinoki tree product manufacturing.