Gaia Series 112: Creating a Mazda "corporate culture"

Mazda undertakes a radical internal culture reform to stay competitive in a rapidly changing auto industry.

In Hiroshima, where Mazda has been part of the city’s identity for over a century, change is quietly taking root within the company. At a training centre near its headquarters, employees of all ages and departments sit in pairs, writing down what “corporate culture” means to them. It is not just a team-building exercise. It is the first step in a five-year reform project that Mazda has staked its future on.

Launched in November 2023, the programme is called BLUEPRINT, a structured attempt to reshape how the company works and thinks. The project spans three phases: introduction, implementation and, finally, integration into everyday life. Almost all of Mazda’s 23,000 employees have already participated. In May alone, 4,000 gathered at Edion Peace Wing, a football stadium in Hiroshima.

“Maybe it’s the atmosphere within the organisation,” one participant says. Another adds, “I wrote something similar, about how we adjust the organisation’s atmosphere.” They are trying to articulate what may have once gone unquestioned — how things are done and why.

The push for cultural reform comes at a time of intense transformation in the global automotive industry. With electrification, automation and environmental expectations accelerating, Mazda, the fifth-largest carmaker in Japan with annual sales of 5.189 trillion yen (S$48.1 billion), is under pressure to adapt. “We’re not a large company by scale,” one executive admits. “So human potential, creativity and originality, and how we cultivate these qualities, are what truly matter.”

Leading this reform is Hiroshi Shiomi, a veteran employee now heading the BLUEPRINT initiative. Dressed in jeans and a t-shirt, he roams the training rooms casually. Formerly head of Corporate Planning, Shiomi was asked by the company’s CFO, Jeffrey Guyton, to travel to the Netherlands for training. Initially reluctant, he returned convinced. “I realised the company could really profit by bringing together the strengths of its employees. That, I thought, is what culture truly means.”

The change is not without friction. At a get-together with some of the programme’s Navigators — employees tasked with championing BLUEPRINT in their divisions — concerns are raised. “I think our division head doesn’t believe in BLUEPRINT,” one says. Another adds, “It’s disheartening that I can see through them. They act as if they’re above it all.” For Shiomi, the message is clear: executives must change too.

He launches a survey of 300 division and department heads. The feedback is candid. “I wish they would simply say sorry,” reads one comment. “They act on impulse.” “Their words are harsh.” “I want executives to talk with one another.”

Shiomi calls a meeting with Mazda’s senior leaders, excluding President Masahiro Moro and CFO Guyton, who are away. He hands them the comments and asks each to read them aloud. “It seems there’s little communication among executives.” “They dismiss their subordinates’ ideas.” “I wish they would first listen and accept what we say.”

It is an unusual moment in a Japanese boardroom. One executive admits, “I haven’t praised people. Maybe 1 out of 10 chances.” Another recalls a moment when a junior employee told him, “I’m the one you praised at that meeting.” It stuck with him.

The reform is already shifting perspectives. Kaoru Kono, who oversees domestic branding, says the BLUEPRINT training changed how he thinks about customer experience. “In the past, Mazda’s ads mainly focused on the car’s design and price,” he says. “Now, we’re thinking more seriously about the kind of experiences we want to deliver.”

At the company’s research centre in Yokohama, technical researcher Shoko Horibata says the programme encouraged her to speak up more. “I used to be the type to stay inward doing research. But now I talk more, even with people outside the company. Eventually, I gained the motivation to communicate directly with customers. I believe that’s thanks to BLUEPRINT.”

Her colleague, senior researcher Kiyotaka Sato, says he now wants to make Mazda a more open company. He and Horibata recently visited the Yokohama Hardtech Hub, run by Mitsubishi Heavy Industries, to learn from how other firms collaborate. “There are more important things than money,” a manager there told them. “And there are things only Mazda can do.”

This push for transparency is timely. In 2024, misconduct at major Japanese automakers, including Toyota, Yamaha and Honda, drew public scrutiny. Mazda itself admitted to improper airbag crash tests on three models. “We pledge to prevent recurrence,” said President Moro. “And work hard to regain public trust.”

At a quarterly briefing in August, Moro announced that Mazda recorded an operating loss for the first quarter. Net losses totalled 42.1 billion yen, mainly due to US tariffs. The US market accounts for 34 per cent of the company’s global sales. Still, the full-year forecast remains positive. “We will accelerate efforts to strengthen our profit structure,” Moro said. “Without losing momentum.”

Shiomi believes cultural reform plays a part in that recovery. “It’s an extremely high target, but we can still do it by focusing our efforts. You can feel that these discussions are leading to real improvements. I truly think the new culture is having a positive effect.”

For him, the mission is personal. In a quiet moment, Shiomi visits a small shrine on the Mazda campus, a place he used to stop by early in his career. There, he reads a letter from his late father, Katsutoshi, a banker. The letter was written shortly after Shiomi joined the company. “The greatest resistance comes from the organisation itself,” his father wrote. “But there are also many who genuinely wish to improve things. They care about the opinions of younger people and welcome suggestions.”

Shiomi carries the letter with him whenever he faces a turning point. As Mazda navigates electrification, reputational repair and global competition, it is this kind of conviction, quiet and personal, that may drive the company forward.