66: Peter Strydom, President, Amway Japan

<p>Peter Strydom who is the President of Amway Japan shares his extensive global experience within the multinational corporation, having worked in South Africa, Spain, Germany, and Japan. Originally growing up in South Africa, Mr. Strydom had worked in leadership roles in Europe and Africa within Amway before coming to Japan. He decided to work in Japan after a mentor advised him to go to Asia to truly understand the business of Amway. He calls Amway Japan one of the crown jewel of the organization, with a nearly billion dollar business and 600, 000 independent distributors built over the last 40 years. As the President of Amway Japan, Mr. Strydom currently leads around 400 employees.</p> <p> </p> <p>One of the biggest challenges Mr. Strydom first faced when arriving in Japan was needing to implement a change management plan to within a set timeline. In a country like Japan that is resistant to quick change, he recalls this was a huge struggle. After leading in Japan for 6 years, Mr. Strydom has come to realize that profit and creating shareholder value is not necessarily the only primary driver in Japanese business culture. Hence, Mr. Strydom realized that explaining the profit-driven motive behind his change management plan was not going to work in this country. Mr. Strydom explains: “you need to expand the definition and dig a little bit deeper as to why you're doing this, not only for today, but for the impact it's going to have on people and for what it means for the future of the business.” He further explains that as a CEO in a multi-corporation in Japan, it is one’s responsibility to balance profitability required by headquarters while addressing the “more personal and societal concerns that are important within the local context.” For example, as part of their corporate social responsibility initiative, Amway Japan has been devoted to supporting victims of the March 11 earthquake and tsunami in Tohoku by building community houses. Mr. Strydom says these initiatives have resonated and built trust with all