NITORI:

Challenge for Product Safety

Abstract

Nitori, a Japanese major furniture sales company, took the opportunity of a large-scale recall incident in 2007 to implement a strategy change, with product safety and quality management as its biggest theme, and actively conducted management and technological consulting for foreign manufacturers, in addition to promoting reformation of its corporate culture. As a result of these efforts, the company was able to increase sales and profits for the 32^nd consecutive year, while achieving an overwhelming quantitative expansion to 576 stores worldwide. It has also won the Minister of Economy, Trade and Industry Award (the highest award) consecutively. From the perspective of how companies and their products and services coexist with society beyond the era of product liability, we can see the true figure of Nitori, that is different from its past image.