I re-read a book about former president of gyudon restaurant Yoshinoya, Mr. Shuji Abe. I've been a big fan of him ever since I watched his interview on TV years ago when import of US beef was banned due to BSE.
Contrary to the typical reaction by its competing operators, Yoshinoya decided to stop serving their flagship beef bowl, saying, "If we use non-US beef, it's no longer Yoshinoya's beef bowl.
Yoshinoya naturally experienced a temporary setback, but once the ban was lifted, it made a dramatic comeback in terms of sales and revenues.
In fact, world-renowned consulting firm Mckinsey & Company forecast a series of declines for Yoshinoya's stock price from the perspective of rigorous corporate analysis.
To their surprise, though, the decline in the stock price was minimum, and soon it started rise steadily.
Mckinsey & Company attributed this phenomenon to three main reasons. I'm not going to elaborate on all of them here, but one thing leaves me with a strong impression, and that is that Yoshinoha has a core value, and it didn't change it at the time of crisis.
Change is usually a positive value. It's especially true in the US, and it's generally considered important in times of rapid social change. However, what Yoshinoya teaches us is that there is something you should never change in business operation, and that is one of the most vital things that navigate you through adversities.
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