This provides a detailed examination of Ajinomoto's marketing organizational transformation, which was driven by a crisis of feeling disconnected from customers and the inefficiencies of a vertically siloed system.

The company established the Marketing Design Center (MDC) in 2023 to shift from a "division of labor" to an integrated "collaboration" model, bringing various professional functions together from the initial planning stages. The transformation process is analyzed through the lens of John P. Kotter's Eight-Step Process of Change, detailing how Ajinomoto systematically raised awareness of the crisis, built a powerful guiding coalition (the MDC), created a clear vision with the slogan "Swing The Bat," and achieved both short-term successes and long-term cultural change.

It emphasizes that the stable performance of the company actually presented the ideal time to initiate this bold organizational shift to secure future relevance.