In the Tokugawa period Hakone-machi was an important town on the Tokaido, the only highway through this mountainous area between the imperial court in Kyoto and the shogunal capital in Edo.
There was only one highway in this area from Kyoto to Edo.
Customer involvement is important to first make senior executives aware of differing or competing expectations and to then build partnerships and coalitions to reach mutual understanding of the issues.