A Message from an Outside Director

Highly Effective Corporate Governance

Four years have passed since I took up the position of outside director in 2019. I remember initially being surprised that DIC had a more vibrant and open atmosphere than I had expected from an organization that has been around for more than 100 years. I am reminded on a daily basis of the integrity and commitment to supporting DIC of each and every employee. Customers see this. It helps earn their trust and is surely one of the reasons behind the Company’s century-plus history. At Board of Directors’ meetings, we are able to exchange opinions on agenda items freely, which ensures the quality of discussions is excellent. In my view, the effectiveness of DIC’s corporate governance is extremely high.

Working to Resolve Social Imperatives with a Sense of Urgency

While there is undeniably a culture of sincerity, which is something I definitely applaud, I do feel that determination to execute plans and achieve targets is lacking to a certain degree. If one is passionate about seeing things through to completion, that energy will inspire others. Eventually, this develops into a major competitive advantage. Seeing things through also requires innovation. I think there is a tendency to see innovation as something difficult to generate from the ground up, but often it is just a matter of changing one’s approach, of, for example, combining two materials that already exist rather than starting from zero.

I believe that the key to fostering an employee’s passion for taking on challenges is to instill both the confidence that working for DIC will lead to personal growth and the desire to contribute to growth for the Company. One of the basic strategies of DIC Vision 2030 is to reinforce management of human capital. Helping employees become more engaged and fostering human resources are strategically important objectives, and I am fully in favor of the various measures being promoted to these ends. I recognize that neither of them will be achieved overnight. Providing unstinting training on an ongoing basis is also essential to nurturing the Company’s next generation of leaders.