Messages from the Director

Continuing to actively express the opinions of a member of the founding family from a long-term perspective and contribute to the Group’s growth

Hideaki Fukutake

Director, Chair of the Board of Directors

Leveraging knowledge based on personal experience to support endeavors toward sustainable growth from the perspective of a member of the founding family

I had the experience of developing new projects and setting up a system for taking a company public when I was at SMS Co., Ltd., which was a startup business at the time. At present, I am involved in the launching and acquisition of companies through an investment company I founded myself. At the same time, I have been involved in the management of organizations of various sizes and forms, both domestic and international, which includes serving as the Vice Chair of the Board at the Fukutake Foundation, a public interest incorporated foundation.
Currently, through the Digital Innovation Fund (DIF), we are actively investing in technology companies and also working to strengthen our overseas expansion. The Group has always been a rather cautious corporation that tends to avoid taking risks, but in this era of rapid change, this attitude can pose a risk to our growth. Naturally, it will be necessary to correctly identify and assess risks when making investments and implementing other policies through due diligence and other means, and I hope to be able to utilize my experience in this regard.

Discussing the direction we should be aiming for from a long-term perspective, taking overseas trends into account

At the Board of Directors, I endeavor to create opportunities for having in-depth discussions by expressing opinions about the direction our Group should be aiming for from a long-term perspective, while looking ahead to social trends, changes in people’s values, and the further evolution of technology. For example, with regard to Naoshima initiatives which aim to integrate business and cultural activities, I believe that they will contribute to enhancing Benesse’s corporate value over the long term, and in addition to expressing opinions from this viewpoint at the Board of Directors, I have made proposals such as conducting executive training centered around Naoshima.
I also make proposals in the course of Board discussions which take overseas trends and cases into account. I currently reside overseas, and looking at cases in the field of education within Japan and overseas, there are some cases where educational companies are using IT to expand their services, while in other cases, IT companies are starting new educational services. We need to make appropriate decisions on how to confront such domestic and international competition and how to incorporate them into the Group’s growth. Our Group has developed Udemy—a service which was launched in America—in Japan, and we are expanding the business. I recognize that my role is to contribute to increasing the number of such success stories going forward.

Enlivening Board of Directors discussions and making contributions to further improving effectiveness

The assessment of the effectiveness of the Board of Directors, which has been in place since fiscal 2015, includes a space for additional comments along with a five-point rating scale. Every fiscal year, a quite large number of opinions based on the expertise of each Director are listed in this comment space, and it is utilized to ensure the effectiveness of the Board. In addition, in the fiscal 2021 assessment, it was confirmed that improvements have been made in expanding dialogue with shareholders and investors, which was raised as an issue in the previous year, and in reflecting the content of those dialogues in the management of the Company. I perceive that the effectiveness of the Board of Directors is improving, year after year.
I assumed the post of the Chair of the Board of Directors in July 2022. As a young Chair in his forties, I will focus on creating an environment in which each Director can freely and actively discuss issues, without being bound by precedent. There are many topics to be discussed in our Group, and by organizing key points and eliciting the opinions of individual Directors, I intend to make contributions to the further enhancement of governance.