At Dentsu Group, our purpose is to increase our corporate value to society, clients, employees, and our shareholders to create sustainable benefits for all. In order to achieve this, we pursue continuous improvement to deliver good governance with speedy decision-making, responsible allocation of resources and transparent oversight of the business. This year, Dentsu Group took further steps to deliver on these objectives.

With the appointment of Hiroshi Igarashi as the new Group CEO, my responsibility as Chairman of the Board was separated from the Group CEO’s remit. In doing so this will further the independence of the Board of Directors which needs to remain neutral, supportive, and focused on the long-term view of the company so that management can focus on running the operations and executing the business strategy. I am honored to have been selected as the first non-Executive Chairman of the Board. Having been an executive at dentsu for 16 years, I have a unique advantage coming in with deep knowledge of the current state of the business to support management continuity as the new executive team is formed under Igarashi-san while also becoming a non-executive director independent from executional or management responsibility.

In addition, I am pleased to welcome four new independent outside directors to our board. Over the last decade, Dentsu Group has become a truly global company and we need both a management team and board that reflect the diversity of our growing business. The board we have formed is the most experienced, diverse, and international board in our history. Our new outside directors have executive and board experience from other global groups and bring immense global experience in digital, finance, accounting and audit sectors. In this ever-changing landscape, it is critical for all board members to be knowledgeable about the business, its environment and the competition, and each new director brings different, complementary capabilities that uniquely position them to provide counsel to Dentsu Group’s board.

With new management now in place, we have a strong, talented team that is committed to leveraging the unique strengths of dentsu that have been developed over many decades, but also to pivoting the business in necessary ways as we experience continuous change. Our business has recovered and grown in 2021 and I am confident in management’s ability to achieve our Medium-term Management Plan which was announced in February 2021, and in the new board’s ability to guide and support the business toward sustainable growth that benefits all of our stakeholders.

Messages from new Outside Directors

Innovation rests on global collaboration

I am a new member of Dentsu Group Inc. board, having been appointed in March of this year. It’s an honor to join the board of an organization that has been a key growth partner for Japanese businesses for 121 years, and one that has grown to be a truly global network of world-class talent.

Over the past two years, the COVID-19 pandemic has fundamentally changed the way that people live and work around the world. With change comes opportunity, and Dentsu is adapting by positioning itself to be a more holistic and integrated solution for its partners’ businesses. Driving innovation through collaboration of a diverse and aligned global team of professionals will be the key to success.

Personal experience, talent development
result in good governance, sustainable growth

Dentsu Group is an organization of talented people and great potential, and I am honored to join its board as an independent outside director. In addition to the more recent issues posed by geopolitical change and the recovery from a global pandemic, the Group must also confront pressures on its business model and fundamental shifts in its operating environment. It also understands the need to modernize its governance structure to meet these demands and support sustainable growth. These are pressing challenges that call for urgency and diligence. I look to drawing on my experience of executing business transformations, of fostering creative talent, and raising standards of governance as the board and management look to drive increased shareholder value and societal contribution.

Diverse perspectives bring growth

We have been moving steadily forward with structural reforms since 2021 to respond quickly in the face of uncertainty and increasing competition, but our focus now needs to shift to ensuring sustainable growth. The questions thus are whether we can evolve into an entity that contributes to client growth beyond marketing and resolve the societal issues.

The next few years will be an important turning point for the Group. Even in the fast changing environment, the Group strategy is ambitious, looks to the future and will lead to the Group’s evolution, and I give full support to it.

At the same time, while taking into consideration stakeholder expectations, I will monitor both our efforts to ensure they advance steadily and whether our endeavors have been revised appropriately, in an agile and flexible manner. I hope to contribute to the growth of the Dentsu Group by providing diverse perspectives based on my experience.

Board discussions seek sustainable growth

After having promoted structural reforms for several years, the Dentsu Group this fiscal year has entered a phase in which we are focusing our business reforms on sustainable growth. To this end, Board discussions are primarily focusing on finding the ideal form of Group governance.

Among our discussions are those regarding risk. I believe we must support senior management in taking risks, and oversee the monitoring of those risks to ensure they are managed appropriately.

In cooperation with other outside directors, we will work with senior management to deepen Board of Director discussions from a variety of perspectives and contribute to building a foundation for the Group’s sustainable growth.

For details, please see the Corporate Governance Report.