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Roundtable Discussion on Human Capital (July 2024)

How should MinebeaMitsumi draw out the potential of employees to realize further growth?

It has been a year since Chairman & CEO Yoshihisa Kainuma (hereinafter referred to as the "Chairman Kainuma") and President, COO & CFO Katsuhiko Yoshida (hereinafter referred to as the "President Yoshida) began working together with singleness of purpose in MinebeaMitsumi (herein after referred to as "the Company") in April 2023. Over the past year, various initiatives have been undertaken to develop and enhance human resources, which our management has prioritized as one of the key management challenges. In light of this, President Yoshida sat down for a roundtable discussion with Outside Directors Ms. Atsuko Matsumura, Ms. Yuko Haga, and Mr. Hirofumi Katase, as well as Advisory Manager Mr. Motoki Kato (herein after referred to as "Mr. Kato) who is in charge of human resources development as Deputy Head of HR & General Affairs Division. They discussed how to leverage employee potential as human capital, covering topics such as our human resources strategy, concrete HR measures, and the result of the Employee Engagement Survey.

Could you share the reasons behind prioritizing the human resource strategy and the challenges you have recognized?

Yoshida: As the world's only "INTEGRATED precision components manufacturer," we have set long-term business targets of ¥2.5 trillion in net sales and ¥250 billion in operating income for FYE March/2029. We also need to establish a solid foundation for sustainable growth further beyond, with FYE March/2029 as a transit point. To achieve this target, we believe that one of our key challenges will be developing the next-generation management talent, including succession planning for the management team.
As a components manufacturer, the Company's basic structure consists of business units that manufacture a wide variety of components with sales ranging from several tens of billions of yen to around ¥200 billion. The Company will aim for growth in each business unit, centered on the "8 spears" and M&A to achieve the business targets set for FYE March/2029. However, as each business unit becomes larger in scale commensurately with their growth, it needs a wider range of products, markets, and technologies even within the same business, requiring tailored business operations for each product and market. In addition, because different manufacturing methods and philosophies are practiced, we will have to allocate the business units into optimal areas and increase the number of the business units.
When I spoke with a consultant, it was explained to me that if we compare modern business competition to battles, the decisive factor is not an all-out company-wide battle, but rather winning localized battles in specific areas of competition. When we apply this approach to our businesses, localized battles are fought by each business unit, and the Company-wide victory or defeat is determined by the accumulated results of each business unit. In other words, to achieve our business targets, it is essential for each business unit to grow, and improve profit margins while increasing the number of business units. It is the Heads of business unit who leads such localized battles, so that their roles and responsibilities serve as extremely important factors. Accordingly, our human resource strategy starts from securing the number of future Head of business unit, and improving their skills.
Among those Heads of business units, Chief of business headquarters (hereinafter called to as the "Chief of headquarters") who will lead their related business units will be selected. A business headquarters functions like an in-house company, and the role of the Chief of headquarter includes focusing resources on key business areas, as well as managing support for struggling businesses across divisions. A scaled-up version of business headquarters becomes the whole of the Company, MinebeaMitsumi. Therefore, fostering future Head of business units and Chief of headquarters will contribute to more effective future succession planning.
Our current management has witnessed the remarkable growth under Chairman Kainuma's leadership at the forefront of business world. This leads me to believe that even if the next-generation management is talented, bridging this experience gap will be extremely challenging. Accordingly, considering the succession of management team, including top executives, fostering candidates for Chiefs of headquarters is the most important initiative, despite being quite challenging.

Tell us about Mr. Kato, who is responsible for human resources development, and joined the Company last October.

Yoshida: We take human resources development at the site very seriously so that our main focus has been On the Job Training (OJT) at manufacturing site, specifically at our plants. However, there is now a growing need for interpersonal skills such as communication abilities, as well as a broad knowledge of areas like digital transformation. I feel that relying solely on OJT has its limitations for acquiring these skills. To address this issue, we thought that our homegrown employees may struggle to break away from our conventional approach. That is why we invited Mr. Kato to join us from outside the Company, taking on a CHRO-like role primarily focused on human resources development. He observes our organization from a fresh perspective and help us address this issue.

Kato: It has been almost a year since I joined the Company as the Deputy Head of HR & General Affairs Division. What I have learnt through my interactions with our employees and plant visits is that we have got many employees who strongly believe manufacturing to be our starting point, and they are sincere and truly earnest about their work. We have been growing our business with a sense of speed through top-down management, but we would also like to revitalize the entire organization by both utilizing the advantages of top-down management and bottom-up management elements. I am aware that applying bottom-up management makes use of the earnestness in our employees toward manufacturing, initiative, and creativity of each and every employee.
Taking the current external environment into consideration, we are seeing a declining population. I believe this is not just an issue for the Company, but is making it increasingly taxing for many companies to secure talent. I assume we are transitioning from an era where a lack of funds made it difficult to manage a business to one where a shortage of talent made it difficult to manage a business. Particularly, the ownership of human capital does not belong to the company, but the individuals themselves. Unlike resources such as money and goods, human resources have will and motivations. For this reason, even if management tries to motivate employees, it does not work well unless they are willing to demonstrate their abilities for the benefit of a company. This problem highlights the importance of the employee engagement, specifically the relation between a company and its employees. Such trend is increasingly paid attention to by institutional investors which are demanding more active disclosure of information on human capital.

What specific HR measures are you implementing in light of the current situation and challenges the Company is facing?

Yoshida: As I mentioned at the beginning, the most important measure is fostering candidates for Head of business units and Chief of headquarters who will be in charge of business units down the road. And then we must secure the number of talents and train junior talents who will succeed. To this end, we introduced a training program consisting of three different classes (hereinafter referred to as the "Three-Class Program,") last fiscal year to establish a training system for forming a group of talent. I am proud of the launch of the Next Leaders Program (hereinafter referred to as "NLP"), which trains candidates for Chief of headquarters, to be one of our significant achievements.
The Three-Class Program has lectures from our current management team, including Chairman Kainuma. The key point is that NLP highlights the chance to be placed in actual posts as part of OJT. In other words, the core of this training program is to acquire skills and experiences necessary for leadership from multifaceted hands-on opportunities, in parallel with lectures.
At the same time, we are implementing bottom-up measures. The first one is the Employee Engagement Survey for major group companies located in Japan, which was conducted for the first time in June last year. Based on the survey, we have begun identifying current human resources and organizational challenges within the group companies, formulating and implementing effective improvement plans. The second one is INTEGRATION, which is one of our key initiatives. For instance, our facilities in our Shiodome office are designed in a way to connect employees to create new corporate culture.

What are your expectations for the Three-Class Program and what do you think is important when implementing this initiative?

Katase: I think the Three-Class Program is essential for the Company and it is wonderful that it is being systematically implemented. I think its contents and operation will remain as important elements in the future. First and foremost, I am wondering whether the selected employees are recognized and acknowledged within the Company. Because I believe that leadership development should be transparent and fair to everyone in the Company. Leaders in an organization grow through encouraging competitions with one's peers. I used to work at the Ministry of International Trade and Industry. In MITI, there was a famous system called "Legal Review Committee." The committee members were selected from among the assistant section chiefs of each bureau, who were around 40 years old. The committee members held tremendous authority, and even the minister was not allowed to decide on any Ministry of International Trade and Industry policy without the assent of the Legal Review Committee. Budgeting for each bureau was decided solely by the committee members, so that at the age of 40, assistant section chiefs had the chance to work with the same level of awareness as ministers. They carried great responsibility and received intense training. This has long been said to have been the source of MITI's energy. But my point is not that they should have that much authority. Rather, for leadership development, I think it is more meaningful to create a space where members can build connections and have discussions with their peers who have the same sense of responsibility. For that reason, I think the selected employees should be recognized in an open and fair manner. But at the same time, I know that this can cause some complaint. In that case, it is the management's job to explain the situation carefully to convince everyone. Therefore, the management class need to have firm readiness to do so.
Second, it is necessary to raise the overall level of human resources in order to acquire leaders and develop leadership talent. This initiative should start from much lower than Junior High Potential Talent Class (hereafter referred to as "the HIPO Class"). For driven junior members, I feel it is crucial to proactively provide them with a learning environment where they get to acquire knowledge and skills necessary for running a company such as finance, human resources management, and technology. Additionally, in terms of developing broader perspectives, they need to have thorough understanding of the geopolitical environment and AI which is likely to have the greatest impact in the future. I believe that if junior aspiring leaders who are seeking to acquire these skills are given the opportunity to study these topics, it will ultimately help raise the overall standards of future leadership talent.

Yoshida: When it comes to ensuring transparency, I believe that the existence of the next-generation talent is becoming more evident across the Company through their speedy promotions, and the position or opportunities they acquire. As for health competition among leaders, I expect that connections with one's peers will be built over the course of the program, because those candidates get to spend the entire time together in the same sessions. What is more, at the end of the program, they are given an opportunity to present "MY Passion" in front of Chairman Kainuma and myself. This is a chance where participants share what they intend to accomplish in the future and feel the connections with their peers.
In terms of raising the overall level of human resources, I would like to mention that the selection system are also applied to the HIPO Class employees in the Three-Class Program to evaluate candidates' logical thinking ability and check their career advancement plans. We are very conscious of taking care of providing another chance for those who were not selected for the first time around. I am fully aware of the importance of supporting those who were not selected, as they are likely to have great resilience in the face of challenges. At the same time, we have understood the need to raise the overall level of junior employees class is an important challenge to consider going forward.

Kato: "My Passion" was launched for participants in the Three-Class Program with the aim of looking back on their past experiences and rediscovering their passions. Based on this, they identify their visions as leaders. Presentation of "MY Passion" brings on a lot of excitement, as they get to know each other more by displaying their true character to everyone. I hope it will help deepen their connections with each other.

Katase: To maintain sustainable connections with peers, it is essential to highlight not only the training period, but also on everyday interactions afterward. I think this approach will contribute to better quality in company-wide management. It would be even better if we could incorporate regular opportunities for members to gather and discuss in some form.

Next, please share your thoughts on the results of the Employee Engagement Survey and what aspect you would like to prioritize in the future initiatives.

Haga: I think it was very meaningful and important that we conducted the Employee Engagement Survey for the first time, quickly launched internal discussions on what to do based on the results, and started to formulate specific improvement plans.
The Company's strengths that became clear in this survey were the widespread recognition of "Shared belief in corporate philosophy" and "Understanding of the Company's goals and objectives". I believe that this is thanks to top management's continuous efforts to share our message both internally and externally, and it is proof that employees understand the Corporate Philosophy and the goals. But from a different point of view, they probably have not yet grasp how to take the philosophy into practice even if they have a great understanding of it. Also, there may be challenges in taking action, even if one wants to, and that the corporate culture makes it difficult for individuals to propose and initiate actions. When viewed by job ranking, it appears that the engagement scores in higher-ranking employees, who have driven the Company's growth so far, are relatively high. Therefore, I understood that the top-down approach had been accepted, allowing us to maintain rapid growth consistently. On the other hand, engagement score among junior member was lower.
Also, since it was our first time conducting such survey, the survey was limited to domestic employees, but we would like to expand it to expatriates next time as our key members are working overseas. It is common phenomenon observed in many other companies that engagement scores tend to be lower in business locations that are far from headquarters or in smaller-sized offices. Therefore, analyzing the differences between business locations is extremely important. These differences could be due to the varying cultures of the divisions, the products they handle, or a range of other factors. I hope to see a multifaceted analysis of these aspects. I would also like the engagement survey to be conducted not only once, but should be carried out continuously in the future. By conducting the survey annually, we can keep track of how results change by department and job ranking each year. This allows us to immediately develop action plans based on that year's findings. It is important to understand the impact of these actions has in the following year, and I believe that monitoring these changes over time is significant for continuous improvement.

Kato: We would like to conduct the engagement survey annually going forward.

Haga: On top of that, the results of the engagement survey directly link to corporate risk management. Business locations with low engagement score often cause compliance issues due to low compliance awareness, so that we should carefully analyze the survey results.
In addition, even though the preparation for a new human resources development plan is currently underway, we should prioritize the review of the promotion criteria for determining who will be promoted. Even if we bring in various HR systems such as 360-degree evaluations, if the final decision on who gets promoted promotions is still based on our conventional criteria, it will ultimately be a meaningless repetition of the past. To enhance our corporate value in the future, it is essential to understand what kind of talent our management considers necessary, regardless of tenure, and conversely, what kind of company employees wish to be part of. And then we should discuss this matter incorporating the perspective of external experts who can objectively analyze those viewpoints.

Kato: With the revision of our HR system planned for next year, we have launched a project team consisting of a wide variety of members, including outside experts, managers, female members, and junior employees from each of the Company's sales, engineering, and manufacturing departments. We have just started discussing the strengths of our human resources, human resources ideals, and what kind of HR system enables us to form a group of such talents.

Haga: I am aware that appropriate measures are now being taken for the top class of the Three-Class Program. But I think we have to put importance on reaching out to junior, driven members moving forward. These junior employees do not have a strong sense of belonging to the company; rather, they are the type of people who want to determine their careers on their own. I am a faculty member of a business school for working adults, and I know that there are many ways out there to learn things on their own if they wish so. In fact, half of the students wish to stay with their current company and apply what they learn at the business school, while the other half left their previous company to pursue opportunities at different companies. Considering this situation, the point raised by Mr. Katase about "assuring transparency" becomes very important for employee retention. The key question is what career opportunities exist within the Company—specifically, what career paths are available and what systems are in place to support them. It is crucial to communicate this clearly and transparently with all employees. Equally important is visualizing the possibilities for employees to realize their own visions.

Kato: I would like work on establishing a highly transparent HR system that helps them visualize the process toward achieving their career goals.

Yoshida: We are planning to make reports multiple times to the Board of Directors over the course of the project for our HR system revision, and are currently working on the tentative details. For promotion criteria, we are going to prioritize the qualitative evaluation system that put importance on understanding of our businesses, one's commitment, and business senses to vitalize the Company, instead of quantitative evaluation that uses a point-based system. Ones selected through such evaluation process will take on high expectations and responsibilities, working rigorously towards their high goals. But if they underperform, we will have to consider a system for replacing those selected individuals. Therefore, we need to clearly define our human resources ideals at each level to ensure transparency.

Matsumura: The project for our HR system revision is being carried out with consideration of the Company's strengths and issues indicated in the result of the Employee Engagement Survey. In that way we can form a group consisting of our human resources ideals. On the other hand, to improve engagement, we have to consider establishing a framework that incentivizes every single employee, and maintaining our attitudes aligned with our employees.
In that sense, the panel discussion focused on engagement held at the Business Planning Deliberation Meeting this spring was extremely valuable. In the meeting, our management and employees had a frank discussion together regarding if there are gender disparities in promotions at the Company and whether each employee is able to clearly define their own career path. Employees' comments in such setting provide our management with insights into their attitudes towards the Company and their work, offering valuable clues for improving engagement. I look forward to seeing the steady implementation of various initiatives, and greater contribution by our employees.

Do you have any expectations regarding the initiatives and challenges related to DEI (Diversity, Equity & Inclusion), and human resources INTEGRATION which lies beyond DEI initiatives?

Matsumura: I think the Company's DEI strategy is being advanced in connection with INTEGRATION. Originally, the Company's basic strategy was to pursue differentiation through INTEGRATION of a variety of technologies and products, as well as to create values by INTEGRATING our technologies and ones from other companies acquired through M&A. In addition to these technical and product-related INTEGRATION, human resources INTEGRATION, which is the topic of this roundtable discussion, has become increasingly important. Even the name of this office in Shiodome does not contain the word "building." It is called "X Tech Garden" in order to promote INTEGRATION in the three areas, business, technology, and human resources. I feel that this name represent INTEGRATION very well.
In this way, the Company's DEI strategy aims to create new value through human resources INTEGRATION. For example, employees from other companies integrated through M&A get promoted to management positions as long as they are motivated and talented individuals, regardless of their company of origin. I highly anticipate this approach will contribute to the Company's future growth.

Katase: I agree with Ms. Matsumura. I think one of the Company's strengths is its ability to steadily bringing in people with new talents, diverse cultural backgrounds and unique ideas through M&A. To give you an example, a member from MITSUMI ELECTRIC recently got promoted to top management position in the semiconductor business unit, illustrating the utilization of talent based on ability.

Matsumura: One point I would like to mention here in regard to the Company's DEI strategy is the promotion of talented non-Japanese members to the Executive Officer positions. Currently, two out of 20 Executive Officers and four out of 39 Business Officers are non-Japanese. One of them is a female member. I am excited to see more promotion of executives from overseas bases, and hope it will lead to an enhancement of our corporate value with diverse perspectives and ideas across the group companies of the Company.
Regarding the promotion of women's participation, I appreciate that the large-scale seminar held company-wide in 2020 has contributed to increase in the number of female employees in our domestic workforce. As of the end of June this year, the ratio of women among our full-time employees stands at 16.3%, and we have set a goal to raise this ratio to 18.5% by the end of FYE March/26. However, the ratio of female members in management positions remains relatively low at 3.2%. Since the Company has set a target of raising the ratio to 8.0% by the end of FYE March/2029, I am looking forward to seeing the effective implementation of the measures to achieve this goal. I also believe that improving multifaceted initiatives for promoting women's participation is a challenge for the Company. As one of our goals, I would like to aim for obtaining the "Nadeshiko Brand*" certification. Returning to the Three-Class Program, I have heard that although we do not have female member in FLP, NLP includes one female non-Japanese special invitee. What is more, several female members are included in the HIPO Class. For junior female employees, it is important to implement initiatives aimed at raising awareness of women's participation in each department. By boosting their motivation, we can expect an increase in the number of women in the HIPO Class, which will contribute to the enhancement of our corporate value in utilizing female talent.

(* The "Nadeshiko Brand" is an initiative which is implemented jointly by the Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry and the Tokyo Stock Exchange (TSE) since 2012. It aims to introduce certain TSE-listed enterprises that are outstanding in terms of encouraging women's empowerment in the workplace as attractive stocks to investors who place emphasis on improving corporate value in the medium- and long-term, thereby further raising investors' interest in such enterprises and accelerating the encouragement of women's empowerment in outstanding enterprises.)

Haga: I agree with Ms. Matsumura on that point. Returning to the earlier discussion about the survey results, there was a significant disparity in perspectives between higher-ranking positions and those below the ranking of Assistant Manager regarding DEI matters. This is a critical issue for us. As a company, we may believe we understand the importance of women's participation and DEI in today's world, but there is a possibility that the management may not be fully aware of their own unconscious biases. For instance, it can be said that some women, from an objective perspective, might feel that the Samurai Project is exclusively for male members, because Samurai in Japanese refers to a male warrior.

Yoshida: I don't think there was no intention at all to imply that "Samurai" referred specifically to men when the project name was chosen. As we have female members in the Samurai Project team, we will have to ensure transparency in regard to definition of the Samurai Project.

Kato: The promotion and advancement of women's participation in workplace in Japan is a challenge, so that we are advancing initiatives aiming at transforming the mindsets of both people in management positions and female employees. We hope that the Outside Directors will collaborate with us on the formulation of a plan to hold in-house seminars as a starting point of various future initiatives.
For our management class, I believe they need thoroughly comprehend the significance of working alongside diverse employees. In addition, I recognized that responses to career counseling among members can vary, so we are going to focus on articulating the value of these consultations more clearly.
In regard to the mindsets of our female employees, I think there are some female members who feel anxious about taking on a management role, worrying that it will come with increased responsibilities, lead to longer working hours, or that they may lack the confidence to manage effectively. In order to mitigate their unease, I would like to proactively share with everyone the improvement in the Company's nature, and how meaningful and rewarding it is to take on challenges.

Yoshida: Talking about careers, we are working on increasing the number of female employees in overseas postings, and have launched an initiative where employees can experience working overseas for a shorter period of just one year. Previously, our employees usually took on their first overseas posting for a term of five years when they were in their late 20s or early 30s, and then the second term would be slightly longer. The career path following those terms was generally to go back and forth between Japan and overseas in management or specialist positions. However, this policy has caused cases where motivated female employees gave up on opportunities of working abroad due to their life plan when they were offered a place in overseas bases. In order to prevent such situation, we have reduced the term of overseas postings to one year as a first step in efforts to actively increase opportunities for our female employees to experience the frontline of manufacturing at our overseas plants. If they wish, the term can be extended to three or five years. Currently, there is a female employee in Shanghai on one year assignment. She has entrusted the care of her elementary school-aged child to her husband. I think that if we continue this initiative, we will be able to expand the career opportunities for our female employees.

Please share any expectations or additional insights you have about the human resources strategy after reflecting on the discussions we've had so far?

Katase: I think our strengths are that the Company-wide objectives are extremely clear. And also from an employee perspective, there is a well-established sense that the Company growth benefits our society we live in. For instance, "MMI Beyond Zero", one of our environmental conservation initiatives represents our strong determination for growth and benefits for society very well. But I know only a few companies that conduct such initiatives.
On the other hand, I would say a challenge is motivating all employees, including junior employees, to help them understand how each of them can contribute to the overall direction of the Company. I believe this is essential for enhancing engagement. We should also establish a transparent process for providing appropriate feedback from management on how individuals and organizations are contributing to the overall company goals. If these efforts are continued, it is fully possible for the Company to leverage employees' potential and recruit promising talent in a sustainable manner. But in the recruiting process, I think companies that do not utilize driven female talent will be put in a disadvantageous position in business world. We will approach the promotion of DEI with such a strong sense of commitment.

Matsumura: Towards our business targets for FYE March/2029, I can really feel how our management team has been taking an increasingly proactive approach as we are getting closer to the goal of our target around the corner and relocation of the Tokyo Headquarter to Shiodome. To align with this momentum, the Company needs not only technical personnel who serve as the core in the manufacturing industry, but also leadership talent who are capable of advancing our businesses while collaborating with technical personnel. I look forward to seeing the new human resources development initiatives and recruitment strategies implemented steadily down the road. Also, in order to secure talent for the Company, I believe if we can fully appeal our products and the various commitments to society, we will be able to attract highly-skilled talent who are seeking for worthwhile work. For DEI promotion, I intend to actively provide advice from my standpoint as Outside Director on initiatives required to create positive and rewarding work environments, enhance the motivation among female employees, and help secure diverse talent. Touching on the employment of people with disabilities, the Company's internal newsletter explains the statutory employment rate for people with disabilities will be raised to 2.7% in July 2026. It also describes the current status at the Company, our initiatives and matters to be considered. I find this kind of information sharing is pretty effective for promoting DEI. Finally, I would like to mention the Team-Building Initiative as an example of human resources INTEGRATION. This is a bottom-up-style initiative supported by our employees' enthusiasm and it has become quite ingrained within the Company. Recent initiatives selected as excellent examples include one to reduce equipment malfunction at ABLIC (acquired in 2020), and a collaborative one between Tokyo Headquarters and the Cambodia Plant to improve container loading rates. I was deeply impressed by the outcome that the Team Building Initiative has generated, regardless of which company or location they were from. I look forward to seeing the further advancement of this initiative.

Haga: There are two thing I would like to mention.
The first key is that a human resources strategy anticipating future population decline is absolutely necessary. I believe utilizing AI is the only viable option here. Harvard University conducted a global survey which presents results and cases where the use of AI has led to increased efficiency across various occupations and levels. What they found is that individuals who had been doing the same job for many years show lower efficiency gains from the introduction of AI compared to those who have been in the role for a shorter period of time. In other words, AI is not just for those with special skills, like the so-called "AI talent." Just as everyone uses Excel or Word, Chat-GPT is simply a tool. The key is to focus on how to quickly enable everyone in the organization to make full use of AI tools. I think this plays as an essential skill in the context of a declining workforce population.
The second key point is to one's keep eyes and ears open to opinions from junior employees. I sense that today's young people are pretty committed to supporting communities. I would like to point out that even though the Company's Corporate Philosophy states "To contribute to realization of a sustainable, eco-friendly and prosperous society by providing better products, at a faster speed, in larger numbers, at a lower cost and by smarter means," the part that says "by providing better products, at a faster speed, in larger numbers, at a lower cost and by smarter means" merely suggest a mean; we should not forget that our ultimate goal is "to contribute to realization of a sustainable, eco-friendly and prosperous society." But I feel that while the Corporate Philosophy has become well-ingrained as an internal message, the second half (the means) seems to be emphasized more than our ultimate goal stated in the first half. I think "To contribute to realization of a sustainable, ecofriendly and prosperous society" is the part that young people aspire to achieve. If they realize that the Company provides them with opportunities to accomplish this goal, the Company will become an extremely attractive place for junior employees. It is also important to note that stance towards supporting society between younger generations and older generations is completely different.

Kato: Today's discussion was such a great opportunity for me as I got to hear frank opinions from Outside Directors regarding our current human resources strategy. I feel even more inspired and motivated now. We will make sure to steadily implement this strategy.

Yoshida: Our highest priority in human resources development is fostering the next-generation management talent in a way that they can view business management through the same perspectives as the current management team. And then we will have to build up a solid talent pool of human resource to continuously send out the next generation of management leaders.
The next priority is to continue conducting the Employee Engagement Survey and expand it to overseas offices. We will have to precisely assess the survey results and link them to the Company's DNA and strengths, in order to implement specific initiative in the future.
Finally, we have to promote DEI strategy and human resources INTEGRATION. The Group of the Company have manufacturing operations in 28 countries and regions, with 100,000 employees with diverse backgrounds dedicated to manufacturing there. This is a valuable asset that set us apart from our competitors. However, I don't think we are fully taking advantage of it yet. I am confident that human resources INTEGRATION will foster a new corporate culture, paving the way for a brighter future for the Company.
Thank you very much for sharing your broad and insightful opinions today.

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