To fulfill the highly effective supervisory function over operational execution, the Board of Directors will consist of persons with the necessary knowledge, experience and competence, taking into consideration gender and diversity. With regard to this knowledge, experience and competence, the Company will identify skills regarding corporate management, corporate planning and other aspects of corporate governance management, skills required to realize the direction sought by the Kurita Group of creating social value by leveraging diversity and Water Knowledge, and necessary skills, etc. for realizing the corporate philosophy. The Board of Directors as a whole will be organized in a way that complements the above. Based on this policy, the nine items of the skills matrix and reasons for selection are as shown in the following table.
| Name | Corporate governance and management | Leveraging diversity*1 ▶ Making full use of water knowledge ▶ Creating social value | ||||||||
|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Corporate management Corporate planning |
Finance and accounting | Legal and HR management | Human rights | Global | Understanding and solving issues on-site*2 |
R&D, technology, and engineering |
DX | Enviro-nment | ||
| Directors | Michiya Kadota | ◎ | ◎ | ○ | ○ | ○ | ◎ | - | - | ○ |
| Hirohiko Ejiri | ◎ | - | - | ◎ | ○ | ◎ | ◎ | ◎ | ○ | |
| Shuji Shirode | ○ | ◎ | - | - | ◎ | - | - | - | ◎ | |
| Yukihiko Mutou | ○ | ◎ | ◎ | ○ | - | - | - | - | - | |
| Kenjiro Kobayashi (external) |
◎ | ◎ | - | - | ◎ | - | - | - | - | |
| Keiko Tanaka (external) |
○ | - | ◎ | ○ | ◎ | - | - | - | - | |
| Masahiro Miyazaki (external) |
◎ | ◎ | ◎ | - | ◎ | - | - | - | - | |
| Yoshiko Takayama (external) |
◎ | ○ | - | - | ◎ | - | - | - | - | |
Among the knowledge and experience of each director, those with ○ are fields where they have strength while ◎ indicates an area where they are especially promising.
- *1The "diversity" means the variety of elements that form "diverse points of contact with sites" that are the source of the Kurita Group's competitiveness, such as contact points with customers, business fields, business development areas / countries, and technology fields, in addition to human resources.
- *2The Kurita Group provides solutions to issues derived from water at sites of customers throughout the world. The Kurita Group creates unique solutions by making use of information and data, which it has accumulated by seriously addressing customer issues at diverse points of contact with sites, as its water knowledge. We believe that these activities constitute the source of creation of shared value with customers and society. We believe that a deep understanding of customer sites, which leads to value creation, and the experience of committing oneself to solving issues at customer sites are skills needed by the Company’s directors to make important decisions and effectively supervise operational execution at the Company.
| High-level concepts | Skills | Reason for appointment |
|---|---|---|
| Corporate governance and management | Corporate management
Corporate planning Finance and accounting Legal and HR management |
These are regarded as the skills, knowledge, and experience that provide a foundation for conducting management oversight. |
| Leveraging diversity ▼ Making full use of water knowledge ▼ Creating social value |
Human rights | In developing its business globally, the Kurita Group encounters diverse working environments, business customs, and trading practices, and there is a need to engage in business activities while respecting the human rights of stakeholders. The Group is promoting initiatives to ensure respect for the human rights of employees, suppliers and other stakeholders in the countries and regions where it conducts business. The Group also recognizes the importance of leveraging diversity in human resources as a foundation for innovation and as a source of value creation leading to sustainable growth. ‘Human rights’ has thus been selected as a skill category for Board oversight of management due to its importance as a management issue. |
| Global | To accelerate global business development, the Kurita Group is working to speed up the development of products and services tailored to local and regional market characteristics. The category ‘Global’ represents a level of international experience and understanding of these regions and countries. We see it as one of the essential elements in cultivating the “diverse points of contact with sites” that constitute a source of the Group's competitive advantage. ‘Global’ has been selected as a skill category for Board oversight of management because we consider a deep knowledge of global markets as essential for developing business globally and increasing corporate value. | |
| Understanding and solving issues on-site | The Kurita Group delivers solutions addressing water-related issues at the sites of various customers worldwide. At “diverse points of contact with sites,” we engage seriously with customers’ issues, utilizing our “water knowledge” in the form of accumulated information and data to create proprietary and innovative solutions. We see this as the source of shared value creation with customers and society. This area has been selected as a skill category for Board oversight of management because we value having a deep understanding of the points of contact with customer sites as a source of value creation, alongside extensive experience of addressing such issues. | |
| R&D, technology, and engineering | The Group combines technology and expertise acquired from various business domains to create new products, services, and technologies. Amid significant recent changes in the external environment, we consider ensuring customer business continuity to be one area where we can provide added value. Accordingly, we have reviewed our methods of product, service, and technology delivery and the procurement and production set-up to improve our cost competitiveness and production capacity. Because we see strengthening of development, technology, and production as a key platform for creating and providing solutions, this area has been selected as a skill category for Board oversight of management. | |
| DX | The Group aims to achieve DX by utilizing digital technology to change business processes and to transform business models. ‘DX’ has been selected as a skill category for Board oversight of management since we consider it a priority for the deployment of digital tools, AI, and IoT, and for the utilization of information and data collected from diverse customer sites as “water knowledge,” resulting in creation of innovative shared value with customers and society. | |
| Environment | The three shared value themes that the Kurita Group has defined as Kurita Group’s Materiality are ‘Solve issues related to water resources,’ ‘Contribute to the realization of a decarbonized society,’ and ‘Contribute to building a circular economy society.’ These are priority issues that we seek to address. We have defined as “CSV business” the Group products, technologies and business models that significantly contribute to water saving, the reduction of GHG emissions and resource input, and the recycling of resources compared with prior levels. We are working to create shared value with society via their development and provision to customers. ‘Environment’ has been selected as a skill category for Board oversight of management because we regard it as part of our mission to reduce environmental impact through our business activities. |