Message from our Outside Directors

Applying various stakeholder perspectives to contribute to a governance structure for improving enterprise value.

FY2023 saw the normalization of economic activities as COVID-19 subsided. However, issues such as the tense situation happening in Ukraine and growing tensions in the Middle East have driven unanticipated changes in the economic environment. Overall, it was a year that required flexibility in management decisions. Amid such an environment, the NGK Group enacted policies to promote a business structure shift in accordance with the NGK Group Vision. In particular, the Group outlined numerous promising themes related to New Value 1000, the goal of aiming for over 100 billion yen in net sales from new business by 2030, and the status of progress for each of these themes is becoming clearer. The Group is also increasingly expanding its collaborations with external partners, and I feel the seeds of a wide variety of prospective businesses are beginning to take root. Launching a new business requires a great deal of energy and those efforts seldomly produce immediate results. However, even the projects that do not go as planned will undoubtedly serve as fuel for the NGK Group’s next stage of growth.

I feel the company’s commitment to pursuing major goals. I also have strong expectations that this spirit will help cultivate the next generation of leaders for the company. The NGK Group market evaluation was a PBR of less than 1.0 as of March 31, 2024. I view this structural shift and the NGK Group growing expectations towards new business creation as a positive process towards increasing enterprise value. I feel the NGK Group’s Board of Directors is able to have a wide range of meaningful discussions in collaboration with the Executive Committee. Over the past year, human capital strategy has been a point of discussion, especially at meetings such as the Conference of Outside Directors and Outside Audit & Supervisory Board Members. At these meetings, various opinions were exchanged on the issue of securing and developing human capital and how to utilize human capital. Human capital is the source of a company’s future growth, making this one of the most important issues towards improving enterprise value over the medium- to long-term. I also offered various opinions regarding how the NGK Group can better promote itself in response to the issue of new graduate recruitment the company has faced in recent years. My overall impression is that we were able to have stimulated deliberations on these matters.

The NGK Group also advanced discussions concerning Group sustainability. Another development I consider a major achievement is that the NGK Group has established a structure for achieving sustainability. This includes presenting a concrete approach to materiality. The common theme of sustainability is something that impacts all aspect of business, and I feel that this is leading to an increased sense of unity within the Group.

Outside Directors are expected to provide advice and supervise management from an objective perspective, without being influenced by internal opinions or information from the company. I maintain a neutral perspective on issues that may be commonplace for people within the company and methods that have been used for many years. I will search for hidden issues or things that need to be updated to better reflect the times. Resolving small issues can lead to the discovery of common issues, which can help increase vitality as a whole. As such, I will be diligent to ensure I do not overlook even small discoveries. It is also important that the NGK Group demonstrate to stakeholders how current reforms are working to change the company. I hope to play a role in encouraging stronger information dissemination.

This fiscal year, three new Outside Directors were appointed. With the addition of people from different backgrounds, expectations are high that these new members will stimulate new and fresh discussions and ideas. Additionally, I have been appointed to chair the Nomination and Compensation Advisory Committee. As someone outside the company, I am aware that I am expected to offer a stakeholder’s perspective, and I will work hard to ensure objectivity and transparency when determining remuneration. I will also promote committee management that takes an open and transparent approach to discussions about succession plans, a critical agenda item for the committee.

Proactively offer feedback backed by global management experience to support speedy business management.

I spent numerous years at Mitsubishi Corporation involved in operations related to infrastructure, power, environment, and renewable energy, and was deeply involved in the business management of Japanese and overseas subsidiaries and operating companies. I will leverage the experience and knowledge I have accumulated through my career to fulfill an independent and objective role monitoring business management and providing advice for the NGK Group.

As an Outside Director, the most important factor in monitoring business management is communication. Ideally, those responsible for business execution and those in a supervisory role must build relationships that enable frank discussion with the Board members acting as one team. With this in mind, I will work to understand the corporate culture that the NGK Group has inherited throughout the years and the employees who support company business. Based on that understanding, I will proactively offer feedback and support dynamic business execution by Group management.

I have had interactions with the NGK Group since back when I began my first job. I have always had the impression that NGK is a traditional company engaged in very serious business grounded in their unparalleled ceramic technologies. NGK’s greatest strength is its technological foundation, and the Group’s greatest challenge moving forward will be how it leverages that technology to create new value. A market oriented perspective is essential to business moving forward. That is why I believe New Value 1000, the Group’s strategy to combine technology and sales to focus on market and client needs towards generating 100 billion yen from new business, is very much on point. Creating new business is not easy and will likely take time. However, my hope is that all members of the NGK Group will embrace the spirit of challenge and unite to rapidly achieve even small successes as I strongly believe this will enable the Group to take dramatic leaps forward.

The NGK Group is heavily involved in environment and infrastructure, and has a critical role in helping create a bright, prosperous future. I find it motivating to be able to work with such a company and I will work tireless towards helping the NGK Group achieve sustainable increases in enterprise value.

Apply experience and perspective as a product development engineer to advise and support the realization of the NGK Group Vision.

I built my career in the energy and digital fields, having spent many years involved in the development of power electronics products at Toshiba Corporation and Toshiba Mitsubishi-Electric Industrial Systems Corporation (TMEIC). During that time, I led projects related to high-capacity power converters used in infrastructure facilities such as power grids and renewable energy systems. Recognized for my contributions to the development and commercialization of such systems, I was named a Fellow by the US Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineering, Inc. (IEEE)*.

Most recently, I accepted the role of Outside Director. I felt this would be an incredibly fulfilling task through which I could apply the knowledge and expertise cultivated through my more than 40 years of experience working on the front lines of manufacturing. As an Outside Director, I hope to provide practical, experience-driven recommendations concerning the NGK Group’s energy and infrastructure businesses. And, as a female engineer, it would be a privilege to engage in activities that help encourage the next generation of female engineers.

It is my understanding that the NGK Group’s core competence lies in ceramic technologies. My impression of the Group is that, while it has a stringent corporate culture, it also maintains the flexibility to adapt to change. The Group is also engaged in efforts related to globalization. Most impressive is the Group’s history, which spans over 100 years. This is evidence that, no matter the generation, the NGK Group has continuously challenged itself to achieve unprecedented value creation. I believe the source of the Group’s competitiveness can be found in its technology, which boasts high added value that cannot be mimicked by competitors.

Currently, the NGK Group is engaged in corporate structural reforms to position carbon neutrality and digital society at their core of their business. I believe the key to this transformation will be not only technological challenges but also commercialization. Whether it be advice on how to improve proposals and management towards supporting the shift from selling products to selling services, or advice on adapting to operating environment changes and course corrections, I will use my perspective as an engineer with real-world experience to provide powerful support towards realizing the NGK Group Vision.

The Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineering. A global institute related to electrical engineering and electronic engineering. Based in the USA, the IEEE has over 400,000 members in 190 countries worldwide.

Serve as a monitoring function for management to support sustainable growth for the NGK Group.

As an attorney, I have spent many years involved in law, both in Japan and overseas. In that time, I have overseen cases for numerous companies across various industries, including manufacturing, services, logistics, and IT. I hope to contribute to the NGK Group’s sustainable growth and medium- to long-term improvements in enterprise value by applying the knowledge and experience I have cultivated throughout my career. In my role as Outside Director, I will strive to confirm management strategy, monitor business execution, and provide effective recommendations concerning legal risks and preventing trouble associated with business operations.

As someone who has seen a great many companies, I have learned that companies with an active and energetic board of directors have a positive, motivated, and transparent culture. This, in turn, leads to diligent compliance and risk management. I have been told that the NGK Board of Directors is that they have cultivated an atmosphere that encourages everyone to express their opinions freely. I plan to embrace that atmosphere and use my external perspective to provide frank opinions on matters that can be difficult to see clearly from the inside.

In this world of remarkable changes in market environments, another extremely important element in business management today is decision-making speed. I feel that many Japanese companies tend to lack this sense of speed when compared to overseas businesses. It is not uncommon for that lack of speed to result in the loss of opportunity. The NGK Group is currently in the process of advancing corporate reforms, and I imagine the company will face numerous issues that require rapid decision-making. I intend to approach monitoring from this perspective as well.

Recent years have seen a growing importance on evaluating a company’s enterprise value based on its unseen non-financial capital. A company must give due consideration to all its stakeholders, beginning with its shareholders and investors, while engaging in management that balances the creation of both economic value and social value. As an Outside Director, I will support the implementation of business management that is aligned with modern times. The NGK Group is challenging itself to make dynamic reforms, and it is my hope that stakeholders will take a medium- to long-term perspective towards evaluating the company’s progress.

Note: This interview was conducted in May 2024.