Redefining the "Good Company": The Well-being Initiative Launches

Dentsu Inc.'s cross-functional creative organization, the Future Creative Center (FCC), is a group of over 70 individuals supporting future-building beyond advertising through creativity. In this series, FCC members discuss their upcoming initiatives under the theme "Future × Creativity."

For a long time, the world has used economic growth as an indicator of "prosperity." GDP (Gross Domestic Product) is a prime example. However, some may feel that prosperity cannot be measured solely by material wealth.

Amidst this, a corporate consortium was established in 2021 to create a society that values not only material wealth but also people's well-being (a sense of richness experienced in daily life). This is the " Well-being Initiative," involving the Public Interest Incorporated Foundation Well-being for Planet Earth, Nikkei Inc., and 19 domestic companies (as of this article's publication). Dentsu Inc. supports its planning and production.

This initiative aims to make well-being a metric for corporate management. As a tool to achieve this, it is developing "Integrated Statements" to replace traditional financial statements centered on performance.

In this discussion, Megumi Shima from the Nikkei Media Business Advertising Communication Unit, Togo Fujii from Dentsu Inc.'s Media Services / Newspaper Division, and Jiro Murayama from Dentsu zero, a member of Dentsu FCC, discussed the initiative's objectives, activities, and the development of the integrated statements.

Companies collaboratively develop new indicators of prosperity using metrics beyond GDP

Fujii: The Well-being Initiative is a corporate consortium aiming to establish the concept of well-being and new metrics for evaluating it as a social agenda for the coming era.

The SDGs, which many companies are currently working towards, have 2030 as their target year. Our long-term vision is to make subjective well-being the global agenda beyond 2030, as the "post-SDGs" era. To achieve this vision, we aim to create GDW (Gross Domestic Well-being) as a new indicator alongside GDP.

That said, the concept of well-being is still evolving, and how to measure it requires discussion. Perhaps it's more accurate to view this initiative as a community where participating companies share various topics related to well-being, think together, and put ideas into practice.

Shima: Since the postwar era, GDP has been used as a key indicator of economic growth. Yet, there must be forms of prosperity that GDP alone cannot measure. The COVID-19 pandemic served as a wake-up call to this fact, and I sense an increasing number of companies are now turning their attention to well-being.

Japan, in particular, ranks third globally in GDP, yet it stands at 54th place in the "World Happiness Report" published by a UN-affiliated organization (released March 2022). Why is there a disconnect between economic affluence and the perceived lack of happiness? This made me realize Japan needs to sincerely confront the issue of well-being. I also felt it necessary to create GDW—a metric distinct from GDP yet comparable to it—and to explore it together with corporate leaders. These reasons are why the Nikkei Group is involved in this initiative.

Fujii: This initiative began when Mr. Yoshiki Ishikawa from the Well-being for Planet Earth Foundation approached us with the ambitious proposal: "We want to create a global agenda for the post-SDGs era, originating from Japan!"

We thought, "If anyone can bring together industry, government, and academia on this theme, it's Nikkei!" We reached out, and the initiative was launched in March 2021. With the support of corporate partners, we now have 19 companies participating.

Shima: The reason so many companies showed interest is that they are already thinking about what to do beyond 2030, after the SDGs. It was a necessary perspective for considering corporate management in the post-SDGs era.

Also, as Mr. Fujii mentioned, Well-being is still a concept that hasn't fully solidified. Many companies joined because they saw value in co-creating something, rather than just passively participating in something already defined.

2021 marks Japan's "Year One of Well-being"

Fujii: This initiative aims not only to spread Well-being throughout society but also to create a society where many companies undertake initiatives to make the world a better place for Well-being, and where those activities are properly valued.

That said, since this is a "challenge no one has ever attempted," the reality is that we've progressed step by step, grappling with challenges alongside participating companies, Mr. Ishikawa Yoshiki, and everyone at Nikkei Inc.

Through this collaborative thinking, we've carried out four major activities so far. The first is a roundtable conference where participating company executives gather to discuss how to spread well-being throughout society and how companies can incorporate it.

Murayama: I helped design part of the roundtable meetings, and a key point was determining "what to discuss" during the meetings. Rather than simply making it a venue for each company to present their activities, I envisioned using the roundtable format to create a space where everyone could engage in discussion, such as debating "what makes a good company" from a well-being perspective. As a result, combined with the chair and vice-chair's facilitation, I believe it became a forum where diverse opinions were exchanged on major themes like "what constitutes a good society" and "what perspectives and actions should companies adopt for the future society."

Fujii: The second activity of this initiative is workshops for corporate participants. I'll explain these in detail later. The third is hosting symposiums with experts.

The fourth activity is media outreach to promote Well-being. We've primarily utilized Nikkei Group media to create awareness ads and special feature programs.

Shima: Since not many people understand Well-being yet, increasing exposure is crucial. By first presenting ideas through advertising campaigns to gauge public opinion, and gradually gaining traction, opportunities for editorial features will naturally increase.

The first year since our founding has truly been about sowing seeds. We're now seeing more editorial coverage, and during interviews, I sense the term "Well-being" is starting to come up naturally from business leaders themselves.

Fujii: A major step forward last year was seeing movement within the Japanese government itself. We had been proposing this to the government even before the initiative's founding. In February 2021, then-LDP Policy Research Council Chairman Shimomura Hirofumi stated in the Diet, "Shouldn't we propose a new GDW to complement GDP?" The entire team was thrilled (laughs).

Since then, Well-being has been referenced in the "Basic Policy on Economic and Fiscal Management and Reform 2021" (Bone-Thick Policy) and various other policies. I believe 2021 truly became the inaugural year for Well-being in Japan.

What is the "Integrated Statement" that reveals intangible corporate value beyond just finance?

Murayama: A key focus for the initiative going forward is "redefining what makes a good company." Traditionally, corporate value was measured primarily by financial performance. However, non-financial information and intangible assets—such as employee well-being (people), environmental initiatives (environment), and social contributions (society)—are equally important.

The financial statements currently used to measure corporate value were developed about 70 years ago and have not been updated since. While financial statements show a company's performance and financial health, they leave unanswered the question of how to disclose and evaluate other contributions.

This led to the development of the " Integrated Statement." It is a single-page model that provides an at-a-glance view of a company's value and status regarding non-financial information like Well-being and ESG. It also serves as a planning tool for incorporating Well-being into management. This is available for free on our website, so please take a look.

 

 

In corporate management, it is crucial to integrate the four quadrants—business, employees, environment, and society—rather than treating them as separate, fragmented parts. To achieve this, we must first clarify the company's purpose (reason for existence) and then consider each domain (quadrant) centered around that purpose.
　
Integrated reporting visualizes a company's concrete actions, placing Purpose at the center while incorporating materiality (strategy) across the four quadrants: business, employees, environment, and society. By placing non-financial KPIs and other metrics beyond this, it allows for a single-page representation of the company's current state—how it thinks and what it is doing.

By having companies collectively undertake this process, I envision Well-being being integrated into corporate management.

Fujii: We actually held workshops using the integrated statements, primarily with companies participating in the initiative. These were the workshops I mentioned earlier, attended by corporate representatives.

Shima: We received a lot of positive feedback from the companies during the workshops. They found it valuable to fill out the integrated statements and discuss areas where their company's actions were lacking, as well as specific strategies. Additionally, companies presented their challenges and concerns in front of others and exchanged opinions. They felt it was meaningful to have frank discussions within the scope of what was possible. We definitely want to continue these workshops this year.

Murayama: Going forward, we will roll out the integrated statements as a Dentsu Inc. solution service. We hope more companies will identify areas needing improvement while filling out the statements and take actionable steps to address them. Furthermore, when companies consider specific actions, we would be delighted to support them with Dentsu Inc.'s creativity in developing "symbolic actions" – actions with strong impact that send a powerful message to employees and society.

Shima: Regarding future initiatives, our immediate focus is completing the GDW by 2030 and actively engaging with national and global stakeholders. Simultaneously, we aim to foster a corporate culture where non-financial information, like Well-being, is valued in business management.

Fujii: As a longer-term goal, we envision making Well-being the global agenda beyond 2030. Securing consensus among many nations, alongside private sector cooperation, will be crucial.

Shima: The current SDGs could be seen as actions to reduce "negative legacies." Moving forward, it's equally vital to take actions that not only reduce negative legacies but also increase "positive legacies." We believe Well-being can contribute to this. We aim to spread this concept and increase the number of companies, individuals, and countries that support it.

Release: Developed "Integrated Statements ver.1.0," a new management blueprint that visualizes corporate intangible value
 

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