CEO Message
Mitsui & Co.’s value creation is driven by diverse professionals who actively exchange and challenge different views, respect one another, and continue taking on challenges in a culture of open-mindedness. By staying closely engaged with the business frontlines, having candid discussions with colleagues and partners, learning from failure, and venturing into new fields, our people grow stronger and go on to create new value. This chain of personal growth and value creation embodies Mitsui & Co.’s long-held belief that “People make business, and business cultivates people.”
What does "people" mean to Mitsui & Co.?
Since the establishment of our company, we have continued to contribute to the development of society by creating new value through the resolution of social issues. In order to continue creating value amid heightened uncertainties in the global landscape and accelerated changes in the business environment, it is essential to develop people who can accurately grasp these changes and proactively envision and execute future strategies so that we can bring out the potential of each individual. This idea is also represented in the words of the first president of the former Mitsui & Co.*, Takashi Masuda, who said, “Mitsui develops its people. They are our most important asset,” a philosophy which has been passed down from generation to generation.
In Medium-term Management Plan 2029, we set forth the theme of “Pathway to 2030 and Beyond - Shaping Futures through Trust and Innovation.” For Mitsui & Co., people are the very driving force behind shaping those futures. By building trust, connecting diverse knowledge, tapping into ideas shaped by firsthand insights from the business frontlines and the ability to translate those ideas into action, we generate new value. We believe that continuing to nurture such people is the source of Mitsui & Co.’s competitiveness and lies at the heart of our human capital management.
The title of this report, “Empowering People to Build Brighter Futures,” is also a representation of our firm belief, which has remained unchanged since the company’s founding.
Please tell us about Mitsui & Co.'s unique way of enhancing and drawing out the value of human capital embodied in its keyword phrases such as "Mitsui is People," "Challenge and Innovation," and "Open-mindedness."
In order to empower people to reach their full potential, we have always emphasized the importance of the attitude toward work as well as corporate culture, which we expressed as “Challenge and Innovation” and “Open-mindedness,” respectively. They have been incorporated into the four values as defined in our Mission, Vision, Values (MVV): “Seize the initiative,” “Thrive on diversity,” “Embrace growth,” and “Act with integrity,” and have formed the foundation of the company to this day.
In today’s environment, where rapid and far-reaching change has become the norm, it is becoming increasingly difficult to create new value simply by following conventional approaches. People from diverse backgrounds exchange opinions and challenge one another’s views, recognize each other’s perspectives, and continue to better themselves through such interactions. I believe that this kind of inclusive environment — indeed, a culture of open-mindedness — is essential for sustainable growth.
Also, in an increasingly complex world, it is not easy to arrive at the right answer. That is precisely why we need to stay closely engaged with the business frontlines and secure an environment in which we can have candid discussions with colleagues and partners, learn from failure, and continue taking on challenges. Through such challenges, people are honed, grow stronger, and become empowered to create new value: Such a virtuous cycle of personal growth and new value creation embodies the spirit of Mitsui & Co. that was carefully handed down by our predecessors and expressed in the words, “People make business, business cultivates people.”
What do you think about the qualities employees should have, such as aspiration, ability and skills, and the roles that employees should fulfill?
The strength of our people lies in the fact that we are a group of “independent thinkers” — each with our own unique aspirations, experiences, and expertise — capable of analyzing the world through our own lens while exploring business opportunities autonomously.
To maintain this strength, the first thing required of employees is to be professional. Through the experience of delving into the business domains they are responsible for, our employees come to empirically understand that they cannot become professionals in their field without doing their utmost to deepen their knowledge and hone their skills. At the same time, everyone, myself included, knows that we need to stay humble, given that we are still only midway through the journey of personal development. We need to maintain this awareness, stay hungry for new knowledge, and continually refine ourselves. These approaches naturally foster mutual respect for each other’s careers and expertise. Since we are true professionals, our expertise can be applied beyond our respective fields and agile horizontal collaboration across business units, regions, and functions is possible. And when independent-minded individuals respect one another’s diverse strengths and bring those strengths together, it leads to the creation of greater value as an organization.
In this context, we also need to cherish curiosity, have the resilience to learn from failure, maintain our focus on the business frontlines, and follow our belief in the five senses, in other words, valuing insights gained from what we directly see, hear, and touch. I ask our employees to pay as many visits as possible to the business frontlines and make decisions based on their five senses, while actively leveraging various technologies, including AI, as tools. AI dramatically enhances our ability to search through and analyze vast amounts of information. Meanwhile, it is humans who decide which issues to address, what kind of future to envision, and whether or not to put that vision into action. By combining the knowledge and insights of professional talent with AI’s ability to unlock new possibilities, we intend to create new value from combinations that were not possible before. Sustained development of the people who will strategically drive this process will be an important theme of Mitsui & Co.’s human resources strategy going forward.
What do you focus on in terms of the executive structure and governance system in order to effectively promote the human resources strategy?
We have adopted a global matrix structure based on the business unit system. This lowers organizational boundaries between business units and regions, and enables flexible and agile collaboration. Similarly, in our human resources strategy, it is important for local offices (place of recruitment) and business units to coordinate closely to strengthen employees’ expertise as professionals, while also creating career paths for each individual through training, transfers, and opportunities to take on challenges that are not confined by unit or region. In order to put our concept of talent management into words and ensure the shared understanding of it among our global employees, we formulated a global talent management policy in July 2024. In addition, “Bloom”, our global talent management system, went into full-scale operation globally at the end of December 2024. I believe it will further help visualize the experience and skills of capable individuals globally, and ever accelerate the active involvement of diverse human resources through appropriate allocation of human resources. Going forward, by combining AI with the talent data of approximately 9,000 people who are registered in Bloom, we will identify new combinations and possibilities among the experiences, skills, and expertise of diverse individuals, and expand opportunities for them to demonstrate their capabilities beyond national and organizational boundaries. By swiftly forming optimal teams made up of our professional talent active around the world, and bringing together knowledge and insights spanning business domains and regions, we will further enhance Mitsui & Co.’s unique ability to create value. We believe that Bloom and AI will serve as an important foundation that enables diverse talent to collaborate beyond organizational and regional borders and supports Mitsui & Co.’s integrated strengths.
To accelerate these initiatives, our HR strategy is constantly being discussed as a major topic by the Board of Directors and Executive Committee. With a particular focus on inclusion, we have established a system that allows us to carefully consider the development of line managers and succession plans within the organization. We are also promoting well-being initiatives, and in addition to providing physical and psychological safety and security, which is the basis for ensuring employees’ performance, we seek an environment in which each person can work in their own style with enthusiasm, and thrive together with their colleagues.
Please tell us about any insights you gained through dialogues with stakeholders and your approaches for promoting human capital management.
The ultimate goal for a company is to create value together with its stakeholders. To that end, it is crucial to show the company’s future path over the long term, and to obtain support and understanding from each stakeholder. At Mitsui & Co., through the daily practice of innovation, we are committed to delivering cross-industry, real solutions and ensuring the long-term, stable supply of products and services that meet the needs of society and markets. To achieve this, the power of people is indispensable.
What we aim to build is an organization in which each employee continues to grow, opens up new possibilities while collaborating with diverse talent and incorporating the use of AI and data. At the foundation of this is the trust we build with stakeholders both inside and outside the company. Trust brings diverse knowledge together, giving rise to new challenges and innovation.
Through dialogue with internal and external stakeholders, we will share our approach to people and the direction we aim to pursue, thereby expanding circles of empathy and trust. The same applies to our employees. I believe that helping each employee feel a tangible connection between their own growth and the company’s development will serve as a driving force for further advancing our human capital management.
Could you once again explain the reason for publishing the report entitled “Empowering People to Build Brighter Futures”?
For Mitsui & Co., which has always placed people at the core of its management, it is quite natural to issue a report focusing on human resources information for communication with stakeholders. Our stakeholders include not only shareholders, investors, customers, business partners, and local communities, but also our own employees and people who are interested in our business. To those who are interested in working at our company in the future and people who are interested in applying for mid-career recruitment, I would like to explain in detail the importance of people for Mitsui & Co., and the kind of growth they can experience here.
In this report entitled “Empowering People to Build Brighter Futures,” we will continuously update and communicate our human resources strategy and concrete progress toward our future vision, in order to convey Mitsui & Co.’s people-oriented approach and initiatives to stakeholders.
The personal growth of each employee will lead to a virtuous cycle of enhancing corporate value and helping solve social issues: We look forward to sharing this journey with all of our stakeholders.
* From a legal perspective, there is no continuity between the former Mitsui & Co. and the present Mitsui & Co., and they are totally separate entities.