Dai Nippon Printing, Co., Ltd.
Sustainability Briefing: Q&A Summary(October 30, 2023)[Questioner 1]
Q: With regard to governance, I get the impression that President
Yoshinari Kitajima is actively engaging in dialogue outside thecompany, primarily the stock market, but on that point, does hediscuss matters with Outside Directors, or take advice from them?
Also, what role did the Outside Directors play in the formulation ofthe Medium-term Management Plan?
A: The four Outside Directors have a variety of skills and experience,
which they use as the basis for entering into discussions and providing
advice.
In terms of external dialogue, due in part to advice received from theOutside Directors, we are actively taking steps to explain the company
through such initiatives as today's Sustainability Briefing and theMedium-term Management Plan Briefing.
As for the role played by Outside Directors, we entered into a variety ofdiscussions with them before the announcement of, for example, theBasic Management Policy in February, the Medium-term Management
Plan Outline in March, and the Medium-term Management Plan in May.
Q: In terms of existing products with top market shares you havemetal masks, battery pouches, optical films, and so on, but I
would like to hear your views on how to consistently create
products that win the top share, and their reproducibility. Also,
please explain what kind of contribution data-driven management
makes to research and development.
A: When developing a new product lineup, what is important is not only
seeing the surface but also having the acumen to see through to theunderlying reality, and it is also necessary to be able to seize on
customer insights, envision a “better future,” and develop profoundfuture scenarios. By taking this perspective on development, we hope
to develop new product lineups that stand comparison with metalmasks, battery pouches, and others.
Also, we have been seeing an increase in complex themes recently, andgiven the importance of open innovation we are strengthening ourcollaborations with partner companies, academia, startups, and otherswith the objective of opening the way to expansion into new areas ofbusiness.
With regard to data-driven management, because the development
department is distributed between the various business divisions andthe head office divisions, we are now using this approach to aggregate
information from the various divisions. We are about to begin theprocess of analyzing this aggregated information, in order to contributeto development in each of the division.

[Questioner 2]
Q: On the subject of governance, there have been changes over thepast 10 years in the number of Directors, the proportion of Outside
Directors, and in female Directors originating from within thecompany. I would like to know what has changed in management
as a result. Also, should we consider the current structure to be
the final form of the governance system? If there is room forfurther improvement, please explain what points those would be.
A: The structure of governance and the Board of Directors at DNP haschanged considerably. These changes have resulted in Outside
Directors and female Directors endowed with a wide range ofknowledge participating in discussions concerning the business andrisk, which has in turn led to more lively interactions than was hitherto
the case. I think we have begun to get quite close to realizing the DNP
goal of generating value from diverse human resources.
With regard to the governance system, going forward we will continue
to pay attention to trends in governance and the environment in which
DNP operates, and seek to refine our own system further.
Q: DNP operates a wide range of businesses, and I think that areas
such as DX and life sciences will require diverse human resources.
What is your approach to attracting and developing people, forexample with regard to the adoption of a job-oriented personnelsystem?
A: For personnel involved in AI and DX, or working in highly specialized
fields such as pharmaceuticals or medicine, when you take consider thelength of time required for development it is important to attract suchpeople from outside the company. Under the salary curve for theprevious membership-based system, it was in some ways difficult torecruit specialist personnel from outside the company. By adopting a
DNP version of “compensation and related policies that are more closely
founded on a job-oriented perspective” we are increasing the proportionof those hired through irregular recruitment, primarily specialist
personnel, and actively working to take on people in highly specializedfields.