November 21, 2012

Cross Fields Started Workshop For Creating BOP Business
Panasonic, Benesse and Hitachi Solutions participated in the Workshop

Cross Fields has started a workshop project for creating the ideas of BOP business plans. Thisworkshop invites the staff of NPOs as special lecturers with the solid experience and knowledge ofreal-life in the emerging countries. The workshop will last for several months. During theworkshop, one team consisting of four to five employees work together to create business plans,
which manifest solutions to the social problems in the BOP. Panasonic Corporation, Benesse
Corporation and Hitachi Solutions, Ltd. held the workshop this year and approximately fifty
people from different departments and at various ages have participated in the project.

※BOP is the abbreviation of the Base of the Economic Pyramid and defines those who are in the low-income class whoearn less than 3,000 dollars in a year and business targeting people in BOP is called BOP business. The number ofpeople in BOP is about four billion and they consist of 70% of the world population.

The workshop is held for roughly three months and there are three sessions. The first lecturer,
who is one of the NPO staffs, presents an overview towards the social problems in the emerging
countries and participants subsequently develop business ideas based on these problems.
Throughout the three sessions, participants continue to work as a team and spend time on
preparing for a final presentation. In addition, during the workshop, there are opportunities tointerview the lecturers so that they can grasp the image of the real situations in the emerging
countries while creating ideas.
Cross Fields send corporate volunteers to the NGO/NPOs and public administrations in theemerging countries as its main business. This is called “International Corporate VolunteeringProgram”, or ”Ryushoku” in Japanese, which provides opportunities for corporate employees toutilize their professional skills at the host organizations to address social challenges.
This workshop aims to increase the number of people who are interested in the BOP business andcollaboration with NPOs in the emerging countries so that they would, together with theparticipants of the “International Corporate Volunteering Program”, initiate a movement toNovember 21, 2012

develop businesses seeking to solve social problems.
Each company that participates in the workshop aims to provide their employees with
opportunities 1) to understand the current situation of the people in the BOP at the local level andlearn the approaches to develop sustainable projects combating social problems, 2) to consider theprojects that do not only provide benefits in the short term but also in the long term, and 3) tobuild a network and utilize the resources beyond departments and organizations.
Panasonic Corporation, which introduced the International Corporate Volunteering Program forthe first time in Japan, invited a representative of an NGO active in the rural area of Cambodia as
a guest speaker to the workshop. Unique ideas to solve the social problems faced by those in theBOP were proposed by the participants, such as providing micro electric energies to the houses
with no electricity and gas, and controlling cold energy when producing and storing fermentation
foods. Moreover, the eighty percent of the participants answered that this workshop experiencewould be useful for everyday business. Due to a success of the first workshop, Panasonic
Corporation decided to hold the second at the end of 2012.
Benesse Corporation held the workshop from July to October in 2012, which was initiated mainly
by young employees who utilized the company's system to subsidize programs for human resource
development, and invited the representative of an educational NPO from Indonesia. Participantsfrom Benesse Corporation created several business ideas to solve the problems of the rural area inIndonesia. One of the business plans that were developed during the workshop won a businessidea competition organized by Benesse Corporation.
Hitachi Solutions, Ltd. held the workshop, from September 2012, and invited the representative ofan NPO working in the rural area of Cambodia. The first session introduced the social issues inCambodia and the second session followed with a midterm presentation of business ideas. Several
ideas to solve educational problems in the emerging countries were created by utilizing theirprofessional IT skills.

November 21, 2012

Organization Profile
Organization NameCROSS FIELDS

Date of Establishment

3 May 2011

Address

Machihara Building 5F, 3-8-3 Nishi-Gotanda, Shinagawa, Tokyo, JAPAN
Chairman of the Board / Daichi Konuma
Vice Chair of the Board / Yuka Matsushima
Vice Chair of the Board / Yoshimi Okamoto

Executive Board

Vice Chair of the Board / Osamu Kaneda
Vice Chair of the Board / Hajime Sugiura
Auditor / Hiroki Kawai (CPA)
Auditor / Mangyo Kinoshita (Lawyer)
International Corporate Volunteering

Areas of PracticeWorkshop
Consulting Service

Contact

info@crossfields.jp