A major shift in the ideal form of companies
The ideal form of companies is currently undergoing significant change. The front page of the May 17th edition of Nihon Keizai Shimbun, a major Japanese newspaper, carried an article with the headline "New Form for Companies Focused on Public Interest." This article reported that the government, looking to create a "New Form of Capitalism," was considering the establishment of a new form of company, based on the U.S. "Public Benefit Corporation," for which the purpose of business is to find solutions to social challenges. "Purpose management," i.e., a management style that revolves around a company's raison d'être, and "human capital management," which views human resources as "capital" and which seeks to extract the value of such to achieve mid- to long-term corporate growth, are also coming under the spotlight.
Aiming for a truly affluent prosperous society
These concepts correspond precisely with "Providing Solutions to Society’s Problems"—the corporate philosophy of the Pasona Group since its foundation in 1976—and with "Harnessing the Potential of the Individual," which has been a consistent approach of Pasona since that time.
Efforts directed toward the current regional revitalization project underway on Awaji Island in Hyogo Prefecture, Japan and the partial transfer of Pasona’s headquarters functions also represent initiatives that, by interrogating the various social challenges incurred by the concentration of people in the Tokyo metropolitan area, aim to create fulfilling lives for working people. They also represent how Pasona is tackling the structural reform of society by rethinking the meaning of true affluence and accomplishing a transition from material to spiritual affluence or, as it were, a "spiritual surplus."
Statement to the world from Expo 2025 Osaka, Kansai, Japan
With a view toward realizing such a truly affluent society, the Pasona Group will set up a pavilion at Expo 2025 Osaka, Kansai, Japan.
The pavilion theme will be "Thank you, life," a phrase that expresses our desire to create a world in which all people, from children to the elderly, are honored and filled with gratitude for life.
The pavilion's moniker will be "PASONA Natureverse," which is a portmanteau of "nature" and "universe." We as humans live in the natural world. However, at some point, we seem to have started to take this for granted and forgotten our sense of gratitude. We ought instead to embrace the wish to create and leave to the next generation a world where we can exchange thanks for the life made possible by the bountiful blessings of nature. Our hope is to see many pavilion visitors from around the world enjoying exciting and thrilling experiences that will encourage them to rethink their own futures and that of the world.
The PASONA Natureverse challenge is about to begin. In its capacity as a social solutions company, the Pasona Group will continue to take on the challenge of realizing a truly affluent society.
August 2022