REPORT

【19th January 2024】
*This report is a partially edited version of the one posted on LinkedIn on January 4,2024.

On behalf of myself and the Index group, we wish you a happy new year! I would like to extend our thanks for the support of our business over the past year. We believe that this new year will present many opportunities for us to share with you information not only about construction, infrastructure, and PPP-projects, but also about our up-and-coming initiatives to solve various societal issues. As always, we hope that you will continue to provide us with your unwavering support and valuable feedback.

Before today’s main discussion, I would like to pay my heartfelt recognition to those impacted by the recent earthquake in Ishikawa Prefecture. We hope that its residents are able to swiftly recover and rebuild their lives. If there is anything that the Index Group can do to contribute to these restoration efforts, we are more than willing to assist.

Now, for the first topic of 2024, I would like to talk a little about the foreign-national employees in the Index Group.

It likely has something to do with the posts made on LinkedIn, but within the past year or two, Index has seen an increase in non-Japanese employees.

For example, in the case of our PPP (Public Private Partnership,) projects based abroad, from business opportunity exploration to the systems formulated by our strategists, if we remove our COO (Chief Operating Officer,) Ms. Ikedo, out of the ten consultants we have, seven of them are of a foreign nationality. From the start of this year, we will also be welcoming an additional three non-Japanese employees.

Our business structure comprises of a wide range of nationalities, including three from the Philippines, two from Turkey, as well as those from Vietnam, Pakistan, Indonesia, and Italy. Notably, our partner is also a French national.

You may be thinking that it’s only natural to have multi-national employees when the main scope of Index Strategy’s business are projects outside of Japan. Nonetheless, there is also a steady increase across the entire Index group of foreign nationals, such as Index Consulting (which oversees domestic project management for construction projects,) and Social System Design, which is responsible for Japanese PPP-projects.

Last year we saw the arrival of two new employees to Index Consulting: One to the PM (Project Management,) division from China, and the other to the CM (Construction Management,) division from Gaza, Palestine. Within Social System Design and Index, there are also staff from Korea, China, and the UK. Additionally, though not an employee, our special advisor is from the Middle East.

Something that particularly strikes me is the high level of prestige of the foreign nationals who have joined us recently. It’s almost common-sense that they’re either undergrad or post-grad alumni of some of the most prestigious universities within Japan (such as Tokyo University,) and abroad. Previous roles in their home-countries are equally impressive, including governmental offices and banks.

I’ll admit that I’m surprised that they chose Index, given their competitive market value.

In all honesty, the Index Group is not yet a household name. It could also be said that its wages fall slightly less than those of large-scale or foreign-owned companies. What made them choose Index despite all this? Hearing their stories directly, I have come to learn that they have a strong resonation with our vision and Index itself as a business.

The Word Most Important to Index

The Index Group prides itself in three main corporate values: A spirit and diligence towards inclusivity and universality, aiming for a society in which all parties can thrive, and the realization of Japan’s full potential, to leave something behind for the next generation.

Within Index, these key concepts are defined as ‘Shikkai’. It’s a term that you will often see featured on our official website, for example, though it may not be one that you are familiar with. It’s a construct originally associated with traditional Japanese kimono-making: Those in charge of spinning, weaving and then dyeing the fabric, all skilled in their respective crafts, come together to create a single piece of clothing. Today, we can say the same process is applicable to our project management style.

Our value of universality emphasizes a unique Japanese-style project management system. We take on each request from our clients, creating and managing the most skilled team accordingly, in order to present the best final product, thus applying the same mindset of Kimono-making to modern-day business practices.

The second philosophy, ensuring that all parties involved thrive, usually has connotations of the seller, buyer, and society. However, in the context of construction and infrastructure, we could say that we have envisioned a society in which commissioner, vendor and local residents share both the risks and benefits of these projects.

With widening wealth disparity becoming a global-scale issue, the notion of every party reaping benefit is gaining widespread attention as a concept distinctive from conventional liberal capitalism. The concept, in Japanese, is called ‘SanpouYoshi,’ which originates from the merchants in Omi Province, nowadays known as Shiga Prefecture. In the field of PPP, where a vast range of people benefit from social and public infrastructure, the principle is an arguably necessary one between public sector, private sector and end user.

Since our founding in 1994, I have always regarded the value of all participants benefiting as one of the most important in this business. Even in front of our employees I often emphasize the importance of this value, and I hold it to almost the same high esteem as ‘Shikkai,’ or universality.

The final mission is not just for the benefit of our current generation, but for our children and grandchildren. To create a better Japanese society, we believe that societal challenges can be resolved through construction and communal infrastructure projects.

It takes years for a single seed to grow into a tree. It takes even longer for the single tree to become a forest. In other words, those who planted these seeds before us thought of what they would like to leave behind, rather than expecting immediate results. It is now our turn to do the same for the next generation.

Typical business management has a tendency to focus only on the now. The field of construction and social/public infrastructure has another dimension, in which it considers how the foundation for sustainable development can be implemented.

The next generation is one that will be unfamiliar with the post-war baby-boom and economic growth. Instead, Japan (and the rest of the world,) will need to play a part in sustainable, future-proof projects that tackle wealth disparity, food sourcing and environmental issues. With this notion at the core of my own values, I consider the future generation even amongst the work carried out in the present day.

Shikkai and SanpouYoshi Beyond Japan

Whenever I speak to those wishing to join Index, it’s often clear that they choose this company based on their own connections with our company values.

For instance, all three non-Japanese members added Index Strategy spoke of how the principle of SanpouYoshi is one that will be needed in our future global society, and that they each wanted to contribute to the sustainable development of emerging markets and nations through infrastructural PPP. For this to happen, they expressed the ambition to, as project manager, bring together global experts in the way of Shikkai.

This part is merely my own interpretation, but for those who were born and raised in said emerging nations, Western corporations (and perhaps even the West in general,) are entities to be cautious of.

It’s true that whilst the West is proactive in its investments, they are also perceived to impose their values and ideologies. Despite bringing benefits to local communities, these efforts are often regarded as exploitative in nature, excessively draining benefits or profit, rather than giving back to the locality.

By contrast, through ODA (“Official Development Assistance,”?) Japan has, over the long-term, widely contributed to infrastructural maintenance in said emerging nations, without enforcing any kind of value or ideology in the process. The Japanese government has its own intent, and whether this is a country deemed worthy of respect is a topic for debate. However, in the scope of international contribution, Japanese values to ensure that ‘all parties benefit,’ is one recognized by a fair number of foreign nationals.

The truth of the matter is, on a national-level it’s more complex, but on a person-to-person basis, Japanese people are seen in a positive light by the residents of emerging nations. I say so from firsthand experience, having been to numerous countries. It’s no exaggeration that on a global scale, Japan positions itself, through its ODA, as a key player in global contribution initiatives.

In present-day Japan, the labor shortage is a grave issue. The Index Group have admittedly struggled to source talent. With this said, I have every confidence that our vision and philosophy can be shared with the world. If we can ingrain this vision in the work that we do, we will see a future for the company in which talent will gravitate towards us, rather than us reaching out to them.

Of course, there are challenges to be faced, such as English-language communication and the creation of a work-environment that foreign-national employees can adjust to comfortably. Yet, if we can resolve these obstacles, it’s completely feasible that the next generation of employees joining us will not only strive for the brighter tomorrow of Japan, but for the entire world. I make it my own personal mission to create an Index Group that more foreign nationals will aspire to be a part of.