MARUI GROUP's Sustainability
MARUI GROUP's Sustainability
MARUI GROUP's 2050 Vision
In February 2019, we announced MARUI GROUP's 2050 Vision, a roadmap for guiding our efforts to help build an inclusive society that offers happiness to all.
VISION 2050
Harnessing the power of business to build a world that transcends dichotomies
Critical Importance of the Concept of Inclusion
MARUI GROUP envisions a world in which we have transcended all dichotomies to build a flourishing and inclusive society that offers happiness to all. A society cannot be said to be happy if happiness is only provided to certain groups. Only when happiness is available to all can society truly flourish. Since its founding in 1931, MARUI GROUP has continued to evolve its unique business model merging retailing and finance to reflect the changes in the times and in customers, all the while being guided by the co-creation philosophy that "creditability should be built together with customers." Today, the concept of inclusion—integrating and including individuals that had previously been excluded—infuses our quest to help shape the future. We believe that expanding the intersection between the interests of all people through inclusion is a shortcut to the realization of a flourishing and inclusive society that offers happiness to all.Inclusion is both a philosophy and a strategy, a key principle for transcending dichotomies to resolve social issues while increasing corporate value.
Various Dichotomies Creating An Afflicted World
Dichotomies divide a single concept into two sides and presume inconsistency or opposition between these sides. People have a natural tendency to categorize people and assume differences based on dichotomies such as men and women and children and adults. These dichotomies can sometimes create discrimination and disparities in treatment when used to divide or foster opposition between groups, as seen in the dichotomies between the able-bodied and people with disabilities and between the rich and the poor. Our world is afflicted by countless such dichotomies, and we can no longer turn a blind eye to this issue. If we continue to ignore the global-scale problems we face, content to live focused on the happiness and interests that lie before us, we will create a new dichotomy, between current generations and future generations, and invite an undesirable future.
MARUI GROUP's Vision for The World of 2050
Understanding the current circumstances faced by the world, MARUI GROUP spent a year delving into the future that seems certain, the future that seems uncertain, and the future that, although seeming uncertain, is desirable to be made certain. We thereby are able to formulate a vision for the world of the future based on three predictions: the emergence of a focus on individuality that still values connections, the appearance of a massive global market catering to low- and middle-income individuals, and an increasing emphasis on businesses that coexist with the global environment. The vision for the world of 2050 arising from these three predictions is a world of interconnectivity between countries, races, and nature.
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A World Focused on Individuality That Still Values Connections
The promotion of diversity will likely bring about a world in which all people, including senior citizens, LGBTQ individuals, expatriates, and people with disabilities, are able to exercise their individuality as a matter of course and in which the concept of a minority is non-existent. At the same time, technological progress will expand our virtual space, making it possible for people to enjoy and find value in connections that transcend the boundaries of country and race, all while maintaining their own sense of individuality.
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A World Featuring a Massive Global Market Catering to Low- and Middle-Income Individuals
Rising income in developing countries and growing income disparity in developed countries can be expected to give rise to a society in which the traditional opposition between developing countries and developed countries is replaced by a new sense of opposition between low- and middle-income individuals and the wealthy. This opposition will generate various business opportunities associated with the shared social needs and challenges of low- and middle-income individuals worldwide and with education, healthcare, finance, and consumer services, giving rise to a massive global market.
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03
A World Emphasizing Businesses That Coexist with the Global Environment
The global environment will no doubt become unable to support the mass production and consumption trends seen thus far, heralding a world in which only those businesses that coexist with the global environment are able to survive. In this world, renewable energy that capitalizes on the power of nature and circular economies that turn wasted resources into profit will become commonplace fixtures. Furthermore, the people of the future will come to emphasize coexistence with the global environment in their purchasing behaviors and consumption activities, leading to the mainstream emergence of responsible consumers around the world.
Establishment Process of Vision
MARUI GROUP's 2050 Vision was forged over a roughly yearlong process of ongoing discussion among employees, executive officer, and specialists. Through a process shaped by employee volunteers, a back-casting approach was used starting from our goals for 2050 to form MARUI GROUP's vision for the future.
Background and Process for Establishment of Vision
The establishment of MARUI GROUP's 2050 Vision was prompted by input from investors. Although the market had recognized the improvement in corporate value achieved through our co-creation philosophy and business strategies based on inclusion, there were requests for a long-term vision, long-term targets for accomplishing this vision, and quantitative information on progress toward those targets. These requests led us to start formulating a vision. When formulating an ultralong-term vision for 2050, the opinions of the employees that will actually be living in that era are of the utmost importance. For this reason, younger employees were recruited to take part in establishing the vision, a process that we advanced through a united employee effort.
Groupwide Sustainability Project Team
MARUI GROUP has established four official project teams that engage in deep, forward-looking discussion on themes that are related to the Company or society as a whole from a medium-to-long-term perspective. One of these teams is the Sustainability Project Team, which was formed in 2018. Members were recruited through open application, and the unprecedented number of applications was so great that only one-seventh of applicants were accepted, resulting in a team comprising roughly 50 Group employees. The members took part in workshops arranged by external specialists and discussed the vision for the future that would be MARUI GROUP's 2050 Vision.
Major Events of the Year
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2017 December
Input received from investors at MARUI GROUP IR DAY became the impetus for the establishment of a project team for establishing a vision. Meetings with employees and discussions with external specialists were commenced.
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2018 January–February
The first Future Co-Creation Workshop was held on four occasions with attendance by officers, younger employees, and external specialists to discuss visions for MARUI GROUP in 2050.
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2018 May–September
The second Future Co-Creation Workshop was held on seven occasions during which project team members recruited through open application and external specialists discussed desirable futures for MARUI GROUP 2050.
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2018 September
In the second workshop, employees were divided into six groups to formulate 2050 vision proposals to be presented directly to executive officers, after which a rough draft was formulated by the organizing committee.
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2018 October
The third Future Co-Creation Workshop was held among executive officers only, who discussed the 2050 vision proposals prepared by employees while sharing their opinions and interpretations.
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2018 December
An intensive vision conference was held just for executive officers to finalize MARUI GROUP's 2050 Vision for announcement at the co-creation sustainability explanatory forum on December 10, 2018.
Future Co-Creation Workshops Centered on Employees
Employees that took part in the Sustainability Project Team first analyzed the operating environment trends projected 30 years in the future and then discussed the future trends that seem certain and the world they wish to build based on those trends. After this, the members were divided into six groups to formulate visions for MARUI GROUP in 2050, which were presented directly to executive officers. Comments from Group representatives and Sustainability Project Team members have been made available.
Input from Children That Will Shape the World 30 Years from Now
As part of the process of formulating our long-term vision, we reached out to Ebara Fifth Public Elementary School in Shinagawa, Tokyo. A total of 130 children, who will be the ones shaping the world 30 years from now, were invited to take part in discussions so that we could incorporate their thoughts and opinions into the vision. The children were first asked to imagine what the world may look like 30 years in the future and then to think about what would make for a more desirable future. The children voiced a mixed assortment of hope and concern regarding the future, with some stating how they want to value interpersonal connections or make ecological lifestyles the norm and others expressing concern for being ruled by technology. Such input from children was integrated into MARUI GROUP's 2050 Vision, representing our first step in practicing co-creation with the group of stakeholders that is future generations.
Input from Children
- I hope that we will still value connections with people and the warmth of people 30 years in the future.
- I want to enjoy the evolution of technology while ad dressing climate and other environmental issues.
- We should separate the work of people from the work of robots. We need to enrich people's lives without making things overly convenient.
Comment from Collaborator
I remember how motivated and excited the children were to participate in this event after I informed them that their input would be used to help set MARUI GROUP's new management policies. Many of their opinions were unexpected, such as those that expressed dissatisfaction with an overly convenient society and those that wanted to eat meals with their families. This event thus made it apparent that the students had not lost sight of the importance of connections with others and the fundamental qualities of being human.
Ayano Moroto
Teacher Ebara Fifth Public Elementary School Shinagawa TokyoIntensive Vision Conference for Executive Officers
After receiving proposals from Sustainability Project Team members and discussing with children, the last step in formulating MARUI GROUP's 2050 Vision was a two-day, overnight intensive vision conference attended by all executive officers. At this conference, the executive officers brought the vision to final form by organizing and confirming understanding of the opinions of employees, children, and experts and then considering, presenting, and sharing the long-term vision proposals presented by the Sustainability Project Team groups. A wide variety of opinions were raised during the open and lively discussions. One officer mentioned that he sensed an innovative drive to overcome challenges in the idea of transcending dichotomies. Another stated that concrete KPIs were suited to green businesses while also bringing up the need to reevaluate the KPIs for other businesses in the future. Following its finalization at the conference, the 2050 Vision was announced at the co-creation sustainability explanatory forum held on December 10, 2018.
