Message from Outside Director

Bringing in Different Insight While Sharing the Same Objectives

The Company has in place an excellent corporate governance system. At board meetings, members hold free and open-minded discussions, and the system of sharing information on management strategies and current corporate status is functioning properly. Board members engage in other activities as well to discuss management strategies and medium- to long-term visions, periodically exchange views with the president and inside directors, participate in offsite meetings of directors and visit business locations such as research laboratories and wireless base stations. We are also given opportunities to talk directly with young and mid-career employees, who serve as the backbone of DOCOMO's operations, to capture their awareness of issues and sense of urgency.

I believe that one of the important roles of an independent outside director is to back up the Company's growth over the medium to long term. As a former editor of a business journal and an industrial policy and business researcher, I have witnessed a shift in industrial structure driven by technological innovation, which in turn caused an upheaval in companies' competitive environment and forced them to overhaul their business models. Based on this insight and as a representative of general shareholders, I will provide my opinions and advice to help DOCOMO achieve growth, and at the same time, fulfill another important role of supervising its business execution.

As you can see, outside directors serve to bring in different insight based on a unique perspective while sharing the same objectives with employees.

Needing a Higher, Cross-Sectional Perspective to View the Entire Company

Toward achieving the goals of its Medium-Term Strategy 2020 "Declaration beyond," DOCOMO is in the process of transforming its business structure from the one based on communications services to the one providing services utilizing its membership base. In order to provide service platforms that are user-friendly and comprehensively meet user needs, DOCOMO requires a higher and cross-sectional perspective to view the entire company across organizational boundaries. While passing on its accumulated management resources, everyone, including management, must share a determination to move forward into new domains.

The DOCOMO Group has top-notch technologies and R&D capabilities not only in Japan but also in the global ICT sector. I am confident that these capabilities will also provide an advantage to DOCOMO in promoting its service-based business.

Lastly, the Company's growth in the future will be supported by human resources. Fulfilling "Declaration beyond" requires diverse talent having varying experience and skills, regardless of gender or nationality. To enable employees of different backgrounds to learn from each other and grow, I believe it will be increasingly important for DOCOMO to establish an organizational system to accurately assess human resources and assign them to appropriate positions.