On May 23, the U.S.-Japan Council (USJC) hosted the 30th Business Advisory Board (BAB) Meeting at the Tokyo American Club. Under the leadership of Masaaki Tanaka, Vice Chair of the USJC Board of Councilors, BAB provides a platform for business leaders from diverse fields to expand people-to-people connections to achieve the Council’s mission of strengthening ties between the United States and Japan.
USJC welcomed Council Leader Charles D. Lake II (Chairman and Representative Director, Aflac Life Insurance Japan / President, Aflac International) as the featured speaker. His presentation, “Aflac’s Creating Shared Value (CSV) Management Strategy,” attracted over fifty business leaders and seven Next Generation leaders, including TOMODACHI Initiative alumni.
Mr. Lake introduced Aflac’s Core Values, its Founding Philosophy “to lift the financial burden of cancer patients and their families” and described the Aflac Way. He also explained Aflac’s Corporate Philosophy and Brand Promise of “Creating Living in Your Own Way” as he discussed the importance of a corporate culture based on core values. Mr. Lake shared how Aflac has met stakeholder expectations in both the United States and Japan through Creating Shared Value management, which leverages Aflac’s unique resources and expertise to address societal issues and create new economic value. He described the highly effective Global Group Governance framework that supports Aflac’s CSV management and introduced the Company’s original style of integrating best practices from both the U.S. and Japan.
Participant Minori Kon (TOMODACHI U.S.-Japan Youth Exchange Program ’18) said “I learned that a good business strategy is essential to creating a company that can earn the trust of its customers. Aflac operates with different strategies in Japan and the United States and understands that it is extremely important to know the culture of each country. I believe that this mutual understanding is what creates a strong bond between Japan and the United States.”
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