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How the Management Philosophy was Established (Recruit scandal - establishment of the management philosophy)
The Recruit scandal presented us with the opportunity to establish our current management philosophy.
Here, we would like to explain how the Recruit scandal was perceived within our company at the time and how it has become today.
What is the 'Recruit scandal' ?
The "Recruit scandal" originated when it was revealed that the unlisted shares of Recruit Cosmos, an affiliated Recruit Group company at the time, had been transferred to the deputy mayor of Kawasaki City on June 18, 1988. The Tokyo District Public Prosecutors' Office prosecuted a total of 12 people, including 8 bribe takers via 4 channels (Ministry of Labor, Ministry of Education, political world and NTT) and 4 bribe offerers, all of whom were found guilty. Subsequently, on March 4, 2003, with the conviction given to our founder, the curtain came down on the long Recruit scandal trial.
We deeply accepted the serious fact that we had "caused inconvenience to society" in the Recruit scandal.
On reflecting on this Recruit scandal, we reviewed how we should interact with society and regarded it as an opportunity to start what we now term "enhancement of our compliance structure as a company", including the establishment of the management philosophy, establishment of a code of ethics, development of internal rules and so on.
Establishment of the management philosophy(as of 1989)
Above all, efforts to drastically revise the type of company we operate and our relationship maintained with society in the wake of the Recruit scandal led to a "management philosophy" which describes the social significance, purpose and trajectory for the future management of the Recruit company itself.
It was 1968 when the company creed was established in Recruit for the first time. Almost 20 years after its establishment, it was then revised as the "management philosophy".
The management philosophy consists of the "corporate philosophy" and "three management principles" and in June 1989, the year after the Recruit scandal, following a year or so of debate, it was established and announced with the following contents:
Corporate Philosophy(as of 1989)
By continuously working toward harmony with society
And creating new, exciting information value,
We are determined to help establish a free, dynamic human community
Three Management Principles(as of 1989)
Creation of New Value
Respect for All Individuals
Contributions to Society
Throughout the Recruit scandal, we may have lacked the perspective to view issues from the third person standpoint and take a step back to consider how our corporate attitude and business activities were seen by society. We may have lacked awareness of the fact that a company is actually a public organ of society. We repeated such discussions.
Before the Recruit scandal, the key "three managerial principles", namely the "quest for commercial rationality", "contribution to society" and "respect for individuals" were established as the company creed.
Although a "quest for commercial rationality" is crucial to the existence of the company, after reflecting on why we are needed in society and how we can contribute to it, and after experiencing the Recruit scandal, we concluded on the following aim, namely to engage in "contribution by creating new information value"
Putting ourselves in the shoes of individual life design, we pursue the "enrichment of people's hearts" and present new values to society. Moreover, we always move hand-in-hand with society. We would like to remain a warm and attractive company.
The management philosophy created with the Recruit scandal, even now more than 2 decades on, which was reinforced by a subsequent code of ethics, indicates the direction, purpose and meaning of our existence and the management adopted by Recruit as a company.
Company-wide slogan (announced on January 4, 1989)
Booklet of "Management philosophy and code of ethics"