Corporate Governance

Basic Policy

Further Boosting Corporate Value

Daikin believes that the role of corporate governance is to accelerate decision making and operational execution work in anticipation of and in response to changes in management tasks and the management environment while concurrently promoting consistently high levels of management transparency and soundness, thereby increasing the Group's corporate value. The Group will continue to raise corporate value by ensuing the increasing sophistication of speedy management and still-higher levels of transparency and soundness. We will achieve this by constantly reviewing and implementing optimal corporate governance and by spreading best practices throughout the entire Daikin Group.

Corporate Governance Structure

Management and Operational Execution Systems

Rather than adopt a U.S.-style "committee system" that completely separates decision making and work supervision from operational execution, Daikin Industries, Ltd. has adopted an "integrated management" system that provides more advanced management. We believe that this system is effective in speeding up decision making and execution, which in turn will accelerate the globalization of our operations and business growth as a Company with an Audit & Supervisory Board. In an integrated management system, directors quickly make strategic decisions and conduct sound and appropriate supervision and guidance, thus achieving management responsibility through cooperation across all management and at the same time achieving work execution responsibility through prompt action. Numerous external officers monitor the execution of operations from an independent perspective and offer appropriate supervision and advice during decision making, in the process taking responsibility for supporting our "integrated management" from the standpoint of transparency and soundness. To improve execution of operations, Daikin Industries, Ltd. has introduced an Executive Officer System, whose members are appointed by the Board of Directors. The goal of this system is to accelerate the speed of execution based on autonomous judgments and decisions in units handling each region, division, and function.

Directors are selected with an emphasis on having a diverse range of personnel representing people of varying genders, nationalities, and experience. As of the end of June 2022, we have 11 directors (including one woman and one non-Japanese nationals). These directors oversee prompt and strategic decision making and sound supervision and guidance throughout the entire Group.

Daikin Industries, Ltd. appoints four external directors and two external Audit & Supervisory Board members with no vested interest in our company.

To ensure that the external directors can effectively contribute to Daikin Industries, Ltd.'s corporate governance system, the employees in the Corporate Planning Department are assigned to provide the external directors with early notice of Board of Directors meetings. In addition, in the case that an external director is not able to attend a Board of Directors meeting, the assistants provide the external director with related materials and subsequently provide the external director with an explanation of the proceedings of the meeting and provide other assistance.

The average tenure of directors is 9.7 years and each external director does not hold more than three concurrent positions other than his or her position with Daikin Industries, Ltd.

For information on the independence of directors, see our Corporate Governance Report. (482KB)

Audit System

Daikin Industries, Ltd. employs an Audit & Supervisory Board. As of June 2022, Daikin Industries, Ltd.'s four Audit & Supervisory Board members include two external Audit & Supervisory Board members. The principal nomination criteria for external Audit & Supervisory Board members are the same as those for external directors and include independence from the Company in terms of not having a relationship of interest with the Company.

The external Audit & Supervisory Board members attend meetings of the Board of Directors as well as other important meetings and receive reports. In addition, they are able to express diverse opinions.

To ensure effective audit functions, the Audit & Supervisory Board receives reports on important issues related to management and performance when necessary and also investigates relevant units, confirms approval of documents, and regularly exchanges opinions with representative directors, executive officers, and the independent auditors.

To ensure the effectiveness of Audit & Supervisory Board members, there is the Office of Audit & Supervisory Board Members. Staff of the Office carry out their duties to support the work of Audit & Supervisory Board members under the orders of Audit & Supervisory Board members. The opinions of the Audit & Supervisory Board are respected on matters related to personnel transfers, work evaluations, and other matters pertaining to the Office of Audit & Supervisory Board Member staff members.

The Audit & Supervisory Board stipulates Code of Audit & Supervisory Board Member Auditing Standards, in which it is written that members should strive to constantly educate themselves to improve the quality of audits.
One way they educate themselves is through participation in working groups and training events sponsored by the Japan Audit & Supervisory Board Members Association. The Audit & Supervisory Board communicates closely with accounting auditors. It also receives advice when necessary from outside experts such as certified public accountants and lawyers.

Organizational Structure Supports Speedy Management Implementation

Daikin Industries, Ltd. is striving to ensure prompt decision-making by having a smaller number of directors and having them take part in practical debate on issues. Three organs—the Board of Directors Meeting, the Group Steering Meeting, and the Executive Officers Meeting—are the main management bodies.

The Board of Directors is the Group-wide decision-making body for items stipulated in laws, regulations, and articles of incorporation. It also provides sound, appropriate supervision and guidance in the execution of operations. In fiscal 2021, the Board of Directors Meeting was convened 15 times, with external directors attending on average 95% of the meetings and external Audit & Supervisory Board members attending on average 93% of the meetings.

To evaluate board effectiveness, each director is interviewed individually each year as a way to confirm his or her effectiveness and to conduct self-evaluations. During the evaluation of board effectiveness in fiscal 2021, opinions were shared to help improve the administrative aspects of board meetings as well as further strengthen decision making and supervision functions. Going forward, we will continue with our efforts to further improve board effectiveness, including not only administrative improvements, but also deliberation of strategy and management tasks in a cross-functional manner, and improve reporting of status of business execution, including risk management.

The highest deliberation organ for the Group's management system is the Group Steering Meeting, which strives to constantly speed up the pace at which the Daikin Group decides on future direction and solves issues related to important management policy and strategies. The Group Steering Meeting was convened three times in fiscal 2021.

The Executive Officers Meeting, established following the introduction of the Executive Officer System, promotes speedy implementation and thorough deliberation regarding important management tasks related to operational execution.

At the same time, to ensure the effectiveness of audits, we developed a system with Internal Control Committee, the Corporate Ethics and Risk Management Committee, the Information Disclosure Committee, and the CSR Committee positioned under the Board of Directors. We are strengthening governance as the foundation for sustainable growth.

HRM and Compensation Advisory Committees

To ensure the transparent management of its corporate officer personnel and remuneration processes, Daikin Industries, Ltd. has established the HRM Advisory Committee and the Compensation Advisory Committee. These committees engage in discussions and deliberations regarding issues including corporate officer nomination criteria, corporate officer candidates, and remuneration. As of end of June 2022, the HRM Advisory Committee and the Compensation Advisory Committee consist of six members—four external directors, one internal director, and one Human Resources executive officer—and is chaired by one of the four external directors.

In addition, the suitability of candidates and their training plan for the successors of executives such as directors, CEOs, and executive officers, are to be first deliberated and examined by the HRM Advisory Committee, followed by the same process by the Board of Directors.

Group-Wide Governance

To ensure governance throughout the entire Group, including companies acquired by Daikin, the Group Management Meeting is held regularly with the aim for action based on unified opinion throughout the Group. It does this by sharing important Group policies and basic strategies, as well as providing support for problem-solving in Group companies.

The Group Auditors Meeting, made up of auditors from the main Group companies, works to strengthen auditing and control functions throughout the Group and ensure that these functions are working to the fullest.

To further raise corporate governance and Group management as a multinational company, Daikin has put a Chief Global Group Officer position in place. Under this position, the Group strives to further improve cohesiveness across global operations.

Corporate Governance Structure (as of end of June 2022)

Corporate Officer Remuneration, Etc.

The Compensation Advisory Committee, chaired by an external director and a majority of whose members include external directors, deliberates on policies of remuneration for directors, the validity of the remuneration system and levels of remuneration, and the details of remuneration paid to each director, while closely monitoring the environment surrounding officer remuneration.

Specifically, from the perspective of ensuring the independence of judgment and enhancing the effectiveness of its functions as an advisory body, the Compensation Advisory Committee examines and deliberates from various angles the relative position of the Company's performance position and remuneration level among the group of comparative companies, appropriateness of remuneration, etc., while utilizing information gathering and advice from external specialized organizations. In turn, the committee confirms and deliberates the contents of proposals concerning the amount of remuneration, etc. for each individual director from an objective perspective and submits its opinions to the President and CEO. Following discretionary approval from the Board of Directors and in principle based on the applicable reports, the President and CEO makes the final decision on the amount of individual compensation for directors.

Daikin Industries, Ltd.'s corporate officer remuneration system is designed to accord with the Group's management policy and respond to shareholders' expectations by increasing corporate officers' motivation to promote a sustained increase in Group performance over the medium to long term and thereby contributing to a rise in the Group's corporate value.

Directors' remuneration includes "fixed compensation," "performance-linked compensation" that reflects the Group's short-term performance (net sales and operating income) and each director's job responsibilities, and "stock options" that reflect the Group's medium- to long-term performance. The performance-linked compensation of Daikin directors is given a somewhat higher ratio of linkage with performance than average to ensure that the incentive effect of that compensation is sufficient.

The remuneration of external directors and corporate auditors includes "fixed compensation" only.

Compensation levels are determined based on consideration of Daikin's performance and remuneration levels compared to those of other leading manufacturing companies in Japan after analyzing and comparing data from an outside specialized institution on the remuneration of corporate officers active in just under 300 companies listed on the Prime Market of the Tokyo Stock Exchange (executive compensation databases of Willis Towers Watson).