Nikon 2015 Annual Report Download - page 18

16 NIKON REPORT 2015
Corporate Strategy Division
Message
Overview of Divisions and Business Units
Tomohide Hamada
Senior Vice President and Director,
General Manager of Corporate Strategy Division
Q In the Medium-Term Management Plan announced in
June 2014, M&A, R&D, human resources, and cost
reduction were introduced as the “four programs to
achieve transformation.” Please tell us about the prog-
ress made during the year and the coming challenges
for each of these programs.
n M&A Program
First, in February 2015 we agreed to start procedures to make
Optos Plc, a leading U.K. company in the retina diagnostic imaging
equipment market, a wholly owned subsidiary for approximately
¥48.0 billion; this acquisition was completed in May 2015. The
ultra-wideeld (UWF) technology that Optos has at its disposal can
instantly capture images of approximately 82% of the retina and
enables the early detection of diseases, the signs of which can be
conrmed in the retina. Consequently, we believe demand for this
technology can be expected from ophthalmologists all over the world.
Due to such factors as diabetes and the aging of the population, the
number of visually impaired patients is expected to increase in the years
to come, which is why we judged Optos to be a growth company.
In addition to Optos, we are examining some M&A projects and
are making steady progress. About a year has passed since the
Corporate Strategy Division was established, and in that time we have
been able to accumulate a considerable amount of know-how in
M&A. I believe we will be able to continue to conduct M&A in growth
businesses and positioned areas while limiting risks.
With regard to corporate venture capital, we have invested in sev-
eral companies and created a basis for accelerating Open Innovation.
Through these measures, we reached the point at which we have
been able to obtain not only technologies but also a substantial
amount of overall business information. In addition, because we have
established a structure for sharing information we receive throughout
the Company, Open Innovation has become an effective tool in
assisting our transformation.
n R&D Program
In collaboration with the Core Technology Division, we took compre-
hensive stock of technologies on a Companywide basis. When review-
ing M&A and our alliances with other companies, we are beginning to
use these connections as tools that specically show an afnity with
Nikon. On the other hand, when viewed from a Companywide per-
spective, as each business unit visualized technologies that they
have utilized or are no longer able to utilize, we promoted cross-
organizational technological collaboration that transcends the bor-
ders of the business units. Regarding where cooperation can be said
to have deepened between the business units, I would judge that to
be in R&D, where cooperation is taking us steadily one step closer to
the horizontal development of technologies.
Although we reviewed the management numerical targets that
were cited in the Medium-Term Management Plan announced in
2014, no reduction has been made in the three-year cumulative total
for R&D, which is extremely important. We will focus on priorities,
but the policy is to continue aggressively investing funds in the proj-
ects necessary to prepare for regrowth.
n Human Resource Program
In the scal year ended March 31, 2015, we undertook large-scale
measures to reorganize personnel, which centered on shifting resources
from existing businesses to growth businesses. Compared with the time
of its establishment, the Medical Business Development Division has
By strengthening existing businesses and promoting
the early commercialization of new businesses,
the Corporate Strategy Division will link its efforts to
the sustainable growth of the Nikon Group.