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Toward a Global Wellness Company—the Aderans Group’s Business and CSR Management Model

Article - August 8, 2020

Aderans Company Limited is a global provider of total hair solutions. Founded in Japan in 1968, it operates 69 group companies in 19 countries and regions worldwide. In celebration of its 50th anniversary—and looking to its100th—it recently embarked on a new course as a global wellness company.

GROUP CEO, REPRESENTATIVE DIRECTOR, PRESIDENT YOSHIHIRO TSUMURA

1. Aderans and CSR

Aderans Co., Ltd. was founded in Shinjuku, Japan in 1968, and has subsequently grown into a global leading company delivering total hair solutions in 19 countries and regions, with around 10,000 employees. In addition to its traditional hair-related business, it has expanded into the peripheral business fields of beauty, health, and medicine since the 50th anniversary of the company’s foundation. Aderans has now set itself a new target for its centenary: to transform itself into a global wellness company. In this article, we take a look at the businesses driving Aderans’ growth and the company’s management philosophy.

Aderans Group has 69 companies in 19 countries/regions.

Aderans Co., Ltd. was founded in 1968, and this year the company marked its 52nd anniversary. Nobuo Nemoto, Aderans’ founder and current chairman started an order-made wig business driven by a desire to “bring smiles the faces of people around the world with hair-related concerns.”

Chairman Nemoto (At the time of its founding.)

Nemoto’s proactive advertising initiatives from the time of founding saw Aderans’ business grow steadily, with the company rapidly opening a series of branches across Japan. Encountering many customers with illness- or injury-related hair worries, such as spot baldness in young children, hair loss in child cancer patients, hair loss in young breast cancer patients, and other hair loss resulting from scarring or injury, Nemoto and his employees at the time were adamant that children should not be made to suffer the mental burden of hair-related concerns. They established an in-house initiative, the Aderans Love Charity, which gifted order-made wigs to children suffering from hair loss due to illness or injury. This initiative continues today, primarily through the company’s Medical Business Department led by Senior General ManagerShuji Ohsato, supporting some 330 children each year through wig donations.

Aderans employees who visited hospitals during the December Christmas season as part of this initiative, noticed that many children were unable to return home during this period for treatment reasons, and resolved to find some way to bring cheer to children unable to spend Christmas at home. The result was the Santa Smile initiative, in which Aderans employees dressed as Santa Claus and his reindeer visit hospitals with gifts of sweets and toys for children. This initiative has also continued for more than 30 years.

Love Charity, which has been conducted since 1978

“Santa Smile Project,” which is Aderans staff dressed up as Santa Claus and reindeer and presenting the children candy or toys.

Although CSR initiatives have become commonplace at many companies today, Aderans has engaged proactively in such programs from some 40 years ago. These initiatives have extended across borders, with similar programs also run in other countries and regions in which the company operates, including the US, Europe, and Asia.

HairClub For Kids, HairClub, Inc. 's initiative to give presents of wigs to eligible children  ages 6 through 17 who are struggling with their hair changes.

Starting Wig donations to hospitals in Thailand since 2012

In this way, Aderans has positioned CSR at the core of its business. In order to instill this management philosophy as a permanent fixture and communicate it across the Group, the company clarified this spirit as the Aderans Management Philosophy, and continually emphasizes the importance of socially responsible management to all Group employees through distribution of “Credo cards.”

 

The Aderans Group Management Philosophy

Our greatest mission as the Aderans Group is to promote overall wellness through our hair-related, beauty and health businesses. We aim to help clients worldwide attain physical and emotional well-being. We also aim to bring smiles to faces, so that they can fulfill their dreams and live full, happy lives.

We strive for:

  • Product excellence
  • Technological expertise
  • Most educated in the hair-related, beauty and health solutions with the highest levels of service

Management Vision

“Becoming a Good Company”

The Aderans Group positions the Management Philosophy as the key pillar of its corporate management and runs its business operations in line with this Philosophy, aiming to realize the “Good Company” standard of its management vision. In order to realize this Management Philosophy and vision, the company practices “ECSR Sampo Yoshi,” which incorporates Customer Satisfaction (CS), Employee Satisfaction (ES), and Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR). This management philosophy was first practiced by the Omi merchants of ancient Japan, with its holistic principles helping businesses who adopted it flourish.

Management Philosophy

 

Aderans implements its ECSR management approach based on this philosophy, with Employee Satisfaction (ES) the first and most important pillar. While factors such as salary and vacation are naturally important factors in ES, Aderans believes that the most important factor is that employees’ jobs are rewarding and carry a sense of fulfillment. To help its employees find a sense of fulfillment in their work, the company utilizes servant leadership management.

Servant leadership management is a leadership style advocated in 1970 by Robert Greenleaf, then Vice President of U.S. telecommunications company AT&T. It is known as a management style in which managers not only support their subordinates’ work but are also receptive to and provide active support for their ideas. This approach instills a strong sense of responsibility in employees, and improves the quality and speed of their work. This in turn brings happiness to customers, improving CS. Increased CS means that customers are long-term partners, and spread positive word-of-mouth feedback to those around them, further expanding the company’s customer base. An increase in satisfied customers helps to the company to grow, generating employment in the community and enhancing CSR initiatives. This is the basic principle of ECSR management.

ECSR management is a management philosophy introduced eight years ago by Yoshihiro Tsumura, the current President and Group CEO, and Mutsuo Minowa, Senior Executive Manager of Overseas Business Group and in charge of the Group CSR and Corporate Communications Office  based on the ideas of Hiroji Tanaka, Special Research Fellow, and Junichi Mizuo, Research Fellow at the Business Ethics Research Center where Tsumura and Minowa were studying compliance and governance.

Tanaka, who at the time was Dean of Tokyo College of Transport Studies and one of Japan’s preeminent researchers in the fields of compliance and corporate governance, described to Tsumura and Minowa the ideals on which a company should operate.

Tanaka stated his belief that “when assigning an order of priority to the stakeholders that are important to a company many executives tend to place shareholders or customers at the top, but this is misguided. The most important stakeholders to a company are employees and their families, then business partners and their families, then customers, then the local community, then finally shareholders.”

The reasoning he gave was as follows:

1. When employees have a sense of fulfillment, they will be energized and perform high-quality work. Their families will support them in doing so, and these employees will feel a higher sense of belonging to the company.

2. As our business partners strive for our company, we must value and cherish them. Our partners’ efforts will generate good products. Our partners will sing our company’s praises to their families and others around them, increasing our “fan base.”

3. The energized efforts of our employees and business partners will help deliver outstanding products and services, increasing customer satisfaction and expanding our customer base.

4. Increased customer satisfaction will help the company grow, allowing us to give back to the local community through greater employment and tax payments.

5. As the company grows and wins acclaim, its sales and share price will rise, allowing it to issue higher dividends, leading to shareholder satisfaction.

Tsumura strongly emphasized with this view, and introduced ECSR management, which was advocated by Junichi Mizuo, one of Japan’s leading researchers in their field of CSR at the time and a professor at Surugadai University. Tsumura met Mizuo and was deeply moved by his lecture on management philosophy, and was certain that ECSR management was the right approach in order to develop a strong employee base and organization.

“Sanpo-Yoshi”

Through this meeting with Tanaka and Mizuo, Tsumura developed a keen awareness of the importance of “Sampo Yoshi” management, and resolved to place it at the center of his management approach. In order to further hone Aderans’ management ethics, Tsumura together with Minowa subsequently became visiting researchers at the CSR Workshop of the Japan Society for Business Ethics and Kanazawa Institute of Technology, where they further refined their ECSR management model.

Tsumura is constantly thinking of how to instill a sense of fulfillment toward work in his employees. Thinking more deeply about ECSR management, it becomes evident that the founder Nemoto has actually implemented this ECSR management model for many years in his own way.

Aderans’ founder had a personal motto of “you don’t know until you’ve tried,” and would often approve his subordinates’ business ideas and plans on the spot, giving them complete free rein in the implementation. This approach both increased management speed and founded a strong sense of responsibility and fulfillment in the company’s employees, driving the company’s rapid early growth.

Nemoto was also a strong proponent of CSR activities, and had been involved in several programs including the Love Charity and donations to earthquake-affected regions, as well as answering a call from the University of Tokyo to construct a new building on the campus and provide support for venture companies affiliated with the university.

While Tsumura was learning Nemoto’s CSR philosophy and studying at the Business Ethics Research Center (BERC), Nemoto called on him to “bring smiles to the faces of more people around the world” as the next President of Aderans. Tsumura accepted the appointment, assuming the role of Representative Director and President, and also Group CEO, in March 2017. Furthermore, in order to strengthen the Aderans Group’s management, he has advanced a socially responsible (CSR) management style that is integrated with the company’s business.

This approach of integrating CSR management in business has attracted much attention, with the company receiving many speaking invitations from universities, corporations, and other organizations every year, including the renowned University of Leicester in the UK. The company strives to proactively answer these calls, with engagement primarily handled by Mutsuo Minowa, executive responsible for the Group CSR Corporate Communications Department, and Kyoko Nitta, Head of the Department.

Since introducing CSR management, Tsumura has felt first-hand that CSR raises the quality of the company’s management. When Tsumura was still only a director of the company and the current CSR-focused philosophy was not yet in place, he established a CSR project together with Minowa, with Minowa taking the lead in uncovering and documenting all the CSR initiatives undertaken by the company. This was fashioned into a booklet and these initiatives were publicized at a range of internal meetings.

In an environment where people had little idea what other departments were doing, all the Group’s employees learned of—and were moved by—the range of outstanding initiatives such as the Love Charity and the Santa Smile project undertaken by departments across the company. This newfound awareness provided a major boost to the sense of belonging that employees felt as members of Aderans. Employees also showed the booklets they received to their families, who gained an understanding of the initiatives run by Aderans, which inspired them to support and encourage the employees in their efforts. This in turn heightened the sense of responsibility and ownership that employees felt. Minowa, Nitta, and other members of the Group CSR and  Communications Office proactively communicated these initiatives outside the company, receiving high acclaim from society.

This ultimately helped strengthen the company’s governance, as employees felt a personal sense of responsibility not to undermine the positive initiatives in which the company was engaging with their own negative behavior, serving to improve the overall quality of the company’s management. In this way, visualizing CSR activities inside and outside the company raises and fosters employees’ sense of belonging and responsibility.

 

2. Unflagging R&D Initiatives

In order to achieve product excellence—one of the key objectives of the company’s Management Philosophy—and pursue ever greater customer satisfaction, Tsumura is focused on “monozukuri”—a Japanese term meaning “the art of manufacturing.” Tsumura’s career has spanned the company’s sales, marketing, and R&D divisions, and even now he is a member of the Marketing Innovation Association led by Naoto Onzo, one of the world’s preeminent marketing experts and a professor at the School of Commerce of Waseda University, Tsumura’s alma mater. Whenever time allows, he participates in study sessions to learn about successful case studies at other companies.

Based on his extensive experience in business, Tsumura offers his take on the “four P’s” of marketing: the most important is “product.” If you are able to make an outstanding product, you can set a higher price for it, and sell it at desirable retail outlets. Furthermore, it can be promoted strongly. If a customer is satisfied, its reputation will spread by word of mouth, further increasing sales. The opposite holds true for bad product, which create a management risk for the company.

True to this belief, Tsumura is uncompromising on manufacturing, personally taking part in research and development and working together with employees to generate innovation. Tsumura also believes that innovation cannot take place only within company walls—joint research between academia and business as well as partnerships with companies possessing specialist knowledge are essential, and promotes such research and development accordingly.

This approach is also based on Nemoto’s belief since the company’s founding. Aderans was quick to develop a comprehensive manufacturing and sales system. In 1983, the company established its own massive manufacturing plant in Japan’s Nakajo Town, Niigata Prefecture, while in 1990 it developed “CYBERHAIR” its proprietary artificial hair technology. This provided the impetus for the subsequent development of its “VITALHAIR” high-performance artificial hair in 2006 (patents obtained in 24 countries), which delivered significant growth for the Aderans Group.

Aderans’ R&D efforts have not stopped at artificial hair, with the company developing a series of hair growth devices and technologies to treat thinning hair and baldness. These exhaustive research efforts into hair-related technology have seen the company obtain 375 patents, with a further 175 currently under application.

CYBERHAIR

VITALHAIR

General synthetic hair
(synthetic fiber)

Natural hair

 

Aderans is the only one pursuing artificial hair R&D in house./ In-house R&D of artificial hair

One of the main research undertakings by the company, conducted at the Aderans Research Institute (ARI) in Philadelphia and Atlanta in the U.S.—a facility specializing in hair growth and regeneration research—is hair cell replication technology. This research is led by Ken Washenik, M.D., Ph.D., Medical Director of Bosley Medical, a pioneering company in hair therapy, former President of the International Society of Hair Restoration Surgery, and a world leader in hair-related medicine, together with Dr. Kurt Stenn, a world-leading authority on hair-related research, and Vern Liebmann, COO at the time and a strong leader of the research team. The team succeeded in developing cutting-edge technology that reached Phase 2 of FDA approval in the US.

 

President and Chief Medical Officer of Bosley Medical Group, Ken Washenik, M.D.,

Ph.D.(Left) and Advisor of Aderans America Holdings, Inc., Vern Liebmann

However, due to a range of circumstances, this research was unfortunately halted partway through, although Tsumura is considering restarting the project.

Other notable research efforts by Aderans include joint initiatives with professor Satoshi Itami (currently visiting professor at Oita University), a leader in hair-related medicine who served as chairman of the 10th World Congress for Hair Research (WCHR2017) in 2017, and associate professor Shigeki Inui (at time/currently specially appointed professor at Osaka University) as part of the endowed chair in regenerative dermatology at Osaka University Graduate School of Medicine/Faculty of Medicine. These efforts focused on hair restoration technology using a low-output laser approved by the US FDA to elucidate the relationship between highly-safe narrow-band red LED light and new hair growth.

The research team obtained evidence regarding this technology, which has been presented at hair and dermatology-related medical societies in Japan and overseas. The Guidelines for the Diagnosis and Treatment of Male-Pattern and Female-Pattern Hair Loss, 2017 Version published by the Japanese Dermatological Association strongly recommend use of red LED light based on the evidence obtained in relation to its effectiveness in hair restoration, attracting much attention in hair-related academic societies and generating further innovations. 

In a joint effort with Professor Shigeki Inui and others in the "Skin and Hair Regenerative Medicine endowed chair" in the Graduate School of Medicine, Faculty of Medicine, Osaka University, focusing on hair growth technology using a low-powered laser that has been approved by the FDA in the US, the team worked to elucidate the relationship between the high-safety narrow-bandwidth red LEDs and hair growth.

 

Furthermore, as part of joint initiatives involving the endowed chair in regenerative dermatology at Osaka University Graduate School of Medicine/Faculty of Medicine, a team led by specially appointed professor Shigeki Inui performed the world’s first statistical investigation into the effect of wig use on psychological quality of life (QOL), finding medical usefulness that wig use improves the psychological QOL of the wearer. These findings were published in the Journal of Dermatology (March 2012). This was an epoch-making discovery in the industry, with Aderans subsequently emerging as a leader, and these findings also having an impact when establishing JIS (Japan Industrial Standard) certification for wigs.

As a result of the project to obtain certification to affix the JIS mark to medical wigs, which involved Aderans and other companies in the wig industry, as well as experts, the Japanese government officially established JIS guidelines for medical wigs in April 2015, certifying that wigs which met certain standards were suitable for medical use. At this time, The Rafra I Fit series of medical wigs developed by Aderans, featuring a base made from sericin, a protein derived from silk, which is gentle on the skin, served as the standard model for medical wigs, thus contributing to the creation of guidelines and making a significant contribution to society. The findings of the joint research that Aderans conducted with the University of Tokyo into the improvement in QOL that medical wigs brought to patients undergoing chemotherapy were reflected in the Rafra I-Fit series.

Declaration of JIS standards compliance for medical wigs

The research conducted by Aderans does not stop there. In 2013 the company also began joint research into the suppression of hair loss caused by chemotherapy with a team from Oita University, led by university president Seigo Kitano, a world-leading authority on endoscopy. This study was driven by the results of a statistical investigation of breast cancer patients. When they were asked “what burdens do you suffer from cancer?” 58 percent of respondents answered that losing their hair was the hardest burden to suffer. This finding fostered an understanding that tackling this area was a pressing need.

This joint research project, which involved the CIA (Cancer, Inflammation and Antioxidant) Study Group, primarily composed of researchers from Oita University with other members from Japanese institutions conducting advanced research on cancer, together with Aderans, conducted a clinical study of around 100 patients, obtaining evidence that hair growth can be restored quickly following completion of chemotherapy, and that eyebrow hair loss can be significantly reduced. The study not only received high acclaim in the medical field, but was also strongly supported by chemotherapy patients.

Aderans is currently working to achieve its next innovation from the perspective of its long-term vision, the UN SDGs. This project involves joint research with Spiber Inc., a company born from Keio University that has been described as a “unicorn,” into a new type of hair created from structural proteins.

The hair used in conventional wigs comes in two types: human hair, and artificial hair created from fossil fuels. Aderans has thus far used polymer materials to develop its own high-performance artificial hair. In addition, it has also worked to source human hair due to the preferences of its European and U.S. customers.

However, rapid economic growth in Asian countries such as China and India, which have served as producers of human hair, has led to increased local demand for fashionable hairstyles, with perming and coloring becoming commonplace. This has made it less common for people to sell their hair for use in wigs, driving up the cost, particularly for long hair. Meanwhile, there are also increasing concerns about the environmental burden of artificial hair due to the use of fossil fuels in its creation.

In light of these circumstances, Aderans has begun development of hair using “Brewed Protein”—structural proteins identical to human hair. Development of structural protein hair has already progressed to the second phase, with the company looking to achieve a quick release from 2021 onwards. This would make a significant social contribution for the Aderans Group, which is striving to promote the SDGs, and Tsumura has expressed a desire to share this technology with other companies in the industry following its release—rather than keeping it in-house—in order for the wig industry as a whole to contribute toward the SDGs. In this way, the Aderans Group is constantly striving to generate new innovations.

Started joint research on novel hair materials to contribute sustainable society

 

3. Next Step: Toward the Company’s Centenary

Aderans has expanded its business domain to today span beauty, health, and medical businesses. In its beauty business, the company established the BeauStage brand, applying the hair and scalp -related technology it had accumulated to the field of skincare to develop beauty serums and devices. To further improve the performance of these products, it is conducting joint research with third party institutions and working to obtain related evidence and patents. BeauStage sales have steadily grown, and Aderans is focusing its efforts on this business in order to develop it into a major pillar for the company in the future.

In order to strengthen its collaboration with the beauty industry, Aderans supports hairdressing and beauty industries around the world, becoming a platinum sponsor of organization MONDIAL COIFFURE (OMC), a beauty organization with members in 50 countries around the world, as well as INTER COIFFURE MONDIAL (ICD), another world-leading beauty organization headquartered in France.

At the OMC Hair World Cup, Aderans offers wigs for the competition. Shown is a participant from Hair Club Inc. in the United States.

In its health business, Aderans develops high-performance supplements and under the theme of “inner beauty” is working to deliver products that support improvements in diet. Furthermore, from a desire to support as many people as possible during the current novel coronavirus pandemic, the company developed RiBiJo, a moisturizing disinfectant gel that is gentle on the hands and certified as a quasi-drug by Japan’s Ministry of Health, Labour and Welfare, and is currently working to develop a range of products to protect people from corona viruses.

Meanwhile, in its medical business, three years ago Aderans established Aderans Medical Research, a medical services corporation that engages in wholesale of pharmaceuticals and medical devices, as well as provides business support to clinics, etc.

In the medical business, US-based Bosley Medical Group, a member of the Astellas Group operates 26 clinics and 42 counselling centers in North America, delivering the latest technologies such as FUE hair transplants, PRP injections for medical hair growth, and medical tattooing, primarily to the US market. Ken Washenik, M.D., Ph.D. provides the lead with regard to the latest technologies, while Rob Spurrell, Bosley’s young leader from a marketing background, uses his strategic marketing expertise to drive the business as President and CEO.

Bosley Image

“TriGen+ with P R P”, a medical hair growth program

 

President and Chief Medical Officer of Bosley Medical Group, Ken Washenik, M.D., Ph.D.

Hair transplant surgery at Bosley.

Hair Club Image

Bosley is currently a group company of the Aderans Group, and is working with Hair Club, a total hair solution provider led by President and CEO Mike Nassar—another young leader the same age as Spurrell—to develop BIOGRAFT, a technology aimed at patients for whom transplants alone are insufficient to cover thinning hair. In this technique hair is transplanted only to the hairline and temple areas, while the crown area is treated with HairClub’s Xtrands Plus volumizing solution to deliver a fairly natural hairstyle. This technology delivers significant improvements in QOL for customers.

Bosley also offers home care products through clinics and its official EC website, including the Bosley Revitalizer—a low-level laser therapy cap—and Bosley Professional Strength hair growth shampoo and hair growth formula. Going forward, Aderans plans to expand Bosley’s business to Europe and Asia. As outlined above, the Aderans Group is further vitalizing its business in preparation for the next stage in its growth.

Meanwhile, with regard to its core total hair solutions business, in September 2018 Aderans incorporated Amekor Industries Inc., a Philadelphia, US. -based provider of wigs to African-American customers. Although the African-American market was an area of weakness for the Aderans Group with no previous coverage, it is a giant market comprising some 70 percent of the global wig market. Aderans had been planning entry to the African-American market for some time, and came into contact with Amekor, a major player in the US African-American wig market and an outstanding brand. Amekor’s success is in large due to the efforts of honorary advisor Mun Chung, its founder and a leader figure in the industry who immigrated to the US alone and pioneered and developed the African-American wig market. With the acquisition of Amekor, the Aderans Group aims to penetrate not only the US African-American wig market, but also to expand to large African markets such as South Africa and Nigeria.

Grouping two popular American wig companies

At the same time, in ready-made wig sales Aderans moved to strengthen its position in the Caucasian market, primarily in the US east coast region, by acquiring Estetica Designs, Inc., another Philadelphia-based company that is led by Rich Gienopie, an expert proponent of targeted marketing. This move aims to strengthen the business, working with a subsidiary, Aderans Hair Goods, Inc., headquartered on the west coast of the US in Los Angeles. International Hair Goods, headquartered in Minneapolis, was incorporated into HairClub. The company wholesales high-quality custom made wigs to hair salons, with new business being planned. Hans Wiemann, a total hair solution provider based in St. Louis, was incorporated into the Aderans Group in 2016 with the aim of further strengthening the medical business.

Although Aderans’ operations in Europe had previously centered around the wholesale of ready-made wigs, the company is aiming to utilize the Aderans Group’s resources and introduce HairClub’s business model in the region. In 2019 it acquired The London Hair Clinic Ltd., a London, UK -based total hair solution provider, and under the strong leadership of HairClub President and COO Mike Nassar the London Hair Clinic is working together with HairClub to strengthen its business. For the Europe Group as a whole, director and senior vice-president of Aderans Europe BV Hiromasa Suzuki, General Manager Michel van Tartwijk, and corporate officer Masatoshi Yoshikawa are aiming to establish a framework for providing total hair solutions over the next three years.

As described above, under the strong leadership of Masaaki Furukawa, Senior Managing Executive Officer in charge of Overseas Business Group, Aderans is working to with representatives from each of its group companies to further advance its business in the US and Europe.

President Tsumura (front right), Director, Senior Managing Executive Officer, in charge of Overseas Business Group, and Production Group, Masaaki Furukawa (back left), Hiromasa Suzuki, Director and Senior Vice President of Aderans Europe BV (front left) and Michel van Tartwijk, Director (back right).

In Asia, Aderans is working to develop its business in Singapore, Thailand, Taiwan, South Korea, and China. The company believes that business in Asia will expand going forward. China in particular is a giant market, and Aderans has primarily operated its beauty-related business in China for many years in step with the Japanese market. The Domestic Business Group led by Masatoshi Kageyama, Director and Senior Executive Managing Officer, who previously led Aderans’ sales divisions, and the Asia Business Management Department are working to expand business in the region.

 

4. Promoting ESG Management

As the Aderans Group moves toward the next stage in its business, it is also proactively engaging in ESG initiatives. Although Aderans had conducted such initiatives from the past, it was the recent novel coronavirus pandemic, which plunged the world into chaos, that strengthened Tsumura’s resolve to tackle environmental issues.

The first such initiative was the previously-mentioned development of structural protein hair with Spiber Inc. Next, the company aims to promote a shift in beauty product containers to biodegradable materials. Aderans has also been a proactive supporter of SDGs-related initiatives thus far. One such example is the Fontaine Green Forest Campaign it conducts in Japan.

In this program, Aderans collects old and unused wigs at its Fontaine outlets in exchange for a wig coupon. The wigs collected are disposed of in furnaces that emit no CO2, while a portion of proceeds from wigs purchased using the wig vouchers are donated to environmental conservation through sponsorship of a tree-planting initiative in Yamanashi prefecture, with over 1,000 trees planted so far. This is part of Aderans’ model for “creating shared value” (CSV)—growing its business while also contributing to society. Minowa has actively promoted this initiative both internally and externally, boosting employee motivation and winning strong trust from customers.

Furthermore, there is an initiative that has been primarily promoted by Minowa, Nitta, and Tohoku Sales Department manager Makoto Sotoyama. Many people in the city of Ishinomaki lost their lives as a result of the tsunami generated by the Great East Japan Earthquake of 2011. However, others were spared as they were out of the tsunami’s reach. A similar massive tsunami hit the area around 90 years ago, and following the tragedy residents placed stones to mark where the tsunami reached. In the same way, an NPO is working to plant cherry blossom trees as markers to help save as many lives as possible should a subsequent event occur. Aderans has supported this initiative and is working to help tree-planting efforts. Additionally, following the Great East Japan Earthquake many helicopters were sent to support the Tohoku region, leading to one third of the Japanese red pine trees in Shizuoka Prefectural Forest Park being lost to pine weevil damage as pest control agents could not be sprayed. In 2019, Shizuoka prefecture requested support from companies and individuals to help restore and preserve its red pine forest. Aderans answered this call immediately, with Chukyo Sales Department manager Yasushi Kimura taking the lead in this initiative. These are examples of true CSR management in which the company contributes to society through its business, creating shared value (CSV) on an ongoing basis.

The Fontaine Green Forest Campaign, linking the collection of wigs and tree planting activities

President Tsumura (left) planting a tree with employees

These types of CSR efforts, such as the Love Charity, Santa Smile, tree-planting, Pink Ribbon, and appearance programs utilize the company’s business strengths across a range of ESG initiatives.

 

5. For a Spiritually and Culturally Rich Society

In order to enrich people’s hearts and souls, Aderans also supports the entertainment industry. Around 40 years ago, the Shiki Theatrical Company was planning to bring the hit musical “Cats,” which was running in London, to Japan. As Cats features vigorous dance routines, the troupe consulted Aderans regarding wigs that could withstand the two hour 40 minute performance. The company’s founder Nemoto responded immediately by establishing a Cats project, with a team working to develop a wig that could withstand vigorous movement. The know-how gathered through this project is currently utilized in Fontaine’s best-selling VALAN wigs. And today, the company’s wigs are used throughout the entertainment industry, including musicals, TV dramas, movies, concerts, theme parks, and theatre. Recently, Aderans entertainment wigs primarily created by Aderans’ top designer NORIKO were used in the Paris Collection show by Japanese super-brand RYNSHU.

Designed Mannish "Beard and Mustache Style" at Paris Fashion Week

R Y N S H U 2020-2021

Collaborated at Paris Fashion Week AUTUMN/WINTER

In 1985, Aderans established Studio AD, its entertainment wig division, and the late Misao Yamada, who at the time was in charge of costumes and make-up for the Shiki Theatrical Company’s “Cats,” joined the company. Masaki Hattori, the current, second-generation leader of the division and his team are working to achieve further growth.

 

6. Becoming a Good Company

As part of efforts to achieve the “Good Company” standard, Aderans developed Credo cards as part of its CS project, in order to inspire each and every one of its employees to deliver services that resonate with and move customers. This initiative was born from the advice of the late Masamitsu Hayashida, former general manager of The Ritz-Carlton Osaka, and the cards were developed by a project team of representatives from across Japan. These Credo cards are extremely cherished by the Aderans Group. They include the company’s Customer Service Policy, and are a tool for improving each employee’s personal interactions with others. яндекс

CREDO; A message for the future, combining the aspirations of the founders and employees.

The Credo’s philosophy is founded on empowerment. Empowerment in this sense means delegating authority to each employee in making personal judgements in providing service to customers, allowing them to deliver the response that is needed, immediately. This approach is consistent with the servant leadership model advocated by Aderans.

Helping others or making a contribution will undoubtedly translate into personal growth for employees, which ultimately helps the company grow. Although the Aderans Group suffered significant damage from the spread of the novel coronavirus, Tsumura’s resolve is unchanged, commenting “Although this will have a large negative short-term impact on the company, at the same time it has given us the opportunity to reorganize the Group and generate new business models. ECSR management will be ever more important going forward, and with each employee playing a lead role, heightening their leadership skills, and taking the initiative, we will become a better and stronger Group.”

Going forward, Aderans will promote a CSR management model that is integrated with its business, and strive to transform itself into a global wellness company that can further contribute to the lives of people around the world.

 

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