When ORIX Group launched its Purpose & Culture in November 2023, Yoshiaki Matsuoka, Executive Officer responsible for Asia & Australia Business Group, saw it as an ideal way to promote integration among the different units of his far-flung division and hence to produce growth.
He had noticed that the CEOs and senior managers of his country businesses – spanning most ASEAN nations, Australia and New Zealand as well as India and Pakistan – frequently talked to colleagues in Japan but much more rarely to their regional counterparts.
“Too many of our relationships were bilateral, between the group companies and HQ in Tokyo, and we weren’t talking to each other across our division,” he remembers. “I felt that our new Purpose statement of “Finding Paths. Making Impact.” could help us overcome this and create multiple regional links.”
With that in mind, Mr. Matsuoka challenged each of the eight main country business units to create Mission, Vision & Value (MVV) statements, or to revise their existing ones. They were asked to go back to basics and examine their value propositions: ‘Why do customers choose you?’ And ‘How will you survive and then grow?’ Above all, he asked senior management to involve all their employees in its development rather than just imposing something on them.
Brainstorm in KL
To kick off this exercise, he hosted a 2-day workshop in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, in May 2024, bringing together the leaders of all the businesses in his region to discuss how to bring their visions for the future to life.
Given the spread of businesses involved, one might have expected a diverse set of results. Although almost all of the Asia & Australia country units engage in some form of equipment and vehicle leasing as well as sales finance, South Korea and the Philippines have branched out into real estate. Meanwhile, Indonesia and Malaysia are building Sharia financing businesses, while Australia and Thailand are specializing in advanced fleet management. Some focus more on B2B transactions, others have thousands of retail customers. And all of them tailor their offerings to their national culture as well as local regulations and customs.
It is therefore a testament to the strength of the ORIX culture that by March 2025, less than a year since that meeting in Kuala Lumpur, all eight major country units have formulated official MVV statements (both in English and their local language) and that they have significant similarities and show the alignment across ORIX Group and its companies.
Mr. Matsuoka acknowledges that even he was surprised – not by the focus on solving client problems but by the similarities in tone and expression. Organizationally, concepts such as ‘passion’, ‘collaboration’, ‘diversity’ and ‘opportunity’ stand out – all of which are very ORIX-like concepts.
Growing forward
Having established their value propositions and embraced ORIX Group’s new Purpose statement, the next step is using those insights to grow the Asia & Australia division. Mr. Matsuoka points to three practical applications.
The first is, of course, to reap benefits from better regional integration. Take fleet management, for example. Most of the countries already offer a version of this service but Australia is an industry leader, with the most advanced technology and the highest returns, based on a 90% client retention rate. So, ORIX Australia CEO Reggie Cabal, who has significant experience in this space, is being asked to lead a project to build a single fleet management platform that can operate across Asia.
The second priority is to export knowledge from Japan to the region. ORIX has deep experience in both managing and financing real estate projects in its home market. There is an opportunity to leverage this expertise in markets such as Australia, Malaysia and Thailand – going beyond Korea and the Philippines – and to find new local partners to help. Conversely, employees from the region can also transfer some of their skills to headquarters (see box).
Mr. Matsuoka’s third challenge is to find paths to new business: adding products that have been successful in one country to another; and seeing which of ORIX’s other business lines might work in his region. One idea here is to evolve a pan-Asian private equity platform since principal investments are something ORIX does well in Japan and the US and is also something he has personal experience of.
To accelerate these initiatives, Mr. Matsuoka has relocated himself from Tokyo to Singapore, as a central location from which he can more easily connect with colleagues. “Regional managers can come and see me on a day trip, or I can jump on a plane if someone in Malaysia or Thailand spots an opportunity,” he says. To provide the required support and infrastructure, ORIX recently took full control of its Singapore joint venture, making this the eighth Asian nation where it now has a direct subsidiary.
A major goal for the Asia & Australia Business Group in the coming few years is to lift its return on equity. That will require a contribution from new business, including potential acquisitions, but the bulk of the improvement will need to come from existing operations. As regional integration and knowledge sharing deepen around the division, Mr. Matsuoka is quietly confident they can achieve this goal.
Calling all Inpats
For some years now, the Australia & Asia division has brought 10 to 20 employees from around the region to Tokyo for an annual one-month training program. This has been successful in sharing knowledge and best practices and is valued by foreign employees as a rare chance to visit Japan and ORIX headquarters. However, Mr. Matsuoka was conscious that one month is too short a time for real learning and a meaningful skills transfer. He has therefore launched what his staff are calling an ‘inpatriate’ program, under which non-Japanese employees come to Japan to work at HQ for three years – distinguishing it from Japanese ‘expatriates’ being posted overseas.
The first two candidates – Hemshikha Chhabra from ORIX India and Weisheng Wilson Goh from ORIX Leasing Malaysia -- started in October 2024 and are reporting a very positive experience. “This experience is really broadening my perspective, and I am growing so much every day, both mentally and career wise,” says Hemshikha. “I could not have grown like this if I had stayed in my own country.” Wilson adds: “I am upgrading my skills and experience with the exposure I am getting at HQ. I like learning new things and find this role very fulfilling.”
Importantly, by working alongside them every day, they are also teaching their Japanese colleagues about the ORIX operations and business culture in their native countries. And, much to Mr. Matsuoka’s satisfaction, requiring them to speak more English.
