Outside Director Lessons #1: Genesis of Director Training Nonprofit BDTI

On 4/16/2023 I became 67 years old. On this “occasion” I would like to ask you to consider donating to The Board Director Training Institute of Japan (BDTI), which I have led in offering director training in Japan for 13 years now, training about 3,000 persons in programs, and many more via e-Learning.  At the same time, going forward, I also will attempt to make a series of posts (on this discussion forum) a perspective or story related to corporate governance, based on recent events and my own 15 years of experience sitting on boards here, that will be light, easy reading but hopefully also be thought-provoking.

BDTI’s work is “missionary work” that requires passion and commitment. Perhaps these stories will be of interest in terms of revealing why I do what I do, the challenges that face Japan and its companies and investors, and how how they can be overcome.

Because Japan does not have a customary or mandatory requirement for serious director training, BDTI’s courses need to be “subsidized” in some way  so that we can offer high-quality programs at a price point that is low enough to attract our (overly frugal) customers, –that is to say, at prices that on a per-person-per-hour basis are one-third or less than in other developed markets.  (Even paying low salaries and donating a lot myself, this is the market reality). Moreover, “G” is the foundation on which the “house of ESG” is built, but that fact is not as widely recognized as it should be.

BDTI Update to Supporters, June 2018

Notes: (1) On this page (at top right), you can sign up to receive our English Newsletter; (2) Sign up to receive the (separate) Japanese Newsletter here; (3) Anyone can support the “SEO” of our web site simply by mentioning BDTI on any web page with a link to this page; (4) For details about the chart, see the overview materials.

” Dear Supporter:   I am writing to update you, and to respectfully ask you or your institution to make a donation of 300,000 Yen or more this year, either as a Sustaining Donor or as a Corporate Participating Member. (As explained below in section 5, the latter category now allows donors which are investing institutions to receive 40% discounts on all BDTI courses/seminars that are open to the public, and to share these discounts with companies in their portfolio.)

January 25th “Director Boot Camp” …Next Course: April 10th!

BDTI’s January 25th English Director Boot Camp was a great success, with active participation by a diverse group of Japanese and European persons! Participants from various companies heard lectures about corporate governance and related topics by Nicholas Benes and Andrew Silberman of AMT, and exchanged experiences and opinions at a spacious, comfortable room kindly donated […]

3/3 BDTI Seminar: “Global Trends in Antitrust Enforcement: What the Future Holds”

Japan’s Antimonopoly Act (the AMA) was recently amended so as to adopt a wider and deeper scope for the surcharge system, a leniency program, and the authority to investigate criminal cases as measures to strengthen enforcement.

At the same time, the TPP (which has been largely agreed upon) includes a provision which introduces a so-called “commitment” program in which corporations voluntarily address problems following agreements with the “national competition authority”. (This is the terminology used in the TPP.) Discussion about how to implement this feature of the TPP is now underway in Japan’s Fair Trade Commission (the JFTC). Moreover, the JFTC has shown showed interest in commencing discussions this year concerning a discretionary surcharge system. As if that was not enough, it seems that the AMA will soon be substantially amended again. Japan’s “national competition authority” is changing its views, and discussions within it are being influenced by enforcement practices in foreign countries.