Stakeholder Engagement

In order to promote our business based on relationships with a diverse range of stakeholders to achieve sustainable growth, we believe that it is essential to build good relationships with all of our stakeholders and create value for society together. Stakeholder engagement of the company and the group is based on the following policy.

System
Identify and prioritize stakeholders
Determine engagement method and risk management
List of stakeholder dialogue events
External initiatives

System

In order to reflect the opinions of the stakeholders in our business activities, points of contact suited to each stakeholder have been established, and we maintain a system to feed the valuable opinions which are received back to our management.

In addition to assessing the results of stakeholder engagement of the company and the group including the opinions received through various points of contact, the feedback is used to improve daily business activities under a promotion system which is the responsibility of the sustainability officer in charge. In order to reliably deliver everyone’s opinions to top management, the information is compiled by each department in charge and shared on a regular basis with managerial meetings, Board of Directors meetings, and other top-level managerial bodies and executives. Moreover, the results of stakeholder engagement are also shared as reports with the relevant stakeholders as needed.

Identify and prioritize stakeholders

Various individuals and organizations are involved in the company and the group diverse range of businesses. When it comes to effective stakeholders and implementing engagement. Among them, from the perspective of long-term growth and building sustainable relationships based on internal and external environmental analysis, we and our group companies have identified “customers,” “employees,” “suppliers,” “shareholders,” “local communities,” and “national government, government agencies and industry associations” as important stakeholders. Moreover, in conducting effective stakeholder and engagement, we prioritize the stakeholders by verifying their level of dependence, responsibility, and impact, etc. on our business activities.

Determine engagement method and risk management

The method of stakeholder engagement is determined from the perspective of timeliness of information, ease of acquisition, and ease of participation by each stakeholder.
In maintaining and strengthening individual engagements, we formulate policies and initiatives that not only create business and operational opportunities, but also take risks into consideration. In addition, there may be risks in the engagement that affect the proper execution of the engagement, such as differences in the level of participation among stakeholders and differences in participation purposes and time and physical constraints among stakeholders. In order to manage and reduce such risks, we clarify the purpose of engagement, ensure sufficient time for engagement, introduce various engagement methods, and periodically evaluate their effectiveness, and we aim to lead to more effective engagement.
To ensure that the engagement process is not interrupted by language barriers or lack of expertise, we are working to ensure that all stakeholders can fully participate in the engagement process through our website, which is available in English, as well as by providing a full range of information.

Customers
Employees
Suppliers
Shareholders
Local communities
National government, government agencies, industry associations

Customers

Relationship with the group company	In order to increase customer satisfaction, we strive to improve the shop crew and contact center level of service and the network environment quality on a daily basis. For Our Customers
Engagement methods	Customer inquiry counter, website, SNS, store, smartphone class.
Major initiatives	Provide a safe Internet environment for children As the use of smartphones becomes commonplace even among young people, there is a growing risk that children will access inappropriate websites through the Internet, leading to potentially harmful situations. To prevent problems and provide a safe Internet environment for children, SoftBank offers free filtering services that contribute to customer satisfaction and peace of mind. Safety Concerns

Relationship with the group company

In order to increase customer satisfaction, we strive to improve the shop crew and contact center level of service and the network environment quality on a daily basis.

For Our Customers

Engagement methods

Customer inquiry counter, website, SNS, store, smartphone class.

Major initiatives

Provide a safe Internet environment for children
As the use of smartphones becomes commonplace even among young people, there is a growing risk that children will access inappropriate websites through the Internet, leading to potentially harmful situations. To prevent problems and provide a safe Internet environment for children, SoftBank offers free filtering services that contribute to customer satisfaction and peace of mind.

Safety Concerns

Employees

Relationship with the group company	By creating a workplace environment where employees can work in a lively manner and supporting social contribution activities by employees, we value employee satisfaction and pride. With Our Employees
Engagement methods	Exchange of opinions with labor unions, diversity week, various training and seminars, employee satisfaction survey, pulse survey, compliance awareness month, internal and external consultation services, intranet/internal newsletter.

Relationship with the group company

By creating a workplace environment where employees can work in a lively manner and supporting social contribution activities by employees, we value employee satisfaction and pride.

With Our Employees

Engagement methods

Exchange of opinions with labor unions, diversity week, various training and seminars, employee satisfaction survey, pulse survey, compliance awareness month, internal and external consultation services, intranet/internal newsletter.

Suppliers

Relationship with the group company	We build fair and positive relationships with Suppliers and respond to CSR issues together with the goal of mutually increasing enterprise value and growth. Supply Chain Management
Engagement methods	Supplier briefings, website, integrated report/sustainability report (Once a year).

Relationship with the group company

We build fair and positive relationships with Suppliers and respond to CSR issues together with the goal of mutually increasing enterprise value and growth.

Supply Chain Management

Engagement methods

Supplier briefings, website, integrated report/sustainability report (Once a year).

Shareholders

Relationship with the group company	In an aim to become a trustworthy company, we endeavor to implement corporate management that meets the expectations of shareholders, and disclose accurate information. For Our Shareholders
Engagement methods	General meetings of shareholders (Once a year), financial results briefings (Four times a year), briefings for individual investors (Four times a year), business briefings, integrated reports/sustainability reports (Once a year), shareholder newsletters (Once a year), individual interviews in IR/SR activities, website.

Relationship with the group company

In an aim to become a trustworthy company, we endeavor to implement corporate management that meets the expectations of shareholders, and disclose accurate information.

For Our Shareholders

Engagement methods

General meetings of shareholders (Once a year), financial results briefings (Four times a year), briefings for individual investors (Four times a year), business briefings, integrated reports/sustainability reports (Once a year), shareholder newsletters (Once a year), individual interviews in IR/SR activities, website.

Local communities

Relationship with the group company	We strive to provide the appropriate explanations and engage in a dialog with local communities regarding the construction of base station facilities, etc.
Engagement methods	Providing information on radio wave safety on our website, conduct briefings for local communities, visit/brief local governments.
Major initiatives	Dialogue with regional residents When building these base stations, we feel that it is SoftBankʼs responsibility to place top priority on the safety, security and environment of the people of that regional community. We engage in dialogue and provide appropriate explanations to the people in specified communities in accordance with relevant laws and in-house rules, and begin construction only after ensuring a full understanding of the roles of the stations and the safety of radio waves. During the construction phase, we place top priority on the safety of people in the regional community and provide detailed explanations in response to inquiries and comments received through the Company contact points. Provision Information Related to the Safety of Radio Waves Agreements with municipalities SoftBank has completed agreements with 109^* municipalities nationwide to promote regional revitalization. By building collaborative relationships with municipalities and regions, we will contribute to regional revitalization in response to social issues and the unique needs of each region. [Note] * As of April 30, 2023

Relationship with the group company

We strive to provide the appropriate explanations and engage in a dialog with local communities regarding the construction of base station facilities, etc.

Engagement methods

Providing information on radio wave safety on our website, conduct briefings for local communities, visit/brief local governments.

Major initiatives

Dialogue with regional residents
When building these base stations, we feel that it is SoftBankʼs responsibility to place top priority on the safety, security and environment of the people of that regional community. We engage in dialogue and provide appropriate explanations to the people in specified communities in accordance with relevant laws and in-house rules, and begin construction only after ensuring a full understanding of the roles of the stations and the safety of radio waves. During the construction phase, we place top priority on the safety of people in the regional community and provide detailed explanations in response to inquiries and comments received through the Company contact points.

Provision Information Related to the Safety of Radio Waves

Agreements with municipalities
SoftBank has completed agreements with 109^* municipalities nationwide to promote regional revitalization. By building collaborative relationships with municipalities and regions, we will contribute to regional revitalization in response to social issues and the unique needs of each region.
[Note]
- *
  As of April 30, 2023

National government, government agencies, industry associations

Relationship with the group company	Comply with relevant laws and regulations and achieve growth as a company under fair competition.
Engagement methods	Participation in various policy councils, participation in councils and round-table discussions with government agencies, exchange of human resources including secondment to local governments, and activities through industry associations.
Major initiatives	Partnerships with NPOs SoftBankʼs target for partnerships on CSR activities with NPOs is to engage in partnerships with 1,000 organizations in FY2023. In FY2021, the Company partnered with 688 NPOs, including the Japan Foundation, the Ashinaga Foundation, the Japanese Red Cross Society, the Japan Platform, the Medecins Sans Frontières Japan Association and NPO Florence.

List of stakeholder dialogue events

We regularly hold dialogues with outside experts to bring the concerns of many stakeholders into our business and corporate activities.

Affiliation	Presenter	Date	Discussion content
Representative of a board of directors, Virtue Design, General Incorporated Association Senior Lecturer, Graduate School of Media and Governance, Keio University (Part-time Lecturer)	Mari Yoshitaka	March 25, 2022	SDGs Promotion Committee (third-party advisory body) Trends in Sustainability Priority Themes
Representative Director and CEO, Neural Inc.	Kenji Fuma	March 25, 2022
Director, Japan Civil Liberties Union	Akira Hatade	February 18, 2022	Understanding Foreign Worker Issues from the Ground Up: Business and Human Rights Perspectives
Representative Director and CEO, Neural Inc.	Kenji Fuma	February 17, 2022	Lecture for all employees “The Forefront of Carbon Neutrality! - Important issues in the SDGs that you should know about now”.
Representative Director and CEO, Neural Inc.	Kenji Fuma	August 4, 2021	Lecture to all employees: “What does it mean for companies to tackle the SDGs? A reading from an ESG perspective”
Deputy General Manager, Corporate Planning Dept. and Principal Sustainability Strategist, Mitsubishi UFJ Research and Consulting Co., Ltd.	Mari Yoshidaka	July 27, 2021	Second SDGs Committee Expert Review of FY2021
Distinguished Professor of Technology and Policy and the Director of the Urban Institute at Kyushu University	Shunsuke Managi	From May 2021	Social impact of ESG
Representative Director, SDG Partners, Inc.	Kazuo Tase	October 16, 2020	SDGs and ESG
Attorney, Shinwa Sohgoh Law Offices	Daisuke Takahashi	August 31, 2020	Human-rights issues raised by technological development
Part-time lecturer, Tohoku University Graduate School	Keiichi Ushijima	August 24, 2020	Roles expected of communications carriers in protecting privacy
University of Tokyo Future Vision Research Center	Hiroshi Naka	July 14, 2020	Exchange of views on strategic processes in January 2020 Second SDGs Committee Expert Review of FY2021

External initiatives

SoftBank supports and participates in worldwide initiatives aimed at building a sustainable society, and shares a wide range of information related to these initiatives.

External evaluations and Initiatives