M3's mission is "Making use of the Internet to increase, as much as possible, the number of people who can live longer and healthier lives, and to reduce, as much as possible, the amount of unnecessary medical costs."
The healthcare sector accounts for 10% of the world's GDP and is a business area of ​​great social significance that affects everyone living on this planet. On the other hand, there are complex and diverse stakeholders in this field, not limited to healthcare professionals and patients, and the value chain is wide-ranging from prevention / examination to palliative care, and each is required to have a high degree of expertise, imagination, and attachment to solutions. M3 is committed to creating valuable services and products that solve problems and improve the industry by taking a unique approach that only a company with the world's largest platform for healthcare professionals can take, in order to address challenging medical issues not only in Japan but also around the world.
Through such efforts, we aim to realize our mission and contribute to the enhancement of the health and well-being of all people and the sustainable development of society.
In addition, we believe it is important to further strengthen and develop our human capital, platform, and management base as important capital to support these value creation activities. In addition, agendas regarding sustainability and our ESG policy and initiatives are discussed at the Board of Directors on a regular basis.
We will continue to earn the trust of our stakeholders, provide value that exceeds their expectations, and contribute to solving issues facing the healthcare sector.

Step 1: Identify material topics

M3 selected material topics with high relevance to the Company's business activities and mission, based on references such as international standards such as the Standards and the Sustainability Accounting Standards Board (SASB) Standards, and SDGs, as well as internal and external stakeholders.

Step 2: Assess the topics from the perspective of M3 and its stakeholders

The topics identified in Step 1 were prioritized and organized from the perspectives of M3's shareholders, investors, clients and employees, as well as referencing feedback from external ESG rating agencies.

Step 3: Identify the most important topics

The most important topics were specified after being reviewed and discussed by the Board of Directors in light of M3's management strategy and mission, on the basis of the assessment conducted in Step 2.

Independence of Outside Directors

Of the 12 Directors, 4 have been appointed as Independent Officers.
The criteria for determining the independence of Outside Directors are based on the criteria set by the Tokyo Stock Exchange.

Evaluation of the Effectiveness of the Board of Directors

Most of our business execution decisions are centralized in the Board of Directors and the Management Committee. The regular Board Meeting is held once a month in principle, and the Management Committee is held once a week in principle. Based on the Rules of the Board of Directors and the Rules of Approval, decisions regarding business execution are made and the status of business execution is confirmed at the Board Meeting and Management Committee.
In addition, the Company conducts self-assessments of the effectiveness of the Board of Directors by means of questionnaires filled out by all directors and individual interviews with Audit and Supervisory Committee members, and compiles the results.
In the survey conducted in FY2021, the respondents evaluated that the Board of Directors of the Company is "functioning as a whole," and the results are generally good.

Skill Matrix of Directors

Ratio of Female Directors

The number of female directors at our company is 4 out of 12(33%), as a result of appointment at the Annual General Meeting of Shareholders held on June 28, 2023.
Our policy is to make up the Board of Directors of the Company by a variety of directors who have considerable experience in various fields, as stipulated in the Articles of Incorporation.
We also aim to maintain the ratio of female directors at 40%.

Female Manager Ratio

We aim to increase the ratio of female managers to 40% by 2030.

Female Employee Ratio

Mid-Career Recruitment Ratio

Relationship with Major Shareholders

M3, Inc. is an equity-method affiliate of Sony Group Corporation (hereinafter referred to as "Sony".)
There is no business dependency with Sony and its group companies, and a certain degree of independence is ensured. One outside director of the Company, who also serves as an officer of Sony, was requested by the Company to assume the position in order to strengthen the overall management capabilities of the Group for his expertise and from the perspective of shareholders, and there are no other personal interactions.
We will proactively continue and promote economically rational transactions with Sony and its group companies, but we will not engage in exclusive transactions due to capital relationships.

Business model advantages / flexibility

Since its establishment in 2000, M3 has continuously increased its business types and geographic footprint. The expansion of business scope creates business synergy potential as well as flexibility to combat risks.

Business Ethics

In its Code of Conduct, M3 Group declares its commitment to comply with all applicable laws and regulations of the countries and regions in which it operates and to conduct its business activities in an honest and ethical manner. We will continue to work on this for the further improvements going forward with the strong commitment of the Board of Directors and the Management Committee.

Securing Professional Human Resources

Based on the concept of "reward for valuable work," M3 is generous in rewarding employees who create value for the company and our shareholders. As a result, the healthcare industry will move in the right direction, while ensuring the growth of the individual employee and M3 as a company. We are also focusing on creating a system that allows us to do so as a matter of course.
Remuneration for Directors (excluding Audit and Supervisory Committee members) takes into consideration the performance of the entire company, the degree of individual contribution to performance, and the level of remuneration necessary to secure excellent human resources based on executive compensation data of other companies. Based on delegation made by the Board of Directors, the Representative Director determines the remuneration of Directors (excluding Audit and Supervisory Committee members) within the remuneration limit of Directors decided at the general meeting of Shareholders.

Labor Relations

M3 Group declares in its Code of Conduct the policy of sound labor and employment practices, and supports the freedom of association and the right to collective bargaining. Although no labor unions are formed as of now, M3 and its group companies treat their employees at all times in accordance with the applicable laws and regulations of the countries and regions in which it operates, and maintains sound labor-management relations.

Staff Training / Human Resources Development Policy

M3 has positions that require a variety of specialties. Employees are provided with fair opportunities to consider their career paths and apply for various positions, from more than 40 consolidated subsidiaries and equity-method affiliates in Japan and overseas.
All new employees have onboarding support and are provided with training tailored to their business and organization so that they can efficiently absorb the skills needed to be active in their respective fields.
They are continuously offered various benefits, such as semi-annual performance reviews with their direct reports, open and flexible peer feedback across teams and positions, as well as support in obtaining some required and/or relevant qualifications for their jobs.
All employees are guaranteed to have continuous access to systematic training and shared knowledge.
In addition, as for Directors, in principle, each person will decide and make efforts to acquire necessary knowledge and improve their abilities. However, when a Director requests training, we decide whether or not to provide cost support based on the necessity, etc.

Retention Plan

Asset formation support and various welfare programs are provided according to the business and employee composition of each group company. We have a system to support the growth of our employees through various education, qualification acquisition support, and mentoring. In addition, through an in-house recruitment scheme, we support voluntary career development while responding to various desires, and provide a place within the entire M3 Group to play an active role. The number of M3 employees who applied to the in-house recruitment scheme and started new role for FY2022 was 27.
Furthermore, we are striving to retain excellent employees and management personnel through a program that recognizes employees who have achieved excellent results and employees who have made advanced initiatives.

Diversity

M3 believes that diverse human resources are the source of M3's strengths, and has set up a hiring policy regardless of gender, age, nationality, race, religion, or disability.

Data Security

We have built a computer system that uses the Internet to provide various services. In order to maintain and improve the service level continuously, the Group is making continuous capital investment and maintenance management while incorporating new system technology and security related technology as appropriate.
M3, Inc. has acquired the "Privacy Mark", which is given by JIPDEC (Japan Information Processing and Development Center) to private enterprises which take appropriate measures to protect personal information. In addition, we promote group companies to take necessary measures to improve security management and acquire necessary certifications. Specifically, we promote self-assessment processes for maintaining the Privacy Mark, as well as organizing information assets and identifying risks according to the Privacy Mark and ISMS frameworks, as well as implementing data security policies.
In addition, we have established an Information Security Committee whose participants include directors in charge, legal staff, system engineers, and data system staff, which collects information regarding data security inside and outside of the company, monitors data security measures within Group companies, and prepares preventative measures against incidents, and regularly hold in-house training on information security to maintain and improve employee security awareness.
Moreover, we have established M3-CSIRT, in which management, IR and legal affairs personnel, system engineers, data system personnel, customer support personnel, and group company personnel participate. In addition to establishing a specific incident response system, we have established a security team within the engineering group to collect and monitor information on the vulnerability response status of commercial systems, and to provide technical support for data security measures within Group companies.

Expanding access to healthcare

To achieve M3's mission, "Making use of the Internet to increase, as much as possible, the number of people who can live longer and healthier lives, and to reduce, as much as possible, the amount of unnecessary medical costs", M3 strives to create value and impact on society through healthcare.

For patients:

• Providing a Seamless Healthcare Experience Number of medical consultations using Digikar Smart: 1MM (FY2022) 29.3 million hours of patient waiting time reduced(FY2022, from a total of about 27 million receptions)
• Professional Advice Provision for Health Concerns: Offering physician answers to daily health concerns: 300,000+ posted questions gathering over 67 million UU views annually (FY2022)
• Granting Wishes for Severely Ill Patients: 37 wishes granted through the CaNoW program: over 1.5 million PVs of videos and articles documenting the grants (As of April 2023, since service launch in 2019)

• Information Provision for Medical Professional Members: 12 million views via information delivery such as Webinars (FY2022)
• Medical Examination Support: Supporting medical examinations through management of information across 200 million electronic health records, domestically and abroad (As of FY2022)
• Productivity Improvement for Pharma Companies: Distribution of 120 million e-details = workload of 60,000 MRs (more than total number of MRs in Japan) (FY2022)

Quality & Safety of Services / Products

In order to improve and manage the quality of our services and products, we have established a "QA (Quality Assurance) Specialist Team" within the engineering group. In order to prevent incidents and recurrences of incidents in service provision, we have introduced a PDCA process for each team and are making continuous improvements. In particular, in marketing solutions businesses provided to pharmaceutical companies, we develop and operate by Standard Operating Procedures (SOPs), and promote the adoption of ISMS in necessary Group companies.
SOPs identify specific protocols to improve and manage the quality of our services and products to meet our strict internal quality target under the responsibility of Quality Control Manager assigned by the Management Committee, including training and internal audits more than once a year as well as preparedness for potential incidents and emergencies.
We have also established a PDCA process to efficiently reflect user feedback to improve our services.

Other Data

*Subject to M3, Inc. only (non-consolidated)

The Group's businesses are centered on the provision of services using the Internet, and with limited fixed-asset holding, the environmental burden its businesses generate is small.
In addition, we are promoting efforts such as encouraging paperless operations by digitizing electronic contracts and in-house documents, supporting remote work, and endorsing energy conservation, including the procurement of energy-efficient servers.
In 2021, the Board of Directors resolved to support the TCFD recommendations and join the TCFD Consortium as part of its commitment to climate change.

Electricity Consumption / CO2 Emissions