Introduction

For over 25 years, I have worked in the world of corporate finance. Looking back, I realize that my career has constantly been shaped by collaboration with people. I am confident that I can support i-PRO’s growth as CFO and Corporate Head from the dual perspectives of financial strategy and organizational management, drawing on my experience at investment banks and other global corporations.

Building Unity in the Global Team

i-PRO’s Corporate and Finance teams are global, spread across North America, EMEA, APAC, China, and Japan. To supervise such a global organization, it is essential to have shared goals and to build an environment of mutual respect, in spite of the distances separating us. At i-PRO, we hold three core behavioral values—flexible, bold, and trusted. Organizational management rooted in these values is possible thanks to our foundation of reciprocal trust, and sincere communication is of the utmost importance for building such trust.

■Philosophy of Communication

When engaging in conversation, I keep conscious of two aspects: “we” and “was the message understood?” In the English-speaking world, people expect the subject of the sentence to be explicit. But even when using Japanese, where this is typically not the case, I urge team members to consciously use pronouns, such as “I” to clarify their individual roles, and “we” to express results. In addition, I focus not on “Did I convey the message?” but rather “Was the message understood?” I think it is essential to consider how the other party receives their message. To foster this awareness, I hold regular one-on-one meetings, cross-region town halls and workshops, and share my thoughts with members through my ad hoc e-mail newsletter. Digitalization is now quite advanced at i-PRO, and we are proficient in the use of a range of digital tools in our work and communications. But I believe in the importance of respectful and real communication, even if it seems unsophisticated, to achieve unity in the organization and the team.

■Nurturing Corporate Culture—Questioning Norms, Continuing to Strive

A company’s culture is not created by simply expressing it in writing and publishing it. As explained above, i-PRO places importance on three values—flexible, bold, and trusted, and I feel this aspect of our corporate culture is already ingrained in each employee. In light of this, I will explain three elements that are essential to further foster this culture.

The first is to strive to understand the background to questions in day-to-day interactions. For conviction in conversations, we must avoid the perception “Isn’t that obvious?,” which impedes our thinking. Naturally, there are different opinions, customs, and values in an international team. Even among Japanese people, there are slight variations between what is considered “obvious” or “common sense.” If we are able to achieve shared perception and understanding, based on the assumption that differences are the norm, I believe it is possible to prevent major discrepancies.

The second element is to broaden our scope of thinking as far as possible. There is a Zen proverb “Fish play in expansive waters.” This teaches us that if we create an environment where people can express themselves, they will be able to live as freely and happily as a fish in water and maximize their performance. Applying this concept to work, it is vital to create an environment where, by expanding the scope of our thinking, we can bring out the best in people. By listening attentively to, accepting and incorporating a diversity of opinions and ideas, regardless of one’s position or background, we can produce a work environment where people are invigorated.

The third and final element is not to rest on our laurels—consider achievements as milestones. Rather than feeling pleased or disappointed with results, we should persist with good initiatives, which will surely produce fruit. This process-oriented approach underpins our corporate culture as we tackle challenges on the global stage.

Beyond the Role of a CFO

The role of a CFO is not simply to manage the company’s financial aspects, but also to be a strategic partner for the CEO. By sharing work as well as private concerns, I have built a deep, trusting relationship with our CEO, leading to more precise and versatile communication. Similarly, the function of the finance team is to be a strategic partner for our business divisions. The fundamental roles of the finance team are (i) to act as a good confidant, (ii) to boost the performance of each business division and (iii) to encourage growth. Each member of the i-PRO finance team, including myself, strives to support the success of the entire organization as a strategic partner.

Currently, in addition to my role as CFO, I am also responsible for the corporate divisions as Corporate Head. In this position, I often ask how the corporate divisions can contribute to increasing corporate value despite not being profit centers. Realizing that corporate value is a combination of profit and valuation multiple, I see valuation multiple as comprised of many elements. These include financial elements aside from profit (e.g., growth rate and capital structure), and non-financial elements (e.g., business strategy, ESG initiatives, employee engagement). By thinking in this way, we can grasp the contribution of the Corporate Divisions to corporate growth and increased corporate value. This is through its role in maintaining balance at a higher level—in “defense,” providing support for increasing profit, and “offense,” driving efforts aimed at boosting the valuation multiple, enhancing external communication, and so on.

In Closing

My aim is that the various initiatives advanced by the corporate divisions will contribute to i-PRO’s mission “To create a safer and more peaceful world.” I will continue striving together with my global colleagues to turn change into progress, through the accumulation of changes conscious of progress, to produce new value for the future.

 

Hiroo Okamoto
Director of the Board, Corporate Head & Chief Financial Officer (CFO), i-PRO Co., Ltd.
Hiroo Okamoto has extensive experience in M&A projects from his time working at various investment banks, and in corporate management for companies in and outside of Japan. He joined i-PRO as CFO in July 2023, and has held his current position since July 2025.
Previously, he was CFO and a Managing Director at Kinugawa Rubber Industrial Co., Ltd., Senior Vice President at Amkor Technology, Inc. (“ATI”), and CFO and Deputy President at J-Devices K.K. (Japanese subsidiary of ATI, now Amkor Technology Japan). He also helped to successfully close many M&A transactions at Credit Suisse Securities, Deutsche Securities Inc., Lehman Brothers Japan Inc., and Morgan Stanley Securities Co., Ltd.
He graduated from the Faculty of Economics, Kyoto University.

 

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