Helping People to "Well-being" - Benesse's Education Businesses
Benesse's corporate philosophy is based on the idea of helping each individual to 'well-being,' and the Group's education business lies at the heart of our efforts to achieve this goal. Under the Group's new business structure, Benesse is working to strengthen its education-related businesses, including both correspondence courses and businesses aimed at schools.
In the correspondence course business, Benesse has developed two main product segments - the Kodomo Challenge series of courses aimed at young children, and Shinkenzemi courses for students in each grade from primary school through high school. The Company maintains a dominant position in the market for correspondence courses, throughout Japan. In addition to traditional, "paper-based" correspondence course materials, Benesse has developed the revolutionary new "+i" series of correspondence courses which use internet-based instructional materials as well. The Company has already launched courses for junior high school students, and intends to continue making revisions to its products and business model to adapt to a changing society.
In the Company's businesses aimed at schools, Benesse has developed products such as Shinken Simulated Exams (tests that simulate university entrance exams) and Study Support, which helps students plan their educational path.In the future, the Company will take steps to reach an even higher percentage of students, and try to foster a desire among young people to improve themselves, by helping them to enjoy their studies and take pride in their sense of accomplishment.
Overseas Expansion and Developing New Products and Services
Benesse is pursuing opportunities in markets that can expect growth over the medium-to-long term. For example, it is making an effort to expand its overseas operations and is moving into the field of language education and international education, on a full scale. From 2011, Japan will introduce compulsory English language courses at the elementary school level. This, and the steadily increasing importance of internationalization, has prompted Benesse to develop new products and services which will help children begin learning English at a very young age, and help older children to develop the skills and mindset needed to function effectively in an international environment.
In the overseas education business domain, starting with the launch of correspondence courses for infants in Taiwan in 1989, Benesse has been promoting business in Taiwan, South Korea, and mainland China. Although there are national differences in culture and education systems, the intellectual curiosity of children is universal. While forging relationships of trust with overseas customers, the Company has developed the know-how accumulated in Japan through the Kodomo Challenge courses into a well-supported overseas business. In particular our overseas business in China, which was launched in 2006, now has about 220,000 subscribers (as of April 2010).Benesse will continue to cross national borders to support the well-being of the world's children through education.
Diversifying Benesse's Education-related Business
Finally, to address the increasingly diverse educational needs of young people, and to offer broader support to students so that they can take greater enjoyment in their studies, Benesse has begun to develop a network of prep schools (juku). Since 2006, the Company has acquired Ochanomizu Seminar Co., Ltd., Tokyo Individualized Educational Institute, Inc., and Tetsuryokukai. These new Group subsidiaries have helped Benesse to diversify its education business. By consolidating the know-how derived from both our traditional education business and these new prep school operations, the Company hopes to develop greater synergy in its education business and improve the quality of its educational products and services.
Whatever the environment, the motivation to learn and the act of learning cultivate the next age and create the future. Aiming for a future filled with hope, Benesse will continue to support the basic desire of all people to improve themselves.
Helping people to "Well-being" lifestyle-related businesses
One of the most essential steps in fulfilling Benesse's corporate philosophy of helping people to "Well-being" is to provide products and services that will allow each person to make each day serve their own interests and goals. Women, in particular, face many moments in life when they need to make key decisions that affect their entire future - marriage, childbirth, and so on. Benesse tries to lend support by offering information and services at each of these key stages in their life, so that women can make the choices that most suit their own desires and lifestyles, in the hope that this support will help improve their quality of life with each passing day.
Initiatives in the lifestyle-related businesses
Benesse produces a variety of magazines, including Tamago Club and Hiyoko Club, covering issues related to pregnancy, childbirth and caring for infants, as well as THANK YOU!, and others, which provide information about enjoyable lifestyles. The Company also offers home delivery of a variety of publications, such as the bon merci! magazine, which offers practical information about food and nutrition; Hand & Heart, a do-it-yourself handicrafts and seasonal products magazine; and pet-related magazines DOG'S HEART and CAT'S HEART. Benesse also operates online community sites such as Women's Park, which aims to help women address personal concerns and share information.
The thought of the Benesse group for the lifestyle-related businesses
In all of these operations, Benesse strives to develop a business model that doesn't just deliver products or information, but tries to create "enjoyable experiences," and allow each woman to find and select things that match her own interests and character. In this way, we try to offer those little things that enrich the lives of customers every day, and bit by bit, serving to enhance their quality of life.
Benesse is constantly seeking feedback and suggestions from customers, in an effort to refine our products and services in ways that will allow them to better promote their own lifestyles and enrich their experiences. As customers tell their families, friends, co-workers and neighbors about the richness that Benesse brings to their lives, we hope that the concept of "living well" can continue to expand, and touch the lives of even more people. To succeed in this aim, we recognize the great importance of communicating with and understanding our customers, so that we can provide products and services that offer true value and enrich their lives.
Benesse Life Smile
You find new activities that stimulate you and discover abilities you didn't know you had. You steadily become more truly yourself as you grow a little from day to day. You are able to feel the joy of each day's experiences, and share that joy with your children, your family and your friends.
Benesse's lifestyle-related brand, "Benesse Life Smile," aims to cultivate this sort of fulfilling life experience for each of its customers, bringing them joy and rich experience with each passing day, and helping them to embrace each stage of their lives - marriage, work, childbirth, parenting, food, household activities and hobbies - with zest and enjoyment.
