• Developing strategies for new market creation through social impact and regulatory frameworks
• Supporting in-house workshops to generate ideas for social impact-driven businesses
• Promoting proactive human rights initiatives beyond mere risk mitigation

In recent years, sustainability initiatives—including human rights and environmental efforts—have become a top priority for corporate activities.

Addressing social issues have previously been considered part of corporate social responsibility (CSR). However, the concept of Creating Shared Value (CSV)—which seeks to achieve both social impact and corporate competitive advantage—has been gaining traction. Businesses are now expected to view sustainability and the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) not just as compliance requirements, but as integral to corporate strategy and new business opportunities. By embedding sustainability into their core business, companies can drive long-term value creation.

The global market for SDG-related businesses is estimated to exceed $13 trillion, making it a highly attractive area for corporate investment.

At Owls Consulting Group, we leverage our extensive expertise in sustainability consulting—including human rights and environmental domains—and our wide-ranging network with NPOs and NGOs to support companies in creating new businesses that simultaneously drive social impact and business growth.

Since the collapse of the bubble economy, Japan has struggled to compete with Western countries in emerging industries and has remained stuck in what is known as the “Lost 30 Years” of economic stagnation. To overcome this prolonged downturn and return to a growth trajectory, it is essential to move beyond conventional competitive strategies and instead focus on expanding the Total Addressable Market (TAM) by creating new markets.

A crucial factor in new market creation is the perspective of social impact. Simply pursuing profits is not enough; businesses must demonstrate their contribution to solving pressing societal challenges to establish and sustain new markets.

To successfully create a new market, companies must first clearly define the shared value their business generates for society. Then, they need to engage diverse stakeholders through rulemaking to maximize that value. This requires a comprehensive approach—identifying the material social issues a company should address, designing the target market and business model, and formulating a rulemaking strategy to bring it to life.

At Owls Consulting Group, we leverage our deep expertise in social impact and rulemaking strategies to provide end-to-end support—from identifying key societal challenges and designing new markets to develop regulatory strategies that enable their realization.

Among various sustainability themes, the field of Business and Human Rights has gained significant attention in recent years.

The number of Japanese companies that conduct human rights due diligence (HRDD) is increasing rapidly. However, HRDD is primarily a risk management process focused on identifying, preventing, and mitigating negative impacts arising from corporate activities. Today, HRDD is no longer a differentiator—it is considered a basic expectation for large corporations.

To truly stand out, companies must go beyond compliance and adopt a proactive approach to human rights. Expectations from society and stakeholders are  shifting from “risk avoidance” to “value creation through human rights initiatives.” Businesses are now required not only to prevent their own involvement in human rights violations but also to actively contribute to solving broader human rights issues through business innovation.

At Owls Consulting Group, we leverage our top-tier expertise in Business and Human Rights and our extensive experience in new business strategy development and execution to support companies in driving proactive human rights initiatives. In addition to structured project-based consulting, we also offer in-house workshops to help companies explore and develop new business opportunities in the human rights domain.

For support with branding and marketing strategy development and execution in the sustainability domain, please visit our Sustainable Branding & Marketing Strategy page.

For support with Business and Human Rights initiatives (including Human Rights Due Diligence), please visit our Human Rights Policy and Due Diligence page.

• Expertise at the intersection of strategy consulting, sustainability (human rights, environment), and rulemaking, provided by top professionals
• Extensive project experience covering the full spectrum from business strategy development to execution
• Broad networks and deep insights into the social sector (NPOs/NGOs) to drive impactful solutions