VisasQ to Host Free Online Seminar on Organizational Design for Company-Wide Innovation, Featuring Insights from a Former Mitsubishi Chemical Executive

VisasQ, a company operating a global knowledge platform under the mission of “connecting knowledge and challenges,” announced that it will hold a free online seminar on Tuesday, May 26, from 16:00. The seminar is titled “Learning from a Former Mitsubishi Chemical Executive: Perspectives on Organizational Design for Company-Wide Innovation,” and will feature Hiroki Yokozawa as the speaker. VisasQ operates a global knowledge platform that matches companies working on initiatives such as new business development, digital transformation, and overseas expansion with individuals who have extensive business experience. As of February 2026, the company offers matching services using a knowledge database of more than 800,000 people in Japan and overseas, and has supported business creation for more than 2,200 clients. The seminar focuses on “organizational design,” one of the unavoidable issues for large companies seeking to create new businesses and accelerate innovation. Key questions include whether R&D functions should be placed within business divisions or centralized under a corporate function. Because there is no absolute correct answer, many companies are exploring structures that fit their strategies and growth stages. When decisions about functional placement remain unclear, friction can arise on the ground. Typical examples include conflict between departments over where R&D organizations belong, confusion over responsibility for results and budgets during the commercialization phase, and cases where management layers are disrupted when executive decisions suddenly overturn transition criteria that had been clearly defined at the operational level. If such structural distortions are left unaddressed, even projects expected to grow may fail to produce sufficient results and stall. The speaker, Hiroki Yokozawa, spent 38 years at Mitsubishi Chemical, holding key roles in R&D, new business planning, and corporate planning. He led organizational design and PMI across multiple phases of management transformation, including the integration of three chemical companies. Drawing on firsthand experience with large-scale organizational restructuring that moved between vertical silos and cross-functional structures, he will share practical insights that go beyond ideal theory. The lecture will cover representative patterns of organizational placement related to innovation promotion, compare their advantages and disadvantages, and organize key perspectives for choosing structures based on a company’s strategy and phase. The content is designed for those who need to advise top management on organizational restructuring or governance and who want objective criteria for persuasive internal discussions. Participants can expect to gain perspectives for comparing the pros and cons of organizational structures and considering the right structure for their own company; objective materials for proposing organizational restructuring and governance to top management; and practical ways of thinking about innovation promotion under conditions specific to large companies, such as shifts in management policy and fluctuations in decision-making. The seminar is recommended for leaders in research planning, R&D, new business, and corporate planning departments at large companies; those considering the ideal form of company-wide innovation organizations; and those responsible for redesigning and building organizational structures, including the division of roles between R&D functions and business units. Seminar details: The title is “Learning from a Former Mitsubishi Chemical Executive: Perspectives on Organizational Design for Company-Wide Innovation: How to Design Functional Placement and Role Allocation Suited to Your Company, Beyond the Wall Between R&D and Business Divisions.” It is hosted by VisasQ, will be held online via Zoom from 16:00 to 17:10 on Tuesday, May 26, and participation is free.