2026 Volume 77 Issue 2 Pages 61-71
This study aims to quantitatively visualize the relationship structure between corporate non-financial initiatives and financial performance, and to develop an optimization model that empirically clarifies how different implementation levels of specific non-financial initiatives—namely AI governance (AIG) and Diversity & Inclusion (D&I)—affect financial performance (FP) through the integration of linear prediction terms with a nonlinear evaluation component.
The analysis was performed using descriptive statistics, cluster analysis, correlation analysis, and OLS regression. Building on these results, linear prediction terms were derived using OLS regression and then integrated with a nonlinear evaluation component that captures diminishing returns, thereby formulating the proposed optimization model. Using data from 47 Japanese firms, empirical analysis demonstrated that strengthening AIG had only limited effects on specific FP indicators, whereas reinforcing D&I led to observable improvements. In contrast, a restraint scenario—representing the suppression of non-financial initiatives—resulted in an apparent deterioration of FP.
These findings indicate that the selective implementation or non-implementation of non-financial initiatives (AIG and D&I) significantly influences FP yielding clear managerial and practical implications.
