CSR Management: Continuity and Evolution
Structural Reforms and Long-Term Strategies
In fiscal 2009, the impact of the 2008 Lehman shock caused major squeeze worldwide not only in financial economy, but also in real economy due to extremely weaker production and consumption. Our operations were also greatly affected, since nearly 60% of the sales in the Teijin Group had been accounted for by businesses which mainly deal with materials, such as fibers and films/plastics. Many group companies having production bases suffered major reductions in the percent of plant capacity use, and the Teijin Group as a whole came to a deficit settlement of accounts for the business term ending in March 2010.
Fortunately, our business performance bottomed out in the first quarter of fiscal 2009, and since then we have been in a gradual upward trend. In April 2009, we published "Structural Reforms" for managing the economic crisis and "Basic Management Policy" comprising medium- and long-term "Growth Strategies." In the "Structural Reforms," we are promoting decisive measures groupwide to lower fixed costs and reduce capital investment and inventories, and implementing a broad range of sweeping measures to put back on a growth track the three poorly performing businesses, polyester fibers, PET films and polycarbonate resins.
Over the medium to long term, we will ensure sustainable growth in emerging markets through technical innovation.
CSR (Corporate Social Responsibility) in Management
As the operating environment for a company becomes harsher and harsher, the company must place a greater emphasis on looking into the future from the viewpoint of going back to its corporate philosophy. In the Teijin Group, the basics of CSR is evident in its corporate philosophy, which we established in June 1993, 75 years after its foundation. In the corporate philosophy, we advocate, "The Teijin Group's purpose is to enhance the quality of life through a deep insight into human nature and needs, together with the application of our creative abilities. Our aim is to grow and evolve in harmony with the progress of society. Empowering Our People."
In managing our group, I always bear in mind that we must create new values demanded by society under our corporate philosophy of "Our aim is to grow and evolve in harmony with the progress of society" and "empowering our people." We are required to make sincere effort to cope with various social problems, and to upgrade the quality of products and services based on the Teijin Group's technology, from the viewpoint of customers, so as to help solve or mitigate the problems. In the "Structural Reforms" scheme, we restructure business operations at their turning points while earning the understanding and trust of stakeholders, both internally and externally. We are also promoting a shift to businesses dealing with environmental products and high-value-added products and business globalization. I believe this is an essential step for a company to produce new values while achieving solid growth in the temporal trends. We are determined to continue to accomplish our social mission under the scheme for triangular management, in which business strategies are rolled out over good corporate governance and CSR.
Progress of CSR Activities
The Teijin Group is actively promoting a broad range of CSR activities. I would like to describe some example activities.
First, I would like to explain our environmental activities. In the Teijin Group "Sustainable Environment Initiatives," which were announced in 2007, we advocate three core elements for promoting environmentally conscious management: Environmental Preservation, Environmentally Friendly Design, and Environmental Businesses.
In the context of Environmentally Friendly Design, we have developed an improvement checklist, and approve environmentally friendly design products, services and processes based on the results of the evaluation using the checklist. We named this concept "Earth Symphony" to raise its awareness among customers and employees at large, and to help achieve more aggressive advances.
Referring to an example case in the area of Environmental Businesses, we exhibited a halogen-type LED lamp made of RAHEAMA, a carbon fiber of high thermal conductivity, at the LED Next Stage 2010 illumination exhibition. In addition to its heat release performance comparable to that of conventional LED lighting appliances, the new product can meet requirements for complex shapes and allow significant weight reduction. We promote investigation to bring it to full-scale commercial production in cooperation with relevant companies.
In the area of risk management, we formulated a basic policy and manual for countermeasures against avian influenza in preparation for pandemics of new types of infectious diseases in 2006. Other preparatory measures we have taken to date include drawing up the Extensive Guideline for Countermeasures against Avian Influenza in 2008. Last year, a new type of influenza occurred actually, but we were able to manage the situation, without suffering business operations, by drawing up BCPs (Business Continuity Plans) for the head offices and business groups and implementing countermeasures.
It's our privilege to have been highly evaluated from outside our group for our positive CSR activities in a broad range of fields, as exemplified by the fact that our CSR report received more than one excellence awards in the area of environmental communication.
Future Prospects for Our Business Operations
I believe that what is demanded in the coming era concerns "How a company is able to contribute to solving social problems through its operations." In the Teijin Group, we have reconsidered our businesses and divested or restructured some of them in implementing structural reforms during the past year. Reviewing those actions in retrospect, all selected as key businesses are those that can provide measures that are effective in solving or mitigating today's important social problems. Generally speaking, they fall in three areas, namely green chemistry (environmentally friendly chemical business), healthcare (medical and health business), and a combination of both. Concepts of note in green chemistry include environmentally friendliness, safety and security, resources preservation, energy conservation, and low carbon emission. In material business, we will promote building an "oil-free" recycling-oriented business model, and, for any operation found to be in contradiction to this concept, will alter the manufacturing process itself with the cooperation of stakeholders. Needless to say, healthcare business contributes to improving the quality of life, especially in aging society. We make further efforts to achieve higher levels of CSR management, and we look forward to your support and understanding.
