CSR

[ISO 26000 Core Subject] Organizational Governance

The Fujikura Group formulated the Fujikura Group CSR Basic Principles in 2009 and designated the following four items (“four focus areas”) set under the principles as the “issues of materiality” for the Fujikura Group.

We designated the aforementioned “four focus areas” as “issues of materiality” based on internal discussions made in reference to the comments and viewpoints offered by a range of stakeholders including experts, customers, advanced companies, business partners, the environment, governments and employees. The Fujikura Group is committed to making its sustainable growth compatible with the creation of a sustainable society through its corporate activities as its CSR, and we at the Group believe that the “four focus areas” will and should continue to be the “issues of materiality” for the Group, even if the social environment surrounding our business changes in the future.

The Fujikura Group has been fostering its CSR initiatives based on the “four focus areas,” which the Group has clarified as the “issues of materiality.” We specified the stakeholders for the four areas and also clarified the relationship between the areas and the core subjects of ISO 26000 after this international standard on social responsibility was issued in 2010. Moreover, we conducted a materiality matrix analysis to select specific “areas of activity” and examine them from the viewpoint of stakeholders (“interest of stakeholders” - external factor) and in consideration of the impact of the areas on our business management (“degree of impact on the business” - internal factor). Further, we incorporated the opinions given by third-party experts and our stakeholders in setting the CSR goal in the 2015 Mid-Term Business Plan, formulating the priority CSR measures to achieve the goals, and in selecting the annual targets for the achievement of the medium-term goal. We have thus implemented initiatives related to “issues of materiality” one by one and we report on their progress and results in our CSR report.

In the following table, we show the relationship of the “four focus areas,” which are the “issues of materiality” for the Group, to the “areas of activity” for the fulfillment of CSR, the targeted stakeholders and with the ISO 26000 international standard on social responsibility.

The Fujikura Group set the Fujikura Group CSR Basic Principles in 2009 and designated the following “four focus areas” set under the principles as “issues of materiality” for the Group: 1. Sincere corporate activities; 2. Concern for environment; 3. Respect for human beings; and 4. In harmony with society.
Based on the “issues of materiality,” we have implemented a range of CSR measures under the leadership of the supervising departments, including the priority CSR measures set for the Group. In fiscal 2012, we formulated and launched the new Fujikura Group priority CSR measures (25 items), following the completion of the three-year measures (25 items set in fiscal 2009) in fiscal 2011. We set the new 25 items according to the following process. First, we set our medium-term CSR goal in the 2015 Mid-Term Business Plan, which is to become a company that is truly advanced in terms of CSR. Then we conducted “materiality matrix” analysis to select the “areas of activity” by making predictions about our stakeholders’ interest in the areas (external factors) and the degree of the impact of the areas on our business management (internal factors). We also incorporated the opinions of third-party experts and our stakeholders in setting the new 25 items of the priority CSR measures.

The Fujikura Group aims to become a company advanced in CSR, and its CSR goal has accordingly been set to be attained by the end of fiscal 2015. In order to achieve this goal, we set 25 items within the priority CSR measures along with annual targets to be achieved through a PDCA cycle.
In fiscal 2012, we conducted activities designed to achieve the annual targets under the leadership of the supervising departments. The results and evaluation of the activities are shown in the following table.

The Fujikura Group made a self-evaluation of the activities conducted in line with the 25 items of the priority CSR measures in fiscal 2012, and the results are shown in the table above and in the table in “The Environment” section. For all CSR activities conducted in fiscal 2012, we evaluated them to be “mostly attained as planned,” though there was room for improvement regarding the activities, which were conducted in the first year of the four-year plan up to fiscal 2015. In fiscal 2013, we will further enhance our CSR activities to achieve all the annual targets, including the targets unattained in fiscal 2012, for which we have already identified the challenges that need to be met. Also in the next fiscal year, we will continue to raise the CSR awareness throughout the entire Group.

Across the Fujikura Group, the administrative departments, such as the personnel, general affairs and environment- and quality assurance-related departments, supervise the implementation of the priority CSR measures. In line with the measures, specific activities are conducted based on the CSR goal set in the 2015 Mid-Term Business Plan and on the annual targets to be achieved for the attainment of the goal. We disclose the self-evaluation results of the activities in the CSR report. We ensure the integrity of the self-evaluation by taking the following steps: (1) supervising departments implement a four-grade self-evaluation for each item of the priority CSR measures; (2) a four-grade “peer evaluation” is made by each of the 20 members of the CSR Committee; and (3) comprehensive analysis of the evaluations is undertaken by the 21 parties, and the final evaluation of the analysis results by the director in charge.

At the Fujikura Group, the CSR Committee takes the leadership in fostering CSR-oriented management under the in-house company system. Under the four in-house companies, the business/sales bases and domestic and overseas subsidiaries of Fujikura Ltd. foster activities to fulfill their corporate responsibilities in cooperation with local communities in each country and region.

We also foster the sharing of CSR-related information by Group employees through the CSR website on the intranet and the internal CSR newsletter, CSR World (published in Japanese, English and other languages), aiming to encourage them to conduct CSR activities in their countries and regions on an equally high level. Through these activities, the Fujikura Group will be able to contribute to the creation of a society that is friendly to both people and the environment and “become a corporate group that is appreciated by customers and highly evaluated by society.”

The Fujikura Group is conducting a range of CSR activities including environmental and social contribution activities, and some of these activities are conducted with the participation of not only employees but also their families, including children and retirees of the Group. In the past we did not have any generic names for the CSR activities, and there was no uniformity in the activities conducted by the Group. In the first stakeholder dialogue held in December 2012, one stakeholder suggested that the Fujikura Group foster the activities conducted with the participation of employees, their families, retirees of the Group and local residents through the branding of the activities. In response to this suggestion, the CSR Committee decided to give generic names to each type of activity conducted by the Group. Various name proposals were submitted by the members of the committee and other parties. The committee eventually settled on the following three names.