CSR

[ISO 26000 Core Subject] Organizational Governance

To earn trust from society, we are conducting CSR activities based on ISO 26000, which is the international standard on social responsibility.

ISO 26000 was officially released in November 2010 after the end of an examination period that lasted for 10 years. During this period, a range of stakeholders, including both developed and developing countries, examined the drafts of the standard from various aspects. The final version is based on seven key principles and seven core subjects. The Fujikura Group regards the internationally recognized ISO 26000 as important guidelines that effectively help the Group fulfill its social responsibility across the organization.

In starting CSR activities in 2009, the Fujikura Group clarified the relationships between the Group and society (its stakeholders) based on the following idea of the Fujikura Group CSR Committee chaired by the president of Fujikura Ltd.: “Companies cannot survive on their own without society. We need to detect and respond to social changes toward the future through communication with society.” Specifically, the CSR Committee and the working teams under the Committee discussed the Group-stakeholder relationships and, as a result, we classified stakeholders who were strongly related to our corporate activities into the following six categories: customers; employees including their families; shareholders and investors; business partners (suppliers); local communities; and governments and the environment. For the fulfillment of our CSR, it is indeed essential for us to disseminate information about our corporate activities in a timely manner to these important stakeholders and incorporate their expectations and opinions into the management of the Group.

Accordingly, the Group will globally dispatch information mainly about its responsibilities and tasks to be fulfilled for its stakeholders. We will also foster new measures for our management priorities and CSR activities, while checking whether we are making appropriate responses to the opinions and ideas expressed by individual stakeholders.

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 CSR Committee is working to attain all targets set in the Priority CSR Measures (II) by the end of fiscal 2015, while at the same time creating the Priority CSR Measures (III) as a plan that showcases new priority CSR issues to be tackled during the five years from fiscal 2016 to 2020. However, making decisions on what we will do and how during the next five years to 2020 is difficult given that we are facing a range of international issues and social needs. Based on this recognition, the CSR Committee is fostering dialogue with experts to obtain their opinions in a timely and appropriate manner and set priority CSR targets to be attained by fiscal 2020 based on these opinions. Priority CSR Measures (III) will officially be announced in March 2016.
The following shows the process toward the finalization of the new plan (III).

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 2014, 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 2014, and the results are shown in the table in the "Fujikura Group's priority CSR measures and initiatives and evaluation of the results" section. As for the activities conducted on environmental themes, the results are described in "The Environment" section. For overall CSR activities conducted in fiscal 2014, which was the 3rd year of the four-year plan to be completed in fiscal 2015, we self-evaluated that " it has been progressing toward achieving goals".Regarding the attained targets, we would like to finish them by the end of FY2015.In the next fiscal year, FY2015, we will collaborate with related departments,enhance our activities at higher level and will attain targets of 25 items of "CSR key measures."

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.

The Fujikura Group regards it as the Group's corporate social responsibility (CSR) to make the creation of a sustainable society and the sustainable development of the Group compatible. Based on this recognition, we are fostering a range of CSR activities in line with the Group's philosophy, basic policies and action guidelines on CSR.

We are accelerating our global business activities in more than 20 countries and regions toward the achievement of the highly ambitious targets set in the Group's 2015 Mid-Term Business Plan. In the process, we are receiving more expectations and requests from society and stakeholders regarding our CSR activities. In our effort to firmly meet these expectations and requests, which are increasing in depth and complexity, we are proactively introducing the relevant international initiatives and guidelines.

The Fujikura Group is mainly fostering the introduction and use of the following international initiatives and guidelines in the globalization of its business.

etc

The following shows the status of introduction and utilization of the initiatives and guidelines.

Fujikura became a signatory to the United Nations Global Compact (UNGC) on September 3, 2013, expressing support for the universal and international principles advocated by the United Nations on human rights, labor, the environment and anti-corruption. By participating in the UNGC activities, the company is helping the United Nations build up an international framework beyond national and regional boundaries. Under the leadership of the United Nations and the Global Compact Network Japan (GC-NJ), the Fujikura Group is conducting activities for the establishment of the framework.

Following a decision made by its CSR Committee (Management Committee) in July 2013, Fujikura Ltd. announced its support to the United Nations Global Compact (UNGC), which outlines the universal and international principles on human rights, labor, the environment and anti-corruption. Subsequently, on September 13, 2013, the company became a signatory to the UNGC and also joined the Global Compact Network Japan (GC-NJ). The UNGC, which is based on the Ten Principles, provides a global framework for companies and other organizations to act as good corporate citizens for the creation of a sustainable society by displaying leadership in a responsible manner. Fujikura is conducting activities under this framework.

UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon visited Japan to attend the Third UN World Conference on Disaster Risk Reduction held in Sendai, and also had a meeting with Global Compact Network Japan (GC-NJ) on March 16. Fujikura participated in the meeting as a UNGC member company. The UNGC is the only UN organization that has its headquarters within the office of the UN Secretary-General. Member companies and organizations of this innovative UN organization directly cooperate with the Secretary-General to build up an international framework beyond national borders. Members, including Fujikura, are required to take initiatives for the establishment of the framework based on the Ten Principles.

The following outlines the Secretary-General’s speech made at the meeting:
(1) Contributions made by companies for recovery from the Great East Japan Earthquake embody the Global Compact spirit of shared responsibility.
(2) Companies should play an important role to foster gender equality in society.
(3) Companies are also expected to play an important role to solve the unprecedented global issue of climate change.
The Secretary-General also urged participants to increase advocators of the UNGC to raise the public’s interest in creating a sustainable society while also ensuring companies’ continuous development. The meeting and the Secretary-General’s speech provided us with a great opportunity to recognize the significance of cooperating directly with the United Nations as a company beyond national and regional boundaries.

The Fujikura Group CSR Committee is conducting examinations concerning new initiatives to be implemented by the Group to create an international framework under the UNGC. Specifically, we are examining measures regarding (1) Guide to Corporate Sustainability: Shaping a Sustainable Future announced by UNGC in January 2015; and (2) GC Issue Program as described below:

The Fujikura Group announces the president's message every March 11 in order to keep the memory of the Great East Japan Earthquake alive, and is reexamining disaster control and reduction measures to be taken against mega-quakes as part of its business continuity planning and management (BCP/BCM) activities. The Group CSR Committee participated in the Third UN World Conference on Disaster Risk Reduction held in Sendai from March 14 to 18, 2015 with a view toward fostering monitoring of the risks posed to Group companies operating on a global scale, and checking the current status of the disaster-afflicted areas in Tohoku, which are on the path to full recovery.

According to the announcement made by the United Nations, as many as 700,000 people lost their lives, 1.4 million people were injured, and 23 million people lost their homes due to earthquakes, floods, flood tides, and other disasters during the past decade, with the economic damage totaling 1.3 trillion dollars (156 trillion yen). Disasters are worsening in scale due to global warming, and the number of people exposed to disaster risks is increasing. The Fujikura Group operates in 24 countries and regions around the world, and the Conference made us re-recognize the need to make preparations against future mega-quakes and continue offering support to disaster-afflicted areas. The following shows the Conference outline.

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.

Since the Fujikura Group launched its group-wide CSR activities in 2009, the CSR Committee has been proactively working to establish the Group's CSR philosophy and basic principles while implementing measures for priority CSR issues. In 2014, the Committee also began quantifying the entire Group's CSR activities in an intelligible manner for its multiple stakeholders. In this section, we quantitatively report the CSR activities conducted by 59 major Group companies in fiscal 2014. To calculate the monetary value of these activities, we referred to the unit prices used in the social contribution questionnaire survey conducted by the Japan Business Federation (KEIDANREN).

The above 59 Group companies together account for 95% or more of the total number of employees.