OMRON considers it essential to embed CSR into its management strategies, and to practice CSR as part of its business operations. As such, OMRON has worked to strengthen its CSR management system globally.

In the end of fiscal 2007, the Group CSR Committee was set up to help the management team assess the overall status of CSR and define the specific issues that the OMRON Group faces. The committee also helps determine the future direction of CSR activities. Chaired by the President, the committee’s main tasks include formulating the OMRON Group’s CSR policy and strategies as well as promotion and monitoring of CSR activities in key areas. Members are presidents of business companies, general managers of head office administrative divisions, and presidents of regional group head offices.

In the past, specialized groups were in place to respectively deal with corporate ethics, environmental preservation, information disclosure and other areas. The Group CSR Committee in turn will cover all of these areas and review OMRON Group’s business operations from an overall CSR perspective so as to promote CSR practices more strategically. Business companies and head office divisions (including the environment department and the legal affairs department) are responsible for putting into action the policies and strategies determined by the committee. In fiscal 2008, the Group CSR Committee met twice?in June 2008 and February 2009.

To objectively grasp its own CSR management status, OMRON conducted diagnoses of its sustainability strategies using tools developed by an external consulting firm. As a result, several issues were discovered, including the insufficient assessment of overseas sites’ work environments by the head office and business companies, lack of systematized CSR education for employees, and others. Based on these findings, OMRON intends to enhance global-level CSR activities while at the same time strengthening on-site capabilities to promote CSR practices.

CSR Management Structure

To make sure that the underlying philosophy of CSR, as stipulated in the OMRON’s Management Commitments, is thoroughly practiced by all employees, OMRON published its “CSR Practice Guidelines” in fiscal 2006. This was followed by the establishment of “Implementing the Guiding Principles for Action” in fiscal 2007 so as to help employees practice the Guiding Principles for Action in their day-to-day work. By distributing these two guidelines to all employees in Japan, OMRON has worked to instill and penetrate the concept of CSR based on its Corporate Core Value, “working for the benefit of society.”

In fiscal 2007, OMRON initiated activities designed to promote CSR practices globally. As part of this drive, regional editions of the CSR Practice Guidelines were prepared in English by incorporating legislation and customs specific to each region, including Europe, Americas, Asia Pacific, and Greater China. Greater China and Korea editions were also prepared in native languages. This was accompanied by explanatory meetings targeting managers held in 23 sites throughout the world. In fiscal 2008, these regional editions were further translated into 22 different local languages (including French, Portuguese, Indonesian, Thai, Malay and Vietnamese). “Implementing the Guiding Principles for Action” was also translated into 25 different languages and distributed to all overseas Group companies in fiscal 2007.

In fiscal 2008, OMRON launched a new initiative called “Challenge Commendation Program” targeting all Group employees worldwide with the aim of revitalizing “unceasing commitment to challenging ourselves” specified in OMRON’s Guiding Principles for Action. This program awarded 1,142 employees who strived for challenging goals in business improvement or research and development.

OMRON will continue promoting global instillation of CSR, while seeking discovery and solution of individual issues.