Social Responsibility
About
Message from the President
Konica Minolta is fulfilling its responsibilities to all stakeholders by creating value that contributes to society.
Advancing the creation of a better society
In order to be valued as a good corporate citizen for decades to come, Konica Minolta aims to be a corporation with firm underpinnings and continuous strong growth while being essential to society. To achieve this, above and beyond strictly maintaining compliance with social rules and norms, we believe that we must ensure that the products and services we provide contribute to the benefit and advancement of our society.
When evaluating a company, people today have begun to place more weight on its contribution to society. In these times, it is not enough to simply offer customers new products that are better than our previous products and those of our competitors in terms of quality and performance. For example, in our efforts to provide energy saving copiers and multi-functional peripherals (MFPs), our core businesses area, we are not satisfied with “relative value,” meaning lower energy consumption in comparison with competitors' products. Rather, we pursue “absolute value” to achieve the energy reduction truly required to create substantial environmental benefits.
Pursuing absolute value is the guiding principle of our management philosophy, The Creation of New Value. Even when faced with the current difficulties, we will attempt new approaches and strive to create innovations. We believe that innovation starts with understanding the true needs of society, and then changing the way we create and offer our products and services in line with those needs.
Focusing on the environment and energy
The recent financial crisis and its impact around the world have provoked a reassessment of corporate activities and the financial and economic framework, and brought about a shift in the industries that are the driving force in society. At Konica Minolta, we believe that history has arrived at a crucial turning point, and is not simply in a recessionary phase after which we can expect to a return to previous economic conditions. Recognizing this, we will look for signs of change to take the lead in creating new trends by which we can pursue the growth of the Group.
In determining new businesses to drive future growth, we base our decisions on the potential of a business to capitalize on a future growth industry, leverage the Group's strengths, and use its advantages to advance toward a better society for all. It was through this decision-making process that we identified the environment and energy as areas for future business growth, as expressed in our recently unveiled Management Policy <09-10>.
The environment and energy are some of the most important global issues facing us today. Therefore, it is imperative for us to implement efforts toward reducing CO2 emissions to prevent global warming and conserving natural resources. In addition to these efforts in our existing business fields, we believe that it is crucial to pursue new environmental and energy technologies. Drawing on our core competencies and technologies in imaging-related businesses, we aim to provide solutions to these issues and help solve global environmental problems.
One new and innovative technology that has potential in this area is organic electroluminescent (EL) lighting, which could upend the lighting field and replace incandescent and fluorescent light bulbs. Organic EL lighting is beneficial to the environment in that it is highly energy efficient and does not contain hazardous substances. Since is the panels are very thin and emit light evenly from the entire surface, they could give rise to new forms and uses of lighting. Combined with solar batteries, organic EL lighting can bring light to people in regions that lack an electrical power infrastructure. In this way, it is expected to contribute to the advancement and creation of a better society for all.
We will continue to develop innovative technologies like this, and leverage them to propose new products and services that can address the needs and expectations of society. We believe that this is the most effective approach to corporate social responsibility as a manufacturing company operating in the current age.
Pursuing The Creation of New Value with a clear vision
A clear vision of the future is needed to guide us on this journey. A promising future will not be realized without drawing up plans to realize our goals and ambitions. The role of a leader is to communicate these goals and ambitions to the members of an organization, rally support for them, and work together toward their realization.
With this in mind, we have established a series of management plans including the Management Policy <09-10>, Eco Vision 2050 long-term environmental vision, and Medium-Term Environmental Plan 2015, to instill our vision throughout the Group. We will make every effort to attain our goals by thoroughly implementing these plans.
We will continue to pursue innovations in line with our management philosophy for The Creation of New Value. By creating new value and fulfilling our social responsibilities, Konica Minolta aims to gain the understanding and support of its stakeholders, and to meet society's expectations to thrive and develop in the future.
Masatoshi Matsuzaki
President and CEO
Konica Minolta Holdings, Inc.
