Promoting CSR in China and Hong Kong

The scale of the Nikon Group's business operations in China is growing year by year. Having connections with the Chinese society through our various business activities, such as procurement, production, sales and service, the social demands placed on companies in the growing economy of China are also constantly changing. Amid such circumstances, we are promoting CSR activities in China and Hong Kong region led by Nikon Holdings Hong Kong Limited (NHH) in order that our Group companies in the China-Hong Kong Region (hereinafter, collectively called our "Group companies in China") undertake consistent initiatives for our social responsibility.

Activities in the year ended March 31, 2012

NHH was established in August 2010 as the regional headquarters in the Asia-Oceania region. Its primary business is to promote corporate governance, CSR and internal audits. Of all the Group companies within the regions overseen by NHH, its promotion of CSR begins with progressing the activities of the ten Group companies in the China-Hong Kong region (including NHH).
Specifically, during the year ended March 31, 2012, NHH conducted activities with following two main objectives in mind, in cooperation with the Nikon Corporation's CSR Committee; one objective is that NHH plays a central part in supporting Group companies in China to create a CSR promoting structure, and another is that compliance education is commenced at each company. As a huge first step toward building such a structure, NHH held the inaugural meeting of the Chinese CSR committee of Nikon group companies in December 2011.

Conducting compliance education

In the past, learning about Nikon's corporate philosophy and Code of Conduct was provided at individual companies as a Group-wide initiative. During the year ended March 31, 2012, Group companies in China set about activities aimed at further increasing employee awareness of compliance, keeping step in the group together.
The first six months or so was a preparatory period. NHH conducted a preliminary survey of employees on compliance awareness, revised the Nikon Code of Conduct (Chinese edition), prepared educational materials on Nikon's corporate philosophy and Code of Conduct, and appointed CSR coordinators at each company. The results of the preliminary survey, which was conducted in April 2011, showed that employees, who had studied about Nikon's corporate philosophy and Code of Conduct, had a general knowledge of compliance and had a high level of understanding about examples of compliance violations. After revision of the Chinese edition of the Nikon Code of Conduct, NHH then prepared compliance teaching materials based on this. In developing these teaching materials, NHH investigated the labor laws and regulations in China and Hong Kong as well as the work regulations of the Group companies in China, and it put much effort into creating easy-to-understand materials based on the circumstances and norms that exist in China and Hong Kong.
Using these educational materials, CSR coordinators at each Group company in China have gradually begun to implement compliance education for the employees at their respective companies. Specifically, they have conducted individual learning based on e-learning programs as well as group learning where the CSR coordinator acts as the instructor.
NHH recognizes that, in order to further increase compliance awareness, there needs to be a sense of belonging to the company fostered among employees, at the same time commitments and internal communication from the management level are to be sacured. NHH also plans to conduct awareness surveys repeatedly in the future in order to gauge the effectiveness of education currently underway and to improve how it is delivered.

Chinese CSR Committee

Meeting of the Chinese CSR Committee

Once solid foundations for CSR have been laid through the permeation of compliance awareness, the next step for the Group companies in China is, while sharing the values of the Nikon Group among them, to constantly address subjects that take into account both the expectations of the Chinese society as a whole and also the expectations of the communities in which the Group companies in China are located.
To this end, we established the CSR Coordinators' Meeting as a body to consider and review issues at practical work level. CSR coordinators are from each of the Group companies in China. We also established the Chinese CSR Committee to make strategic decisions on CSR activities in China and Hong Kong (chaired by the Executive Vice President of NHH, and comprised of the Presidents of the Group companies in China and the General Manager of CSR Department at Nikon Corporation). Meetings of both are held periodically.
At the first meeting of the Chinese CSR Committee in December 2011, a seminar was held, with an expert on CSR circumstances in the China-Hong Kong region being invited from outside the Group. The Executive Vice President of Nikon Corporation also attended the meeting to explain about the importance of CSR activities and the Nikon Group's policy on CSR. There was also discussion on the question of how to proceed with compliance education in the future.
At the CSR Coordinators' Meeting, debate has been initiated on the guidelines for establishing a social contribution framework for the Group companies in China, and on the systems for managing and assessing the social contribution activities of each Group company in China.
We will continue to hold periodic meetings of the Chinese CSR Committee and of the CSR Coordinators' Meeting.

Plan of activities for the year ending March 31, 2013

In addition to continuing compliance education at Group companies in China, aiming for 100% attendance, we will also develop internal compliance reporting systems, bearing in mind improvement of the recognition rate and of accessibility for employees to the systems. We will also conduct awareness surveys to measure the effects of compliance education, and we will use this to expand even more effective education programs.
Furthermore, we will finalize and put into effect the guidelines on social contribution activities for Group companies in China, and we will facilitate planned and transparent social contribution activities in the China-Hong Kong region.

Extending CSR activities to Group companies in Asia outside the China-Hong Kong region

NHH will also play a central role in extending CSR promotion activities to other Group companies in the Asia-Oceania region besides those in China and Hong Kong. In order to acquire basic information for this, during the year ending March 31, 2013, we will conduct surveys on the labor practices at these companies. Specifically, we will check each company's systems and regulations for personnel and labor management. Then based on the results of the survey, we will identify issues related to employees' labor practices, and examine improvement plans.