AKEBONO REPORT 2014

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as we all come from different business units and have differentbackgrounds.Nishiyama: I’m a relative newcomer to the Company, so I had noidea about how day-to-day operations are handled at otherAkebono location or what concerns other members may have.Right after I joined the project, I found myself annoyed by the backand forth any request prompted and dismayed when the resultswere less than expected.Sakuma: Having only teleconferences and no face-to-face meetingswhen we began made it hard to build deeper mutual understanding.Because it was hard to communicate how things weregoing at my production site let alone to understand what wasgoing on at the Ai-City headquarters, I sometimes felt that theproject was stuck.Okada: Things changed after November 2013, when we finallymet face-to-face at a periodic Companywide associate gatheringwhere we presented our plan to hold the ceremony on April 1,2014. With each member starting to feel a sense of urgency, ourdiscussions became productive.Ono: That December, we had our first retreat-type meeting. Thishelped nurture a strong sense of unity as we got to know eachother better.Hayashi: By bringing us together in one place for in-depth discussion,the retreat brought to life the 85th anniversary theme of“Building a Sense of Unity: A Celebration for All Associates.”Nishiyama: For the first few teleconferences, we were all overlycautious, trying not to offend anyone and reluctant to say anythingnegative. However, as we gained a deeper understanding of ourConfronting ChallengesOkada: We have been pushing forward with the organization ofthe 85th anniversary celebrations since the end of August 2013.Originally, the project schedule called for holding the ceremony onApril 1, 2014, but we had a hard time making any headway in thebeginning despite extensive discussions. Frankly, I found this completelyfrustrating. For any such event, there is always more thanone right way to do things and merely summarizing all the member’sideas was quite challenging. I organized all the ideas into categoriesand tried to guide the group into making decisions.However, discussions rambled on, making reaching consensus diffi-cult. We also struggled with determining individual areas ofresponsibility. Although the secretariat team assured us that wehad a free hand, I was at a total loss, trying to move forward as Istruggled with project leadership.Imaizumi: Despite weekly teleconferencing, until November 2013the team failed to decide anything concrete. Although I was frustrated,I realized that of course each of us has our own viewsShinichi Sakuma, AdministrationSection, Akebono BrakeFukushima Manufacturing Co., Ltd.(Fukushima Manufacturing)Joined in 1995Koki Ishii, Administration Section,Administration Department,Akebono Brake IwatsukiManufacturing Co., Ltd.(Iwatsuki Manufacturing)Joined in 2005Tomoyuki Seko, Finance &Accounting Section,Administration Department,Akebono Brake SanyoManufacturing Co., Ltd.Joined in 2002Katsuya Ono, Production Control SectionNo. 1, Manufacturing Division, AkebonoBrake Iwatsuki Manufacturing Co., Ltd.Joined in 1995; transferred fromAkebono Brake Yamagata ManufacturingCo., Ltd. on April 1, 2014Norihiko Shirata, Quality ControlSection, Akebono Brake YamagataManufacturing Co., Ltd.(Yamagata Manufacturing)Joined in 1993The 85th Anniversary EventsThe 85th anniversary ceremony and related events will be solely theresponsibility of Akebono associates. Aimed at promoting businessgrowth and broadening the scope of the Company’s social contributions,the event themes are: “Reviewing Our History,” “Consideringthe Future” and “Building a Sense of Unity: A Celebration for AllAssociates.” The series of events are intended to heighten awarenessof Akebono’s 85 years of history while providing opportunities to considerthe Company’s future as its centennial approaches.The members of the project team spearheading the events compriseassociates from sales, engineering, administrative and manufacturing sections,including the Company’s four domestic production bases, as wellas one foreign national. All 10 are young or mid-level associates who areexpected to be among the next generation of Akebono’s business leaders.Also, to support the project members, a secretariat team consistingof six general managers or manager-level associates has been set up.Although we had originally planned to hold the anniversary ceremonyon April 1, 2014, we rescheduled in the interests of enriching the eventprogram and to ensure that every associate is given the opportunity toparticipate. Efforts are now under way with the ceremony planned forNovember 2014. In addition to the ceremony, various other commemorativeevents and initiatives will take place over the course of the fiscalyear, making its 85th anniversary year memorable for the entireAkebono Group.A Companywide associate gathering held in November 2013. The project team gavepresentations on the upcoming anniversary ceremony and related events planned for thefiscal year, with four members participating via teleconferencing from production sites.

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