AKEBONO REPORT 2016

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Corporate GovernanceManagement SystemsSustainably achieving Akebono’s Corporate Mission by establishing the relevant policies and being fully engaged in employee training and other related activities.“Brand Report 2015” newsletterCorporate Brand Management and Corporate Social ResponsibilityIn 2005, Akebono initiated corporate brand management, an initiative aimed at enhancing corporate value by meeting the expectations of stakeholders, namely, customers, shareholders and associates, with an equal emphasis placed on each of these key stakeholder groups. In October 2005, Akebono went on to formulate the Brand Statement, implementing the full-scale launch of its corporate brand management initiative with the aim of encouraging pride in the Akebono brand among associates and thereby strengthening the Company’s competitive edge. From scal 2008 onward, we have focused on two aspects of our corporate image, namely, the provision of high-quality products and services and our status as a technologically advanced manufacturer. Since then, we have been striving to realize greater brand recognition by enhancing the Company’s attractiveness and strengths.Akebono considers fullling its corporate social responsibility (CSR) to be indispensable to continued business operations.In other words, its pursuit of regular CSR activities is an essential part of maintaining its operating foundation. At the same time, corporate branding initiatives reect the Company’s strategic CSR initiative aimed at further enhancing its social and corporate value. To realize our Corporate Mission, we will promote corporate branding initiatives to secure greater corporate strength, remaining a company that consistently provides people with safety and peace of mind through its operations.Akebono conducts its own annual surveys on corporate brand awareness in order to effectively put into practice corporate brand management. These surveys have been conducted every year since 2005, when corporate brand management was introduced, as they are an essential part of the Plan, Do, Check and Act (PDCA) cycle that drives our branding promotion activities.Recently, the scope of the survey was expanded to include a wide range of our domestic and overseas business locations, such as customers and suppliers in each eld. In scal 2015, we conducted a survey of all our bases in Japan, North America, Europe and Asia. The number of respondents totaled 6,928.To share what our stakeholders have to say with our associates worldwide, we issue the Brand Report, which summarizes—in Japanese, English, French, Chinese, Thai, Indonesian, Vietnamese and Spanish—wide-ranging stakeholder feedback and opinions gleaned from these surveys. This helps ensure such feedback and opinions are reected in our future initiatives to secure the greater satisfaction of our stakeholders. When we carried out our scal 2015 survey, we set a targets of 80% or higher with regard to our corporate brand management initiative recognition rate among associates. In scal 2015, we were able to signicantly improve the rates at Sanyo Manufacturing Co., Ltd. from 55.1% in the previous scal year to 68.3%, and at Alocs Corporation from 79.5% in the previous scal year to 85.1%.Going forward, we will apply our survey results to further raise associates’ awareness, thereby enhancing the quality of their daily operations.Our Corporate Brand Management and Positioning of CSR ActivitiesCorporate Brand Awareness Survey andBrand ReportsThe Relationship between Corporate Brand and CSRSustainably achievingAkebono’s Corporate MissionStrategic CSRRegular CSRDifferentiatingcharacteristicsBasicrequirementsSafety andqualityLevel ofachievementHuman rights/labor relationsEnvironmentalactivitiesSocialcontributionRiskmanagement InformationdisclosureComplianceCSR Policy: BrandingProviding high-quality products and servicesMaintaining status as a technologically advanced manufacturer Constantly providing society with safety and peace of mind to put into practice our Corporate Mission“great company” “good company” “favorite company”(establishing an unparalleled corporate brand)Fulfilling corporate social responsibility(precondition to continue business operations in society)42AKEBONO REPORT 2016