NEC Corporation (NEC; TSE: 6701) announced today the release of its web-based “NEC CSR Report 2011,” which discloses the practices carried out in pursuit of Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) during the fiscal year ended March 31, 2011.
The report’s main features include stakeholder review of ISO 26000, an international standard established in November 2010 by the International Organization for Standardization (ISO) giving guidance on social responsibility. It also highlights examples of activities that aim to help solve issues facing both society and the planet, including recovery efforts for the Great East Japan Earthquake of March 11, 2011.
Highlights include:
Stakeholder Review Based on ISO 26000
NEC values for improving CSR management through feedback from stakeholders. In an effort to strengthen this, NEC adopted ISO26000 and carried out stakeholder review with the newly formed “CSR Review Forum-Japan” (*2).
Major findings from this review include:
(1) CSR-driven management is well-established and making steady progress on important issues.
(2) Due diligence should be further strengthened for those in the company’s extended sphere of influence, such as subsidiaries outside of Japan and value chains, particularly in the areas of human rights, labor practices and fair operating practices.
Helping to Solve Social Issues through Business Activities
(1) Establishing a Safe and Secure Society
This Report describes NEC’s efforts to support disaster-affected areas, including its stakeholders and customers, aiming to support restoration and recovery from the Great East Japan Earthquake of March 11, 2011.
Examples include:
- Communication restoration using the KIZUNA (WINDS) satellite.
- NEC’s support for insurance company business continuity using NEC’s thin client system.
- All five NEC Group production plants in the Tohoku region affected by the disaster returning to nearly full operation by March 23, proving the success of NEC’s business continuity plans (BCPs).
(2) Addressing Climate Change and Environmental Preservation
NEC reduced 2.12 million tons of CO2 emissions through IT solutions, improved energy efficiency of products by 53% as compared to products in fiscal 2006, and over 6,000 employees globally participated in biodiversity preservation programs as volunteers, all of which are under the “NEC Group Environmental Management Action Plan 2017/2030” (*3) announced in June 2010.
(3) Including Everyone in the Digital Society
NEC endeavors to help solve issues faced by society through its business so that everyone may be included in and benefit from the digital society.
Example:
- NEC helped the South American nation of Bolivia to achieve fair and democratic elections, increasing the voter registry by more than 40% with a solution consisting of AFIS (Automated Fingerprint Identification System) and facial recognition technologies.
The Global Reporting Initiative (GRI) reported a (G3.1) (*4) sustainability level of B for the elections.
NEC Make-a-Difference-Drive Activities Expanded
The NEC Make-a-Difference Drive, an employee volunteer program which resulted in 956 participating sites across the world organizing 3,887 programs, with 174,478 participants on a cumulative basis donating a total of 153,871 hours of their time.
NEC aims to realize “an information society friendly to humans and the earth,” as described in the NEC Group Vision 2017, by collaborating with stakeholders to help solve issues facing both society and the planet through business practices along with the implementation of CSR-driven management.
