1
Corporate Social Responsibility in Japan --
Focused on Environmental Communication

• Yamada Shuji
• Bunkyo University

2
Purpose of this Presentation

• to show the tendencies of introducing CSR into
  Japanese management
• to explain the history of conceptualizing CSR in
  Japanese backgrounds
• to make clear the importance of communication
  with all interests for establishing CSR

3
Management with CSR

• CSRbecoming popular (MoE, 2004)

4
CSR Section in Companies
5
Duty of CSR Section
6
Reason CSR Management
7
Reason Without CSR
8
Merit of CSR
9
Report Publishing
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Companies and Environmental Pollution in Japan

• 1960s - 70s
• serious pollution and disease Kogai
• energy shortage Oil Shock
• measures appropriate sections and technologies
  for energy, material supply, anti-pollution etc.

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Companies and Its Responsibility

• Kogai -- most stimulus experience
• ?
• environmental (anti-polluting) measures
• ?
• Corporate Ethics
• (Fukukawa, 1997)

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Kogai and Internal Management

• luck of internal management
• ?
• industrial accidents
• ?
• Kogai (external pollution)
• (Iijima, 1995)

13
Internal Management and Responsibility

• internal management
• ?
• workers welfare, safety and cleanliness of
  workplace, enough communication etc.
• ?
• precondition of good external management

14
Regulation Method in 1970s

• Japanese economic success and environmental
  protection
• initiative by administrative sections
• regulation or control method
• noise abatement, tremble control, air pollution,
  sewage management etc.

15
Negative (Passive) Corporate Responsibility

• (to much) expensive compensation to the victims
• better to avoid polluting
• accept regulations
• passive companies measures
• negative corporate responsibility
• (Nogami, 1997)

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Amount of Damage
MoE(2002) ltmillion yengt Actual amount of damage with compensation (/year) Total amount of expense for anti-pollution (/year)
Yokkaichi Air-Pollution 21,007 14,795
Minamata Disease 12,631 123
Itai-Itai Disease 2,518 602
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Regulation Method and Technological Success

• Japanese environmental success
• control their business under regulations
• with end-of-pipe technologies
• environmental protection
• -- anti-pollution level

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Corporate Responsibility to Corporate Social
Responsibility

• in late 1980s
• environmental boom
• Sustainable Development
• paying attention to environmental risks

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Environmental Measures

• treat all of the possibilities of environmental
  degradation
• Environmental Charter -- from top management
  (1993)
• Voluntary Action Plan (1994)
• ISO14000s (1996)

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Relation with Subsidiaries E-Guideline or
Request
21
Sprout of Corporate Social Responsibility

• new measures for Environment
• disclosure (Information)
• environment or sustainability information
  (reporting)

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Environmental Communication

• in late 1990s
• having good relations with community people or
  NGO/NPOs
• ?
• the best way to fulfill their CSR

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Case Study Communication of Electric Power
Company
power rate sell power message
power supply
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Environmental Management and Communication
new technology new products consumers intention new system new channel citizens initiative
case A ? ? ? ?
case B ? ? ?
case C ? ? ? ?
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Findings

• new technology or new products -- one of the key,
  but not enough
• intention, system, channel and citizens
  initiative as social resources -- should be newly
  developed
• company and its stakeholders -- collaboration
• intermediate groups -- help exchanging
  information and motivating citizens initiative

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Communication Process

• communication help expanding their profitable
  achievement
• easily touch with the consumers needs or demands
• intermediate groups NGO/NPOs
• ?
• interpreter of the actual market

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CSR and Communication

• success for introducing a CSR concept
• key words
• ?
• mutual complementation
• intermediate groups
• citizen's initiative

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Summary

• CSR concept -- best mix
• ?
• management resources
• social resources
• environmental resources