Pushing Forward with a Comprehensive CSR Strategy

Developing strategic themes that meet the demands of society

For the Ajinomoto Group, CSR is the foundation of corporate management and involves every aspect of its business. In March 2009, the group determined strategic themes for its five pathways to achieving the Ajinomoto Group CSR Vision: (1) food; (2) health and pharmaceuticals; (3) food resources and the environment; (4) human resources development; and (5) partnerships and public communications. The group carefully developed these strategic themes over the course of 18 months, and incorporated feedback from participants of stakeholder dialogues held in October 2007 and December 2008. The strategic themes were established through active discussions within the company and from the perspective of how the Ajinomoto Group could best meet the expectations and demands of society through its business.

More details of the Ajinomoto Group CSR Vision are available here.

CSR Promotion Committee sets goals and measures progress using the PDCA cycle

PDCA cycle for the strategic themes of the comprehensive CSR strategy

From fiscal 2009, the Ajinomoto Group will advance its CSR activities in line with the strategic themes of the comprehensive CSR strategy. Accordingly, personnel from relevant divisions in charge of key CSR issues, such as environmental conservation and quality assurance, meet once per month to confirm progress being made on the themes and other related matters. Furthermore, the newly established CSR Promotion Committee meets twice per year. Its meetings have determined the comprehensive CSR strategy plan for fiscal 2010, and the policy of the mid-term comprehensive CSR strategy plan, including matters relevant to the group's CSR initiatives for managing and monitoring the PDCA cycle. The results of the meetings will be discussed with participants of the stakeholder dialogue on broad CSR issues to gain feedback on the group's CSR activities. Members of the CSR Promotion Committee will also attend the dialogue. Finally, the CSR Promotion Committee will review opinions from the stakeholder dialogue, and then establish the strategic themes of the comprehensive CSR strategy for fiscal 2010. This process will be repeated every year.

Achievement goals and targets of the comprehensive CSR strategy themes