Ajinomoto Group | CSR | Pushing Forward with a Comprehensive CSR Strategy

Pushing Forward with a Comprehensive CSR Strategy

Promoting CSR under the comprehensive CSR strategic themes for the five pathways to achieving the Ajinomoto Group CSR Vision.

Group 4: Environment and food resources, communication between society and the company, and human resources development
Stakeholders (Titles omitted)		Ajinomoto Group participants*
Satoko Ekberg	E-Square Inc.	Keisuke Nagai	Corporate Vice President; General Manager, Kawasaki Administration & Coordination Office
Eiko Nakano	Nikkei Business Publications, Inc.	Koji Igarashi	Corporate Executive Officer; Vice President, Amino Acid Company
Kaori Kuroda	CSO Network Japan	Takao Goto	General Manager, CSR & Public Communications Department
Gakuji Fukatsu	Green Purchasing Network	Yoshio Ehara	Manager, Pharmaceutical Personnel & Risk Management Department

Stakeholder Expectations of Ajinomoto

It is important to more effectively communicate to the public that the use of feed-use amino acids offers significant benefits for the environment.
The company must improve the yield of its main fermentation raw materials and diversify the raw materials it uses as countermeasures to a food crisis.
Ajinomoto is expected to explain to the public how genetically modified foods could contribute to averting a potential food crisis.
In response to public concerns, complete information must be disseminated.
Activities such as food and nutrition education and plant tours need to be improved.
Ajinomoto should demonstrate that it sufficiently incorporates opinions from workers at plants outside Japan.
The employment and strategic capabilities of women must be promoted.

Group 5: Quality assurance, communication with consumers, and proposals to improve upon the current year's CSR report
Stakeholders (Titles omitted)		Ajinomoto Group participants*
Tomoe Hasegawa	Nippon Consumers Voice for Better Standards (NPO)	Tomoya　Yoshizumi	Member of the Board & Corporate Vice President; President, Amino Acid Company
Yuho Hayakawa	Japan International Cooperation Agency (JICA)	Takeshi Kimura	General Manager, Quality Assurance & External Scientific Affairs Department
Akio Takeda	Ernst & Young ShinNihon Sustainability Institute Co., Ltd.	Naoki Takeda	Associate General Manager, Group Procurement Center
		Koichi Tachikawa	General Manager, Pharmaceutical Personnel & Risk Management Department

Stakeholder Expectations of Ajinomoto

Information in the printed version of the CSR report is insufficient, so more basic information should be included. Ajinomoto relies too heavily on its Web site content.
It is important that Ajinomoto more actively disseminate not only consumers' expectations of quality but also its own perspective on quality.
The CSR discourse and vision of the Ajinomoto Group is not easily understood as a whole. Ajinomoto should, for example, take up the challenge of proposing a new Japanese food culture based on dietary traditions.

Group 6: Developing human resources and protecting human rights
Stakeholders (Titles omitted)		Ajinomoto Group participants*
Norio Sugita	Center for Public Resources Development (NPO) Tamotsu Iwamoto	Tamotsu Iwamoto	Corporate Executive Officer; General Manager, Human Resources Department
Yoko Takahashi	Japan Philanthropic Association Hidehiro Shinohara	Hidehiro Shinohara	General Manager, Environment & Safety Department
Ayako Sonoda	Cre-en Inc.	Yoichi Ueda	General Manager, Quality Assurance & External Scientific Affairs Department
Kazunori Kobayashi	Japan for Sustainability	Tatsujiro Kuwana	Standing Director, Ajinomoto Scholarship Foundation

Stakeholder Expectations of Ajinomoto

If employee opinion surveys show that customer-oriented attitudes are weak among employees, employees should be given opportunities to interact with customers on a daily basis.
The company must not regard part-time employees and temporary staff as expendable, but ensure that it is managed based on the premise that all employees are equal members of society.
The participation of women in executive meetings is now the norm in business, so the company's vision for promoting women in management needs to be further clarified.
Ajinomoto should avoid the concept of “consumer” and begin from the premise that people are members of the same society.

* Job title is as of when the meeting was held.