Bridgestone 2003 Annual Report Download - page 21

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19
2003 ANNUAL REPORT
Brand Message
More than a mere slogan, Passion for Excellence is the central message in all of our marketing
activities. We are shaping all of our advertising and other promotional efforts to convey our very
genuine passion to excel.
Heading our ethical compliance organization
as chief compliance officer is our chief
financial officer and executive vice president,
Hiroshi Kanai. The ethical compliance organi-
zation includes managers responsible for every
main phase of operations. We have positioned
ethical compliance as a core element in
employee training and in management deci-
sion making.
To delineate the functions of corporate over-
sight and operational management clearly, we
reconfigured our management structure in
2002. The members of the board of directors
formerly were responsible concurrently for
(1) overseeing management from the stand-
point of maximizing shareholder value and
(2) managing our different sectors of opera-
tions. Under the new management structure,
daily operational authority has shifted to a
newly created team of corporate officers; the
board of directors concentrates on ensuring
that our policies and programs address the
broader interests of shareholders and other
stakeholders.
Sharpening the focus of the board of direc-
tors has also allowed for reducing its size—
to 9 members, from 28 previously. That has
heightened transparency and objectivity in
management.
Corporate Ethics
Observing high standards of corporate
ethics is also crucial to safeguarding
our brand image and to fulfilling our
corporate philosophy. We created a formal
organization in 2003 to better enforce our
guidelines for ethical corporate behavior.
Governance
Strengthening corporate governance is
indispensable in fulfilling our mission as
stated in the Bridgestone Way: Serving
society with superior quality. We are
therefore working systematically to fortify
our corporate governance functions.
Safeguarding Our Brand Image
Systematic risk management is essential
to safeguarding our brand image. CEO
Shigeo Watanabe fills the newly created
post of chief risk management officer,
which underlines the importance that we
attach to this function.
The fire at the Tochigi Plant in September
2003 highlighted the need for stepped-up risk
management. A risk management committee
that answers directly to Bridgestone CEO
Shigeo Watanabe is overseeing a review of
every production process and every work
procedure. That review is to identify risks
and find ways to prevent problems.
The risk management committee is map-
ping out scenarios for a comprehensive range
of possible events and is establishing proce-
dures for minimizing disruption and for
restoring operations as quickly as possible.
Our highest priority is to avoid inconvenienc-
ing consumers, automakers, or any other
customers. Measures already taken or under
consideration include distributing the produc-
tion of core products among multiple plants
and upgrading logistics to support better
interaction among operations in different
regions.