Nikon 2004 Annual Report Download - page 8

message฀from฀the฀chief฀executive฀officer
dispatched฀our฀personnel฀to฀our฀U.S.฀base฀for฀design-
ing฀state-of-the-art฀technology฀in฀the฀life฀sciences.฀The฀
center฀is฀putting฀into฀practice฀this฀product฀develop-
ment฀philosophy฀of฀assessing฀market฀needs฀in฀the฀sci-
entific฀and฀medical฀fields฀on฀the฀ground.฀Our฀aim฀is฀to฀
find฀out฀exactly฀what฀customers฀want฀and฀use฀Nikon฀
technology฀to฀develop฀and฀supply฀attractive฀products฀
that฀fulfill฀precisely฀determined฀needs.
Production฀Capability฀Supporting฀Technological฀
Innovation
In฀the฀manufacturing฀industry,฀a฀company’s฀com-
petitive฀edge฀is฀determined฀by฀its฀ability฀to฀produce฀
excellent฀products.฀This฀requires฀an฀integrated฀process฀
of฀development,฀design฀and฀production.฀In฀Imaging฀
Products,฀where฀we฀are฀rapidly฀shifting฀to฀overseas฀
production,฀we฀have฀created฀a฀highly฀reliable฀sys-
tem฀geared฀at฀launching฀new฀products฀whereby฀our฀
domestic฀manufacturing฀subsidiaries฀provide฀technical฀
guidance฀on฀manufacturing฀and฀quality฀control฀tech-
nologies฀to฀facilities฀in฀Thailand฀and฀China.฀Meanwhile,฀
our฀domestic฀manufacturing฀facilities฀now฀also฀take฀
on฀the฀role฀as฀engineering฀centers.฀In฀future฀years,฀
we฀will฀establish฀optimum฀production฀systems฀in฀each฀
business฀sector฀and฀step฀up฀in-house฀technologies฀for฀
the฀development฀of฀key฀devices.฀These฀actions฀will฀
strengthen฀the฀Nikon฀Group’s฀creative฀capabilities.
Strengthening฀Corporate฀Governance฀and฀
Compliance
Amid฀an฀increasingly฀global฀business฀environment,฀
strengthening฀corporate฀governance฀to฀boost฀cor-
porate฀value฀on฀a฀long-term฀basis฀has฀become฀a฀top฀
management฀priority.฀We฀have฀already฀implemented฀
a฀number฀of฀measures฀in฀past฀years฀designed฀to฀
strengthen฀management฀structures,฀such฀as฀the฀in-
house฀company฀and฀executive฀officer฀systems.฀Besides฀
strengthening฀management฀structures,฀we฀have฀
implemented฀various฀management฀structural฀reforms,฀
including฀introduction฀of฀stock฀options,฀changes฀to฀
the฀system฀of฀directors’฀and฀executive฀officers’฀remu-
neration,฀and฀creation฀of฀an฀Executive฀Compensation฀
Committee฀to฀boost฀management฀objectivity฀and฀
transparency.฀We฀have฀also฀reduced฀the฀terms฀of฀direc-
tors฀from฀two฀years฀to฀one฀year฀to฀ensure฀we฀remain฀
responsive฀to฀the฀rapidly฀moving฀business฀cycle.
In฀response฀to฀increasing฀demand฀for฀greater฀cor-
porate฀social฀responsibility฀from฀companies,฀we฀estab-
lished฀a฀Compliance฀Section฀in฀2003฀to฀ensure฀all฀cor-
porate฀activities฀are฀legal,฀sound฀and฀fair.฀We฀revised฀
the฀Nikon฀Code฀of฀Conduct,฀which฀we฀adopted฀in฀
2001,฀and฀formulated฀the฀Nikon฀Charter฀of฀Corporate฀
Behavior฀in฀April฀2004.฀This฀expresses฀the฀Nikon฀
Group’s฀basic฀stance฀on฀ensuring฀appropriate฀decisions฀
based฀on฀ethical฀values฀and฀clarifies฀responsibilities฀
and฀roles฀of฀senior฀management.฀
In฀the฀coming฀years,฀we฀will฀continue฀to฀promote฀
social฀responsibility฀as฀an฀extremely฀important฀man-
agement฀issue.฀Besides฀providing฀superior฀products฀
and฀services,฀we฀will฀enhance฀corporate฀ethics,฀envi-
ronmental฀activities฀and฀contributions฀to฀the฀local฀
community฀to฀deepen฀trust฀from฀all฀stakeholders฀
–฀customers,฀shareholders฀and฀society฀at฀large.
Building฀Greater฀Nikon฀Group฀Cohesiveness
The฀most฀important฀issue฀we฀face฀at฀the฀moment฀is฀
to฀restore฀profitability.฀Because฀we฀have฀implemented฀
measures,฀I฀believe฀we฀can฀realistically฀expect฀our฀
earnings฀situation฀to฀improve฀the฀year฀ahead.฀But฀if฀
we฀want฀to฀raise฀profits฀on฀a฀long-term฀basis,฀I฀believe฀
we฀also฀need฀to฀build฀the฀cohesiveness฀of฀the฀overall฀
Nikon฀Group,฀in฀personnel,฀corporate฀climate฀modifi-
cation฀and฀other฀terms.฀We฀need฀to฀make฀the฀entire฀
company฀more฀competitive.
We฀introduced฀a฀new฀personnel฀system฀and฀
performance-based฀pay฀structure฀during฀the฀year฀to฀
develop฀a฀higher฀level฀of฀professionalism฀in฀the฀Nikon฀
Group฀workforce,฀with฀the฀objective฀of฀transforming฀
the฀company฀into฀one฀full฀of฀“positive,฀powerful฀and฀
proactive”฀people.
We฀will฀also฀promote฀a฀system฀that฀fosters฀the฀
sharing฀of฀management฀information฀and฀that฀allows฀to฀
we฀can฀gather฀accurate฀information฀worldwide฀while฀
boosting฀consolidated฀management฀functions฀and฀
capabilities฀to฀facilitate฀rapid฀operational฀responses.
I฀believe฀that฀we฀have฀already฀created฀the฀blueprint฀
for฀a฀V-shaped฀earnings฀recovery,฀which฀will฀bear฀fruit฀
both฀now฀and฀long฀into฀the฀future.฀I฀also฀believe฀the฀
Nikon฀Group฀can฀achieve฀sustainable฀growth฀by฀devel-
oping฀technologies,฀products฀and฀services฀that฀will฀
enhance฀the฀prosperity฀and฀development฀of฀society.฀
Along฀with฀every฀Nikon฀Group฀employee,฀I฀commit฀
fully฀to฀taking฀up฀the฀prospective฀challenges฀whose฀
achievement฀will฀ensure฀the฀Nikon฀name฀continues฀to฀
be฀warmly฀accepted฀in฀society.฀
I฀look฀forward฀to฀your฀continued฀guidance฀and฀
support฀as฀we฀forge฀ahead฀into฀the฀future.
Shoichiro฀Yoshida
Chairman฀of฀the฀Board฀and฀Chief฀Executive฀Officer
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