Omron 2009 Annual Report Download - page 12

10
To Our Stakeholders
Message from the Chairman
Fiscal 2009 is the Stage in which we Prepare for
Medium- and Long-term Growth
Turbulence in worldwide financial markets is having
an unprecedented impact on the real economy.
Inventory adjustments are coming to an end in some
industries, but when capital investment will recover
is still anyone’s guess. Times like these, when the ebb
in business conditions is at its most severe, reveal a
company’s underlying framework and expose ele-
ments that are hidden when the tide is high.
In these conditions, just as in an emergency situa-
tion, of all the management indices for growth, profits,
safety, or other targets, safety is the most imperative,
and it is essential that we strengthen Omron’s central
administration with a focus on the management ele-
ments of cash and people. Even more important,
because they are directly related to the company’s sus-
tainability and future growth, are profit structure building
and customer creation. This perspective is the moti-
vation behind our designation of fiscal 2009 as the “year
to solidify our footing and prepare for the future.”
Structural Changes in Society and the Economy
Society and the economy are undergoing major struc-
tural changes, and when we emerge from the tunnel
of recession, the world will undoubtedly be a differ-
ent place.
China appears to be already moving into recovery,
and emerging economies are establishing stronger
presences than ever in the world economy. As the cur-
rent economic crisis progresses, countries like Japan,
where reliance on external demand has been exposed
as a weakness, are revising their economic structures
to achieve balance between internal and external
demand. The aim is to establish an optimal equilibrium
between an export-oriented economy and an econo-
my based on local production for local consumption.
Our industrial society, which has achieved growth while
producing more and more CO2emissions, is now seek-
ing to transform itself into a low carbon, sustainable
society that grows while reducing CO2output. In other
words, we are evolving from a homogeneous society,
where we want what the other person has, to a diver-
sified society, where we want to live our own way and
want things that fit our lifestyles. I believe this means
that companies will need operating structures and man-
agement approaches catered to customers at an
increasingly individual level.
The changes we are now seeing were predicted
nearly 40 years ago by Omron’s SINIC (Seed-
Innovation to Need-Impetus Cyclic Evolution) theory,
and we continue to apply this approach today in the
adaptation and evolution of our business and tech-
nology. (Please see page 92 for further details on SINIC).
In this period of structural transformations in soci-
ety and the economy, the Omron Group is rededicating
itself to our corporate core value of “Working for the
benefit of society.” We are seeking to provide goods
that reflect the level of affluence of today’s society,
but more importantly fulfill the essential purpose of
goods, which is to improve people’s lives by provid-
ing safety and security, promoting health, and
preserving our environment. Omron endeavors to use
its sensing and control technology to create new value
and aims to fully manifest its corporate core value in
its goods and services.