Omron 2009 Annual Report Download - page 25

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23
—— In other words, Omron has 6.7 billion stake-
holders. How do you prioritize among them?
Mr. Sakuta When I was appointed president, I always
said employees were first, followed by our customers,
and then our shareholders. However, after six years
in this position, my perspective has changed. A com-
pany cannot exist without the support of all its
stakeholders, so I no longer see it as a matter of pri-
ority. Each stakeholder is essential.
Mr. Toyama It is a bad example of reductionist think-
ing to break down everything into separate elements
and create a hierarchy. Stakeholders have a mutually
dependent existence, and it’s a mistake to rank them
and put shareholders at the top. People try to explain
social phenomena breaking down the whole into indi-
vidual elements and pointing to one specific causality
that puts them together. That way of thinking is not
rooted in reality.
The current series of collapses of economic bub-
bles have made shareholders aware of their mutual
interdependence, and I think now is a good time for
all of us to take another look at our role and investment
decisions in terms of governance.
In other words, I think of shareholders as holding
the stakeholder baton over a long time frame. While
there will always be shareholders, there is a time when
each shareholder receives the baton to carry it for a
time along the continuum. If shareholders have a
responsibility to society, it is to consider diverse fac-
tors from various perspectives, including improving the
long-term sustainability of corporate value, and pass
the baton to the next generation of shareholders, just
as all lives on Earth pass their batons on to the next
generation.
Shared Timelines
—— What did you learn from your experience at
the Industrial Revitalization Corporation of Japan
about what is necessary for companies to make it
through times of crisis?
Mr. Toyama In times like these, it’s important to
return to the basics and reconstruct the current
issues as they are without colored lenses and think
what the company should do. It’s also an important
time for managers and all shareholders to be
humble and apply their essential intellectual
curiosity to reconsider what is happening and what
the company’s direction should be. Some
companies will go into hibernation while others will
bravely implement creative destruction that will put
distance between themselves and other companies.