Ricoh 2013 Annual Report Download - page 31

Ricoh Group Sustainability Report 2013 30
Overview Action Data & Profile
Governance
Comments from Outside Directors
ISO26000 : •฀Organizational฀governance฀฀•฀Fair฀operating฀practices฀฀
Our฀planet฀is฀vast฀and฀contains฀diverse฀cultures฀and฀values.฀Corporate฀management฀philos-
ophies฀are฀equally฀diversied.฀Some฀companies฀constantly฀operate฀at฀high฀speed.฀Others฀
race฀in฀bursts฀of฀explosive฀movement฀in฀pursuit฀of฀immediate฀gains.฀Whatever฀the฀business฀
style,฀however,฀everyone฀in฀similar฀industries฀has฀to฀compete฀on฀the฀same฀playing฀eld฀in฀
this฀increasingly฀globalized฀world.
฀ As฀an฀outside฀director,฀I฀strive฀to฀consider฀issues฀from฀a฀shareholder’s฀perspective฀
while฀keeping฀world฀affairs฀and฀competing฀businesses฀in฀mind.฀I฀work฀to฀extract฀key฀points฀
from฀every฀proposal฀submitted฀to฀the฀Board,฀highlight฀issues฀and฀make฀recommendations.฀
I฀endeavor฀to฀be฀a฀catalyst฀for฀free฀and฀open-minded฀discussions฀under฀pressure฀to฀ensure฀
that฀Board฀meetings฀are฀productive.฀
฀ Ricoh฀has฀established฀solid฀core฀businesses.฀Improving฀their฀performance฀will฀strength-
en฀the฀corporate฀foundation฀and฀generate฀the฀revenue฀and฀time฀to฀pursue฀new฀initiatives฀
that฀will฀underpin฀the฀company’s฀prosperity฀over฀the฀next฀30฀to฀40฀years.฀I฀have฀great฀ex-
pectations฀for฀the฀future฀of฀Ricoh.฀
Mr. Umeda has advanced knowledge of information technology and experience in global business. This gives him expert ability
to analyze our decision-making process and offer valuable recommendations from an external viewpoint. His attendance rate for
the฀12฀Board฀meetings฀held฀in฀scal฀2013฀was฀100%.
Mochio Umeda
Director (outside)
- Member of Nomination
and Compensation
Committee
* Since June 2010
(Currently)
President, MUSE Associates
LLC (USA); Outside Director,
ASATSU-DK INC.; Managing
Director, Pacifica Fund I, LP;
President, MUSE Associates,
Inc.
Globalization means we all compete on the same playing
field, like it or not
In฀my฀capacity฀as฀the฀head฀of฀a฀major฀corporation,฀I฀have฀conducted฀business฀fully฀aware฀of฀
corporate฀social฀responsibility,฀placing฀emphasis฀on฀the฀workplace฀and฀global฀teamwork฀in฀
a฀tough฀and฀rapidly฀changing฀business฀environment฀that฀has฀included฀the฀global฀nancial฀
crisis,฀the฀Great฀East฀Japan฀Earthquake฀and฀the฀extremely฀strong฀yen.฀From฀experience,฀I฀
believe฀it฀is฀important฀for฀top฀management฀to฀execute฀the฀following฀three฀points:฀
1.฀฀Initiate฀communication฀with฀employees฀and฀business฀partners
฀ ฀Top฀management฀needs฀to฀communicate฀current฀issues,฀the฀company’s฀charted฀course฀
and฀strategies฀directly฀to฀employees฀and฀business฀partners฀(including฀distributors฀and฀
vendors).฀The฀goal฀is฀to฀spread฀understanding฀so฀as฀to฀align฀all฀corporate฀activities฀in฀the฀
same฀direction.฀
2.฀฀Never฀put฀off฀dealing฀with฀risks
฀ ฀Risk฀is฀part฀of฀business.฀Every฀risk฀identied฀must฀be฀reported฀and฀dealt฀with฀adequately฀
and฀ promptly.฀ This฀ must฀ be฀ followed฀ up฀ by฀ full฀ enforcement฀ of฀ measures฀ to฀ prevent฀
recurrence฀of฀unnecessary฀risk.
3.฀฀Top฀priorities:฀Safety,฀environment฀and฀compliance
To฀create฀a฀corporate฀culture฀valuing฀these฀priorities,฀they฀must฀become฀part฀of฀the฀฀
agenda฀of฀daily฀operations.฀For฀example,฀monthly฀and฀weekly฀meetings฀might฀start฀with฀
reports฀on฀safety,฀environmental฀and฀compliance฀issues฀before฀moving฀on฀to฀business฀
performance.
I฀hope฀to฀continue฀with฀constructive฀participation฀in฀board฀meetings฀as฀an฀outside฀director฀
to฀enhance฀Ricoh’s฀corporate฀value.฀
Mr. Noji was formerly president and CEO of Komatsu Ltd. He has abundant experience and expertise as a member of
the฀top฀management฀of฀one฀of฀the฀leading฀companies฀of฀Japan.฀He฀has฀attended฀eight฀out฀of฀the฀10฀Board฀meetings฀
held since his appointment (attendance rate: 80%).
Kunio Noji
Director (outside)
- Member of Nomination
and Compensation
Committee
* Since June 2012
(Currently)
Chairman of the
Board,฀Komatsu฀Ltd.;฀
Outside Director of NEC
Corporation
In a fast-changing, competitive environment, management
must pull together a global team with on-the-ground
expertise and full awareness of corporate responsibility