Penetration of CSR at ITOCHU

with the aim of pursuing CSR activities with actual effects, we are conducting a variety of measures for CSR internal penetration

CSR Employee Questionnaire 2011

We conduct the on-line Employee Questionnaire Survey every year to deepen and assess CSR awareness among our employees.
For the fiscal 2012, as a new initiative, we included a special feature on CSR in our internal magazine, ITOCHU Monthly, and conducted the questionnaire on this article. Simultaneously, we have conducted a confirmation test on CSR knowledge such as ISO26000 and the United Nations Global Compact, which were introduced in the CSR feature as CSR hot topics every employee must know.
The questionnaire was targeted to the ITOCHU employees around the world, this year, 82.5% of the 7,023 employees responded to the survey, a total of 5,792 respondents.

In the questionnaire, as a fixed–point observation, we ask a question of what CSR issues ITOCHU Corporation should address every year. ITOCHU Corporation employees selected "promoting businesses that help solve social issues" as the top theme; it was the second-highest theme among employees of overseas blocs. This probably indicates that a growing number of both employees of ITOCHU Corporation and overseas blocs have come to understand that promoting businesses that help solve social issues is the Corporate Social Responsibility as stated in the ITOCHU Corporation's “Basic policies for CSR promotion” in the “Brand-new Deal 2012^(*).” ITOCHU will continue to reflect the opinions of employees in CSR, while promoting CSR through its business activities.

* ITOCHU Corporation FY2011-FY2012 Medium-Term Management Plan

Replies to the CSR employee questionnaire 2011

	Questionnaire for employees of ITOCHU Corporation	Questionnaire for employees of overseas blocs	Total
Number of employees	5,078	1,945	7,023
Number of replies	4,675	1,117	5,792
Reply rate	92.1%	57.4%	82.5%

<Questionnaire Results Excerpt> CSR Issues that ITOCHU Corporation should address

	Questionnaire for employees of ITOCHU Corporation	Questionnaire for employees of overseas blocs
1	Promoting businesses that help solve social issues	Relationships with employees
2	Ensuring a transparent corporate governance structure	Promoting businesses that help solve social issues
3	Grasping and Reducing Environmental Impacts	Global warming countermeasures

CSR Seminars

We regularly organize internal CSR seminars to incorporate the views and opinions on various CSR issues from outside experts.

In-House CSR Seminar Held on Social Business with a Focus on the Front Lines

On February 18, 2012, the eighth internal CSR seminar titled Social Business with a Focus on the Front Lines took place at the company’s head office in Tokyo with the participation of approximately 180 employees of ITOCHU Corporation and its Group companies.

The seminar was in three parts. First, Professor Seiichiro Yonekura of Hitotsubashi University, well known as an advocate of social innovation, spoke on the global circumstances surrounding social businesses.

In the second part, which looked at case studies, Mr. Ryoma Omuro, manager of the Textile Material Section in the Textile Company, acted as an internal presenter to explain the Pre-Organic Cotton Program in India. As an external presenter, Mr. Yozo Nakao, associate general manager of the CSR Department of Ajinomoto Co., Inc., gave a briefing on the Ghana Nutrition Improvement Project.

The third part was for a panel discussion facilitated by Professor Yonekura and attended by people involved in the case study projects. The panel discussed a broad range of subjects, including the speed of business, ways to take risks and the balance between social and business aspects.

One employee in the audience commented, “I realized that it is socially meaningful to pursue innovations that change the status quo, instead of just saying it is difficult.” Another said, “The case studies make me feel like getting involved.”

In the future, ITOCHU will continue to seek new opportunities to raise awareness, so that its basic stance of contributing to society through business activities can take a more practical form.

The keynote lecture by Professor Seiichiro Yonekura of Hitotsubashi University

A case study presentation by Mr. Yozo Nakao, associate general manager of the CSR Department of Ajinomoto Co., Inc.

The panel discussion

Internal CSR Seminars in the past

1st seminar	Human rights / labor issues
2nd seminar	Global warming and the business of general trading companies
3rd seminar	The social impacts and roles of information technology in Japanese society
4th seminar	Loss and recycling in food distribution
5th seminar	Biodiversity and corporate initiatives
6th seminar	Procedures for assessing environmental and social risk in project finance
7th seminar	Human Rights and Global Business for a General Trading Company
8th seminar	Held on Social Business with a Focus on the Front Lines