Our approach
to sustainability
Message from the Chief Sustainability Officer (CSO)
Through dialogue, we will accelerate value creation by integrating business and sustainability, thereby contributing to the realization of Our Purpose and the growth of the Fujitsu Group.
Yumiko Kajiwara
Corporate Executive Officer
EVP, Chief Sustainability Officer (CSO)
Fostering a sense of ownership of sustainability
The Fujitsu Group’s sustainability efforts have made significant progress over the past two years. In 2020, we reformulated and clearly stated Our Purpose. At the same time, we set non-financial indicators*1 in our Management Direction that set forth our medium-term growth strategy. In 2021, we set numerical targets*2 for non-financial indicators and launched Fujitsu Uvance , a portfolio of global solutions to contribute to the resolution of societal issues. Sustainability is not just a matter of returning profits to society; it has been integrated into management as a core element that defines the Group’s role in the global community, and the concept is beginning to be shared by employees.
In the management of GRB (Global Responsible Business), which serves as a platform for promoting sustainability activities and achieving Our Purpose, executive officer-level leaders have been appointed for each of the seven priority issues to strengthen integration with the business. In addition to the three corporate executives in charge of the corporate divisions, including myself as leaders of the “community,” the three executives in charge of the business divisions have been appointed as the leaders, in line with the Group’s belief that sustainability is a business in itself. Under the Sustainability Management Committee chaired by the CEO, each leader and the leaders of the four regions (Japan, Europe, the Americas, and Asia Pacific) in charge of promoting specific activities orchestrate the Fujitsu Group’s unified initiatives, while considering specific issues related to each region and their affinity with our business.
Looking back, I believe that until about three years ago, awareness of sustainability among many employees was limited to the occasional communication of information on its importance and relationship to the Group’s business, led by the corporate departments. Awareness that sustainability is an integral part of the Group’s business and a source of business growth is becoming increasingly widespread, and this is largely due to the development of various systems that evoke a sense of ownership.
To cite a specific example, our business producers are now making sustainability-related proposals, such as solutions to reduce GHG emissions, in actual business discussions. In addition, in the performance evaluation of senior executives, not only the achievement of financial performance targets but also the contribution to the achievement of non-financial indicators and GRB’s environmental, DE&I, and other initiatives are taken into account.
- *1We set two indicators in 2020: Customer NPS® and employee engagement. The DX Promotion Indices were added as an indicator in 2021.
- *2We set numerical targets for employee engagement and DX Promotion Indices in 2021. We added a numerical target for Customer NPS in 2022.
Supporting the practice of employees’ endeavor to provide value
The Group’s efforts to use non-financial indicators as part of its growth strategy is attracting considerable attention from our customers, which also motivates employees to become more involved in sustainability. In particular, we have received an increasing number of inquiries asking for specific steps and benefits based on Fujitsu’s internal practices around the “Fujitsu VOICE program,” which we use to measure nonfinancial indicators. These queries range from the establishment of data collection mechanisms to how the data is used. In order to confidently respond to the needs of such customers, each employee must cultivate an understanding for non-financial indicators and sustainability management.
In fact, we are seeing an increase in the number of requests for assistance from frontline business units to the corporate departments in charge of sustainability. I believe that one of the roles currently required of me as CSO is to examine together with the business units which proposals we can make to customers in response to these requests, and to back up employees who are taking on the challenge of providing value one step ahead of customers and to strengthen the connection between sustainability and business through dialogue with customers.
Fujitsu Uvance is based on the premise of making proposals to customers to create a sustainable society, with a view to achieving Our Purpose. Naturally, when developing offerings and making proposals to customers, it is essential to have a broad understanding of sustainability-related issues, to keep abreast of the latest trends from a global perspective, including those at our competitors, and to consider competitive value offerings based on this understanding.
The knowledge accumulated through the Group’s internal practices, such as reducing GHG emissions, will be utilized in our business in the form of training for employees working on the front line and consulting for customers, thereby encouraging the creation of value unique to the Fujitsu Group.
Commitment to dialogue that contributes to business growth
In order to prove that the Fujitsu Group is creating value and making an impact on society by making sustainability our core business, we must achieve growth in Fujitsu Uvance and other businesses. It is also necessary to demonstrate empirically how GRB contributes to the improvement of non-financial indicators and what kind of relationship exists between non-financial indicators and financial indicators. Such proof should further motivate employees to focus on sustainabilitydriven business and lead to a positive change in customers’ expectations toward the Fujitsu Group. In July 2022, we established a venue, both at our headquarters and online, to introduce to our customers our vision and Fujitsu Uvance’s practices and technologies that support our customers’ digital transformation (DX). This venue will also serve as a forum where we envision and explore ways to realize a sustainable society together with our customers. As CSO, I am determined to contribute to the growth of the Fujitsu Group and the transformation of its business model by committing to a dialogue with employees and with customers.