Kazuo Furukawa
President and Chief Executive Officer Hitachi, Ltd.
Surviving in an age of increasingly intense global competition demands that companies in Japan's manufacturing sector pursue the development of products offering higher added value, develop human resources capable of fully harnessing the benefits of science and technology, and build on their strengths in creating innovation. Hitachi has an established track record in social infrastructure projects including the development of power and rail systems; industrial infrastructure projects including the installation of automotive equipment and other industrial systems; the provision of urban systems and home information and communication technology (ICT) systems as well as other products and services that aid in the formation of social infrastructure; and the provision of an array of key supporting technologies, including those for ICT systems and advanced materials. To ensure that its products, services, and technologies are available to society over the medium and longer term, Hitachi is committed to achieving sustainable growth. However, it is aware that it faces a key challenge in further developing and strengthening the capabilities of its human resources, which will be essential to achieving that goal of sustained growth.
To that end, it is essential that Hitachi develop workplaces of diversity that allow human resources from many backgrounds to pursue the work styles of their choice with their coworkers in an atmosphere of mutual respect. In our view, ensuring that employees enjoy a work-life balance will be a key factor contributing to the realization of such diversity. To translate these goals into reality, we are determined not only to move forward with changes in work styles, but also to allocate the fruits of our own in-house research in various technical fields, for example, through substantive work-life balance-related initiatives that harness the knowledge and expertise of our in-house healthcare and research units.
Hitachi has endeavored for some time to develop and expand its systems and programs for leaves of absence, shortened workdays, and day-care facilities and thus aid employees with childcare and nursing-care needs by creating a workplace environment that facilitates a better balance between the demands of work and personal life. Additionally, it has developed a flex-time framework, a discretionary work system, and a framework for telecommuting or work-at-home employees, all in the interest of providing each and every individual with a diversified choice of work styles.
To strengthen its business foundations as it approaches its 100th anniversary in 2010, we will pursue diversity with the stimulation of human resources and workplaces in the interest of ensuring that Hitachi is a company that encourages each and every employee to embrace their dreams and aspirations and enables them to lead rewarding and worthwhile careers.
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![[image]Hitachi Group CSR Report 2008(PDF)](/csr/csr_images/common/sf_download.gif){kind=small}