Brother's Social Responsibilities

The Brother Group is developing Corporate Social Responsibility management throughout its worldwide operations to continue as a viable sustainable business amidst the close attention being paid to global environmental problems and numerous social issues. Brother Industries, Ltd.'s President Toshikazu Koike, who took his post in June 2007, and singer, UNICEF Ambassador and essayist Agnes Chan talked about the thinking behind that.
(Tokyo, November 26, 2007)

	Toshikazu Koike Representative Director & President Brother Industries, Ltd.		Agnes Chan Singer, essayist, Doctor of Education
	A cheerful, happy and energetic workplace is the prime condition for long-term future growth.		Now is the chance to change how people behave and fix our environmental problems.

Chan − The “At your side” motto of the Brother Group is a very warm expression.

Koike − Thank you very much. It's based on a phrase that we came up with while I was working in America. We had everyone think up slogans that would readily convey Brother's stance to customers and employees. By the way, I go by the nickname of “Terry” taken from my real name Toshikazu, so please call me “Terry.”

Chan − (Chuckle) Do your employees call you that?

Koike − Yes. Even our employees in Japan call me that. However, as you might expect, my family in America doesn't call me by my nickname (laugh).

Chan − Your daughters are studying in America, I heard.
I, too, raised my sons in the cultures of Japan and the West. At first, I worried about “what I should do if they didn't fit in either,” but they seem to have taken on the good qualities of both, so I think it was a good decision.

Koike − I myself was uneasy about being ordered to a post in America 26 years ago, but once I started living there, I saw how kind and bighearted everyone was. Fear is often greater than the danger.
By the way, we're the same age and I loved your songs when I was a student, and I still enjoy listening to “Shiroi Kutsushita Wa Niawanai” (roughly, “White Socks Don't Suit Me Any More”) today.

Chan − Thank you very much. That song was written by Yuming (Yumi Matsutoya, then Yumi Arai) when I was 20. It was my first ballad. I had just shed the knee-high socks that were my trademark since my debut, as a symbol of my becoming an adult. And, that became the title.

100^th anniversary of pouring passion into technology and caring about connections to people

Chan − I hear the Brother Group will be marking its 100^th year in business in 2008. Congratulations!

Koike − Thank you. In 1908, when Kanekichi Yasui started making and fixing consumable parts for sewing machines, sewing machines were imported products from the U.S. and Germany. But his sons looked for ways to “someday convert an import industry into export industry” and successfully developed a made-in-Japan sewing machine in 1923. Then, 75 years later, in April 2007, we topped the 40 million mark of domestic sewing machines. In November that year, a commemorative ceremony was staged at our production facility in Zhuhai, China, with many persons who collaborated in production.

Chan − That is an incredible number of sewing machines!

Koike − In the early years, the company didn't have enough money to buy machine tools for machining parts, so they were developed internally. This practice grew into the machine tools business of today. The company continued to develop sewing machines for both industrial use and home use. About 30 years after the first home sewing machine was produced, Brother began making typewriters with Brother-only features for typing original letters in order to get into that market. These are the roots of our communications and printing equipment business.
My reason for going to America was to launch sales of Brother brand printers. We were the official supplier of typewriters for the 1984 Olympics in Los Angeles, which made Brother known worldwide as a business equipment manufacturer. After that, we expanded into faxes, electronic stationery, etc., and also established our Multi-Function Center.

Chan − In reading various materials and talking with various people, I can see how your employees like your products and like making them. Your history of acquiring technologies, pouring passion into your work and growing your business seems exactly like "raising a child." I also see Brother as a "company that reads the mood as it changes over time.” So, even if people demand something different, you search for ways to maximize your strengths. You get more people to buy your products, which is why your employees are there for you.
Compared to when you went to America, how big has your business gotten?

Koike − When I joined the company, sales at Brother Industries Ltd. were about ¥120 billion and sales outside of Japan accounted for about 40% of the whole, however consolidated sales of the entire Brother Group in FY2007 were nearly ¥600 billion and sales outside of Japan had reached 80%. Sales of our local subsidiary at the time I was first stationed in America were about ¥10 billion by today's conversion, but this has grown to ¥160 billion today. In every sense of the word, this is the result of consolidated efforts by those in the local market. In 2008, it will be 54 years since we made inroads into America and 50 years since we made inroads into Europe, but “human relations” have been the driving force behind our global expansion. We need to remember this in expanding our business further.

Chan − When I first came to Japan 35 years ago, Brother meant “sewing machines.” Having one at home meant you could make your own clothes and be stylish. I yearned for that kind of life. From our talk today, I sense that your core business has changed greatly, but you still make sewing machines. Surely, your employees still love your sewing machines even today. Some people would even be lost without them and I imagine that it is for them that you continue to make them. I think that is what I like about you. My first step was as a singer, but my work has expanded to lectures, writing and a UNICEF Ambassador, yet I still like singing. I guess because that is where I got started.

Now is the chance to reverse global warming.

Chan − You make about 70% of your products in China and have several large manufacturing facilities in Guangdong Province. Both Shenzhen and Zhuhai are close to my hometown of Hong Kong and knowing that Brother and China are getting along makes me happy.

Koike − Yes, we do. We also have manufacturing facilities in Xian and Shanghai, and about 15,000 Chinese, which equates to about two-thirds of our entire workforce, are working for us in China, so our production floors are very much alive. It is my cherished view and what we aim for in our CSR activities that the workplace be cheerful, fun and energetic. Everyone is working hard to make Brother a company they can be “glad to work for.” However, as our relations with China deepen, the media is constantly reporting about environmental problems such as CO2 emissions that contribute to global warming. It hurts me dearly to think that production at Brother is a part of that. Because we are borrowing the valuable resources, land and human resources of China to do business, I think it is only right that we must strengthen our efforts to further reduce the environmental load of our activities.

Chan − The first time I ever heard about global warming was 22 years ago when I went to Ethiopia to host a program entitled “24 Hour Television: Love Saves the Earth.” When I asked why places where people normally lived long ago had become deserts, experts told me that people had cut down too many trees for fuel or that it was “due to global warming.”
“Climates will become extreme as global warming progresses. Places that see little rainfall will endure increased sunshine and places that flood often will flood more, making it impossible to gather crops and creating victims amongst many children.” That has become a reality today. I have visited many countries as a UNICEF Ambassador. Conflicts have broken out because of degrading environments and many children have died because of a lack of water. Global warming is not a threat of the near future but an urgent issue that needs to be dealt with now.
To prevent this from happening, I am imploring us to change our lifestyle habits, promote technology and make it so that children have food to eat. Unless we do that, water and food will be available only to places with money, and poor countries and regions will only become more miserable.

Koike − We've become aware of this almost at too-late of point in time, so businesses and people must make environmental efforts, such as global warming prevention, a top priority. A long time ago, you were praised if you made and sold a lot, but if this is the sole basis for the globalization of manufacturing, the impact from material procurement to production and product use and recycling will not be limited to one country alone, therefore considerations are needed both from businesses and individuals.

Chan − The Brother Group is promoting various environmental activities.

Koike − At our manufacturing facility in China, we have installed a solar water heater and undertaken many activities such as campaigns to save energy, but this is still not enough. We recognize the need to establish a system in which CO2 emissions decrease or at least do not change even when turnout is increased.

Chan − If we were to meet 20 years from now, I would love to hear from you that, “from that chat we had today, Brother developed a machine that absorbs CO2.”

Koike − Yes indeed, but technology hasn't gotten that far (laugh). But, we continue to make efforts to accelerate activities aimed at developing low energy products and eliminating landfill waste under the slogan of the “ 5 Rs *,” and providing systems for awarding groups that produce results.

Chan − Before, only NGOs talked about environmental problems, but now governments, people and -more than anyone else - businesses are pouring their efforts into them. That is the kind of power to move the times, so now is the “chance to reverse these problems,” I believe. Japanese businesses in particular lead the world in technology and they have developed an attitude of “okage-sama” (gratitude) that we can live by someone's blessing.” This kind of thinking will hopefully act as a major driving force to solving the environmental problems of Asia. There are many industrially advanced nations, but I personally think that Japan has the “magic wand” for cleaning up the environment.

Koike − Japan's technical prowess is undeniably big but, in the end, I think the outcome of environmental problems hinges on human awareness. No matter what governments and businesses say, environmental destruction cannot be prevented if the individual is little aware or concerned. Therefore, from my perspective as a leader in the business world, I want the 25,000 or so employees that work for Brother to be “slightly more conscious about the environment than employees of other companies.” By doing so, the daily efforts to not generate waste or wastefully use energy will take root as a trend in local society.

Chan − Animals do everything to survive, but they do not think about the future. Only humans are capable of thinking to their grandchildren's and great-grandchildren's generations. I think that kind of awareness is important for us to continue to live like humans on into the future.

Koike − That kind of thinking is understood by businesses. Brother has stayed in business for 100 years, but in order to perpetually grow for the next 50 or 100 years, those of us in the company today must look to the future and firmly address various issues.

Giving back 120% in appreciation for the work

Chan − Up until the 1980s, it never went as planned for those who wanted to work or study, but it then became possible to dream of the future with the help of those around you. Knowing the way China used to be long ago, it seems like a miracle that you can change jobs so as to gradually increase your income, eat good food, dress stylishly and take vacations.
In November, I staged the “35^th Anniversary Concert of Normalized Relations between Japan and China” at the Great Hall of the People, but 22 years ago, the equipment was brought from Japan and, despite the fact that we played pop music, the audience was prohibited from clapping their hands or stomping their feet. Now, everyone sings along to hit sings like “Kaette Kita Tsubame” (The Sparrow Returns) and “Genyabokka”(Wildland Idyll). I was totally amazed. It was so loud that some fans from Japan said they couldn't even hear me.

Koike − Hearing about the changes in China, governments and businesses are not the only ones who should be affluent. Affluence cannot be measured by materials alone. A company employee cannot be happy unless he/she has a stable living and is rich at heart. We need to target a higher level of affluence together with our employees.
You began singing when you were young and today you cover a broad area of activities that must keep you extremely busy. I sense your professionalism and passion as a mother, wife and woman. Did you nurture that through your work?

Chan − My work has always been given to me by someone. I am tremendously grateful for that. I appreciate the fact that they chose me and am always trying to think up ways to repay them. I always give it 100%, but I want to return the favor 120%. The person who invited me - I think - benefits when the people around him/her say it was a good idea to pick Agnes.

Koike − I see what you mean. In fact, the “Agnes controversy” was the buzz in 1988. At that time, you brought your first son, then just born, to the broadcast station and that stirred a major controversy. If it were today, it would be better understood.

Chan − At the time, I lived in Yokohama and not downtown Tokyo, so if I had left him at home to go to work, he would have been lonely for a long time. It was an important period in his life for building a mother-son relationship, so I took him to work with me, but I was criticized for it because “when working, you are supposed to be dedicated 100% to your work; childbirth and childrearing are for the home.” But, I figured it was the same for men and women to want to work when opportunity presents itself, to want a family and to want kids, so I caused the controversy and created a lot of confusion.
Then, a professor from Stanford University suggested that this was a “chance to take my troubles beyond the realm of personal problems and turn them into a social issue.” She invited me to pursue “gender studies” that delved into women's lifestyles and economic issues at their school. So, I took her up on her offer and enrolled.

Koike − And, you went on to earn a PhD in education from that, but were your thinking about work and childrearing change any between before and after your studies?

Chan − No, nothing changed. But, I knew why I was criticized. It was because society and the workplace were historically “paternalistic.” Though discrimination cannot legally exist, women are still expected to “wed and submit to their husbands.” But, it shouldn't matter whether the husband or the wife earns the money.
My professor taught me that “men and women should be thought of in terms of physical structure. Look at them both as biologically different aliens.” If humans were categorized by character, we wouldn't have large categories of men and women because there are effeminate men and masculine women. If we subdivided them into “masculine women” and “effeminate men,” women would be freer and men could lead fun lives with less responsibility to bear. Gender studies are a part of the “anthropology for liberating us from our narrow-mindedness.”
This gender studies program opened my eyes and I began to see people with more loving tenderness. Today, diversity (in human resources and ways to work) can be looked at as “extreme tolerance.”

Koike − You have a wonderful way of looking at it.

Chan − As with environmental problems, Japan has the chance to fix this problem now. Don't you think that governments, businesses and people should do something about it?

Koike − I understand evaluating one's attitude toward work indifferent of gender and having goals in life that go beyond just work. At Brother's American subsidiary, 30% of the managers and directors are women and there are some families in which the husband baby-sits the kids. Despite those numbers, the government says “30% is just passing; we might be able to be increasing it.” In the background to that is a history of efforts to eradicate sexual discrimination in education and social systems. In Japan as well, forcing people with your kind of abilities to stay at home would be a loss to the nation (laugh).

Chan − This is surely the "age of chance" for women.

Koike − Precisely because of times like these, what I want from all employees, whether male or female, is to make constructive proposals "to do this or become that" even outside of one's assigned duties. When someone raises their hand and shouts, "I'll do it," he/she needs courage because everyone around him/her will be closely watching the challenge he/she makes, which might make it harder to do. Nonetheless, unless challenges are made, one and his/her company lose their ability to grow. I see this as a very important issue.

Chan − It's OK to make mistakes; you just want them to try.

A company's social value lies in its ability to eternally provide an enjoyable workplace.

Chan − I heard from you that you personally believe that “a company should continually and endlessly prosper forever." Was there anything in particular that led you to think that way?

Koike − Brother's founding spirit was to create factories with pleasant atmospheres and create work for people wishing to work. These are the "social values of a company" and comply with my goals in life to be “cheerful, happy and vigorous,” so I strongly sympathize with this. Because people spend a great portion of their life at their place of work, it would be sad if that time was “bitter, painful or gloomy.”
Of course, in navigating this strict business community, it is hard to avoid the ups and downs, but for that very reason, it means something to “be forward-looking in challenging new things, discover the joy of growing in that process and for a company to relentlessly direct its energies at building the foundations for the next generation while taking good care of its human resources.” A constitution and attitude that continually maintain that kind of motivation are the prime conditions for a company to continually and endlessly prosper for many years. Only a company like that offers value that society can recognize.

Chan − Yea, I agree 100%. Whether one is happy or not depends on whether he/she believes that “life and work are fun”. Real enjoyment is not about having fun with a bunch of people but about having dreams, people enjoying the things you make, producing results and increasing the number of people who work under the umbrella of Brother. There was a harsh tone in the things you said, Terry, but what work isn't harsh? It's because it's harsh that the joy of achievement is something special.

Koike − Just like you said, people should be kind to others in the private world, but in a workplace that demands results, you cannot expect growth without being strict and, unless you grow, there will be no chances to stake new challenges.

Chan − When managers demand just results, employees do not follow. The first thing to do is to think about the employees, then do everything possible to create something that customers want. The results will then come naturally. Keep up the good work as a leader and as someone the same age as I am!

Koike − Well, you look like a leader more than me (laugh). Thank you for today.

Face-to-Face Talk: As a business and as people who inhabit the same planet

Face-to-Face Talk:
As a business and as people who inhabit the same planet