Sustainability | Sustainability ManagementSustainability Promotion Structure

Governance

Sustainability Promotion Department, in collaboration with various departments at the global headquarters, formulates activity policies and measures related to sustainability. Since April 2023, we have appointed a Chief People and Sustainability Officer (CPSO) to oversee human resources and sustainability, working together with the Sustainability Promotion Department to advance TDK's sustainability strategy, which enhances corporate value.

(Functions and Roles of the Sustainability Promotion Department)

  • Collaborate with regional headquarters in China, Europe, and the Americas to promote global initiatives across business units, group companies, and manufacturing sites.
  • Conduct monitoring of initiatives, disclosure of sustainability-related information, and dialogue with stakeholders. Feedback on opinions obtained through stakeholder dialogues and issues identified during the promotion of activities to relevant internal parties to facilitate improvements.
  • Report quarterly on the progress of action at Board of Directors meetings.
  • Report progress of initiatives to the President and CEO monthly.

(Deliberation and Decision-Making on Sustainability Matters)

  • Company-wide sustainability agendas and themes are deliberated at management meetings and reported to the Board of Directors. Based on this, the Board deliberates or makes decisions and oversees the proper execution of these measures.

Risk management

To achieve sustainable growth and address factors (risks) that hinder the achievement of organizational goals, TDK has established an Enterprise Risk Management (ERM) Committee, chaired by an executive officer appointed by the President and CEO. The committee analyzes and evaluates company-wide risks, identifies risks requiring countermeasures, and promotes enterprise-wide risk management by assigning risk owner departments to lead risk countermeasures. The assigned risk owner departments lead the implementation of risk countermeasures for individual risks, and the committee monitors the status of these countermeasures. The committee's risk analysis, evaluation, and the status of countermeasures for significant risks are deliberated at management meetings and reported to the Board of Directors.
Risks related to corporate social responsibility, climate change, talent acquisition and development, and other sustainability-related risks are also assigned to risk owner departments and managed by designated executive officers.

In-house Awareness Raising

For the promotion of sustainability, the TDK Group believes it is important for every team members to understand the concept of sustainability, the background to the need for corporate initiatives, and TDK’s approach to sustainability activities and to incorporate them into their own work. Accordingly, we provide lecture-style training programs by job level, such as training for new recruits, lectures by external experts, and dissemination of information using internal Websites.

In addition, management and head office divisions engage in timely dialogue with asset managers, and the Sustainability Promotion HQ engages in dialogues with each business group to promote business development starting from the SDGs.

In 2023, we invited an external lecturer to give a talk on “Changing the future through Green innovation: Hints for developing sustainable products and services.” We also created an intranet to disseminate information relating to sustainability.

Sustainability Award

We introduced the Sustainability Award as a part of the President Award system in 2021 with the objective of raising awareness and motivation concerning the provision of products and services that originate from social issues and social needs including customer needs. The award is presented in recognition of cutting-edge projects and initiatives that contribute to social value creation, such as new product development, promotion of renewable energy, creation of recycling systems for scarce resources, and measures to reduce environmental impact, and lead to solutions to social issues.
The award is presented to an individuals, divisions, or business groups recognized as having achieved particularly outstanding results. The awards are shared throughout the entire TDK Group via the intranet and other means and will be deployed horizontally. Through this award program, we are encouraging the provision of products and services that contribute to the sustainability of society.

Participation in Initiatives and Associations

The TDK Group respects international norms and standards, such as the Universal Declaration of Human Rights, ISO 26000, the OECD Guidelines for Multinational Enterprises, the international labor standards of the International Labor Organization (ILO), and the United Nations Guiding Principles on Business and Human Rights (the “Ruggie Framework”), and promotes business with the aim of realizing the common global objectives cited in the SDGs. Furthermore, in editing and issuing our sustainability website, we comply with the GRI Standards of the Global Reporting Initiative, the international standard.

Endorsement of the TCFD*

In May 2019, TDK expressed its support for the Task Force on Climate-related Financial Disclosures (TCFD), which makes recommendations for analyzing and disclosing information on the impact of climate change on corporate finance.

*The Task Force on Climate-related Financial Disclosures (TCFD) was founded in 2015 by the Financial Stability Board (FSB), an international body seeking to achieve the stabilization of the financial system.

Membership of the RBA and RMI

In February 2020 the TDK Group joined the Responsible Business Alliance (RBA), the world’s largest industrial coalition dedicated to CSR in the global supply chain. The TDK Group fully supports the RBA’s vision and mission and, in accordance with the RBA’s code of conduct, makes continuous efforts to improve the human rights of workers, health and safety, and the environment in the TDK Group and primary suppliers. TDK also participates in the Responsible Minerals Initiative (RMI) and strives for responsible mineral procurement.

Membership of Other Associations

TDK belongs to the following associations and promotes efforts to solve social issues that are difficult for a single company to tackle.
Click on the name of the organization to go to their website.