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Message from CEO

Pursuing CSR worldwide through business activities based on our new Corporate Philosophy, the Bridgestone Essence

First of all, I would like to offer my heartfelt condolences to all those who lost loved ones or were otherwise affected by the March 2011 Tohoku Earthquake and Tsunami. The Bridgestone Group is dedicated to making the maximum possible effort to speed the recovery so that we can alleviate as quickly as possible the suffering and sadness of the many victims of this disaster.

Simplifying our Corporate Philosophy to fit our vision of the ideal global corporation

In March 2011, Bridgestone marked the 80th anniversary of its founding. We are grateful to the countless customers whose loyalty to our products and services made this anniversary possible, as well as the many others who have offered their support over the course of the company's history. We took advantage of the anniversary to hold a series of internal discussions asking what kind of company we want Bridgestone to be in the future, what objectives we wish to pursue, what we can do to play an essential role in society over the long term and how we can continue to contribute to society. These discussions resulted in a consensus that we would respond appropriately to the diversifying needs of society and would, for each individual, "provide more appropriate products and services and earn the satisfaction of each." In other words, "we want to be a company that supports the lives of individuals."

To facilitate our ability to integrate the Group's capabilities in the pursuit of this vision for the future, we refined the Corporate Philosophy, which comprises the Group's core identity, into a more simple form. Specifically, we embraced our corporate motto of "Serving Society with Superior Quality" as a statement of our mission and identified four basic stances as the foundation of the philosophy for our group members to adopt. Going forward, we will strive to anticipate social needs and propose creative solutions based on this philosophy. For example, we will further strengthen the Group's integrated identity while taking advantage of the diversity brought by each and every member, providing products and services that would be incorporated into necessary transportation for an aging society, and helping address environmental issues worldwide by developing completely recyclable products.

Identifying 22 CSR Focus Points to put The Bridgestone Essence into practice

For the Bridgestone Group, CSR exists as a means of realizing The Bridgestone Essence, the refined corporate philosophy. We treat this philosophy as more than just a series of ideals by incorporating it throughout our business practices. Specifically, we practice CSR by using "backcasting," a technique for developing a vision for the future and formulating the measures necessary to achieve that vision, to incorporate them into our Mid-term Management Plan (MTP).

Our Group has more than 180 manufacturing and development facilities in 25 countries and operates in more than 150 countries. We established the "22 CSR Focus Points" to serve as a Group-wide common language that would guide the pursuit of consistent, steadfast CSR activities. In pursuing the 22 points, we specify an ideal state for each of them and activate an approach known as the PDCA ("plan," "do," "check," "act") cycle. To create a planning process that reliably points us in the right direction to achieve our vision, we have laid out a series of instructions in the form of objectives, policy directions and initiatives to adopt throughout the Group. In 2011, we will be working to promote the visualization of progress in each point so that we can evaluate how well we are executing against our goals. The process of clarifying where we have been successful and where we need to focus future efforts based on key performance indicators (KPIs) for each instruction will lead to improvement.

Group management that incorporates a diverse range of values

The Bridgestone Group conducts its businesses globally, and we believe that our diverse group of members is one of our greatest strengths.

In order to build governance structures appropriate for a global corporation, we have invited four outside directors, including two women and one non-Japanese individual, to serve alongside five internal directors on the Board of Directors. We are also working to strengthen Group unity while incorporating diverse values by appointing executives from our American and European subsidiaries to serve as corporate officers at Bridgestone.

In the area of human resources development, we have provided training opportunities to staff members, including management candidates and manufacturing teammates. In 2010, we established the Bridgestone Institute of Global Training and the Global Manufacturing Education Center, enabling a richer program of human resources development initiatives. We are working to bring together Group members from countries around the world in a socially and intellectually stimulating setting where they can develop their skills and abilities while overcoming the barriers of language and culture.

Achieving a sustainable society

Reflecting our desire to achieve a sustainable society, the Bridgestone Group issued an Environmental Mission Statement "to help ensure a healthy environment for current and future generations." In May 2011, we refined the Environmental Mission Statement and clarified the direction of our long-term environmental aspirations by using simpler language for better understanding while taking decisive action with respect to three important environmental perspectives: ecological conservation, resource conservation and reducing carbon emissions. In order to exist "in harmony with nature," Bridgestone will develop and utilize technologies that value natural resources while addressing the urgent matter of global warming through efforts to reduce CO2 emissions. By means of this refined Environmental Mission Statement, we will work to enhance environmental awareness of the Group's nearly 140,000 employees and pursue a higher level of our environmental activities in the three areas of environmental progress: products and services, operations, and community activities.

In 2010, we defined and announced our approach towards biological diversity as an essential standpoint of ecological conservation. We have engaged in a variety of activities worldwide for ecological conservation, including wildlife habitat improvement, academic research and community education represented by the "ECOPIA's Forest" project. We are also working to improve "resource productivity" as a way to create product value "through efficient use of resources" in line with a new basic approach to resource conservation. We have launched a Group-wide effort to realize a low-carbon society by establishing two specific targets for the reduction of CO2 emissions by 2020:

  • 35% reduction compared to 2005 baseline in CO2 per sales from the company's total operations and its products' "after-use"
  • 25% improvement compared to 2005 baseline of tire rolling efficiency, resulting in less fuel use and CO2 emissions from driving

Bridgestone estimates that the potential reduction in CO2 emissions from helping improve our customers' fuel efficiency exceeds the emissions related to Bridgestone's operations and our products' after-use.

Striving as a company to support each and every stakeholder

Together with The Bridgestone Essence, we have made a commitment to stakeholders that is expressed through our new tagline: "Your Journey, Our Passion." As used here, "Journey" includes the future life and lifestyle of each and every stakeholder. The Bridgestone Group is passionate about meeting our societal expectations while enriching the journey of each of our stakeholders.

Shoshi Arakawa
Shoshi Arakawa
Chairman of the Board,
CEO and President
September 30, 2011