For Local Communities
Promoting Social Contribution Activities
| Fiscal 2021 Objectives | Fiscal 2021 Achievements | Self-Evaluation | Priority Objectives for Fiscal 2022 |
|---|---|---|---|
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★★ |
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- Self-evaluation: ★★★ Achieved more than targeted / ★★ Achieved as targeted / ★ Achieved to some extent
Based on its business philosophy of “contributing to the culture, benefits, and welfare of people throughout the world,” Sharp is working to address local social issues as a member of the communities where it does business. In order to continue fostering relationships of mutual prosperity with communities, Sharp employees take the initiative in carrying out voluntary and ongoing activities centered on the environment, education, and social welfare.
Environmental Conservation Activities
In recognition of the fact that preserving ecosystems and the diversity of life that they contain contributes to a healthier and more prosperous living environment for both companies and people, Sharp carries out environmental conservation activities at its production sites and sales and service bases across Japan.
Activities aimed at protecting the interdependent balance of life on Earth, its biodiversity, specifically the biodiversity of satoyama (areas that lie between the foot of a mountain and arable land), are spearheaded by the Sharp Green Club (SGC), a volunteer organization composed of Sharp and its labor union. The SGC’s activities focus on environmental challenges that are familiar to the lives of Sharp Group employees in Japan and emphasize communication with local residents and other stakeholders to raise environmental protection awareness. An example of the SGC’s satoyama protection activities is the Sharp Forest project, which involves afforestation efforts conducted by volunteers in five locations around Japan that seeks to use forest cultivation as a means of fostering an understanding of the relationship, as well as deepening the connection, between forests, wildlife, and humanity and to foster greater global environmental mindedness. The SGC also works with the Ministry of the Environment, local governments, and other organizations in four locations in Japan to protect wetlands and waterfowl listed under the Ramsar Convention, such as by eliminating invasive species and conducting cleanup activities. In addition, employee volunteers take part in ongoing cleanup activities around the Sharp Group’s various factories and business locations as well as participate in cleanup and greening initiatives organized by local governments and other organizations, all for the sake of facilitating environmental protection tied to, and carried out in conjunction with, local communities.
In fiscal 2021, 645 such activities took place with the participation of a total 9,353 volunteers, including Sharp executives, employees, and their family members. Overseas, as well, Sharp pursues a program of corporate social responsibility (CSR) encompassing activities focused on environmental protection, educational support, and social welfare.
For Sharp, social contribution starts with what the company founder described as a “heart of gratitude.” Sharp will continue to pursue activities that are tied to the local community in order to repay the kindness that the local community, and society as a whole, has shown Sharp.
Case Study
Cleaning up around the Mie Plant
(Taki District, Mie Prefecture)
Planting pansies around the Mie Plant
(Taki District, Mie Prefecture)
Activities in Japan
Management and employees work together on community-based volunteer activities that tackle environmental challenges.
Kurumagawa (Taki Town) has a serious problem. Large areas of local farmland are being abandoned, owing to an aging farming population and damage from wild animals. To address this problem, the Mie Plant (Taki District, Mie Prefecture) has since 2012 joined forces with a local volunteer group, the Kurumagawa Yamazato Fun Club, to grow buckwheat.
On July 31, 2021, 16 Sharp employees and their family members took part in sowing seeds. And on October 30, 17 of them harvested the buckwheat.
Sowing buckwheat seeds
Harvesting the buckwheat
The Makuhari Site (Chiba, Chiba Prefecture) helps conserve the Yatsu-higata tidal flat , which is registered under the Ramsar Convention*. The area is a stopover for migratory birds heading to Australia from Siberia and Alaska. On November 20, 2021, 19 Sharp employees and their family members, with help from the Yatsu-higata Nature Observation Center, took part in conservation activities such as removing reeds. They also enjoyed some birdwatching.
- * An international treaty, adopted in February 1971, concerning the conservation of important wetlands as habitats for waterfowl and the protection of the wildlife inhabiting those wetlands.
Removing reeds
Birdwatching
The Hiroshima Plant (Higashi-Hiroshima, Hiroshima Prefecture) takes part in a project to maintain the grounds* of Ikoi no Mori Park at the foot of Mt. Ryuo. The project is organized by the Saijo Environmental Association for Preserving Mountains and Water.
On October 16, 2021, 15 Sharp employees and their family members helped to clear shrubs that hinder the growth of other trees like konara oak and Japanese blue oak. The participants took Covid-19 precautions, such as wearing face masks, taking their temperature, practicing physical distancing, and disinfecting their hands.
- * Local residents, companies, and government jointly form a dedicated organization (“groundwork trust”) to review the local environment and work to improve it.
Clearing shrubs
Activities around the World
Sharp bases around the world actively carry out community service activities.
SEID：P. T. Sharp Electronics Indonesia
As part of its CSR, Sharp Indonesian production and sales base SEID organizes Sharp Mapan, a program to support farmers in need.
This year’s program started with rice planting on July 5, 2021 and ended with a harvest on September 28.
While boosting the livelihoods of the farmers, the program has been praised by the local municipality in Karawang.
Rice planting in July
The rice fields in harvest season in September
SEM：SHARP Electronics (Malaysia) Sdn. Bhd.
Malaysia suffered flooding caused by heavy rainfall from March 7, 2022. Sharp Malaysian R&D and sales base SEM cooperated with the Malaysian Ministry of Education to help rebuild schools affected by the disaster. SEM donated 976 electric appliances, including fans (ceiling, wall, and stand), air conditioners, refrigerators, and TVs to 44 schools in Selangor State and 56 schools in Pahang State.
At the donation ceremony
SEID：P. T. Sharp Electronics Indonesia
Many residents in Indonesia’s Karawang Regency were affected by flooding triggered by heavy rainfall from December 11, 2021.
On December 22, Sharp Indonesian production and sales base SEID initiated an emergency response CSR program. This involved providing 150 sets of staple food, free health checkups, and treatment of external wounds through the Karawang Regional Disaster Management Agency. For children at evacuation centers who experienced greater loss due to the disaster, SEID donated materials containing advice on coping with trauma.
At the donation ceremony
Career Education for Disabled Children
As part of a larger program of community service activities that draws on its founder’s commitment to helping disabled individuals, Sharp works with Sharp Tokusen Industry Co., a Sharp special subsidiary*, to enhance career education activities conducted at special-needs schools and similar organizations for disabled students. The following courses are provided with the aim of fostering a career-minded perspective in students and motivating them to work and achieve greater self-sufficiency.
- Workplace tour: Visit the workplace of disabled employees and attend a lecture
- Workplace experience: Experience work where disabled employees are active
- School visits: Disabled Sharp employees visit schools to give talks on what it means to work
A workplace visit
A participant in a workplace experience
A classroom during a school visit
- * A subsidiary that has made special efforts supporting the employment of disabled people, as defined in Japan’s Act on Employment Promotion, etc. of Persons with Disabilities (for example, improving facilities where the disabled work).
Marking 10 years since the start of the school visit program
Sharp’s program of career education support activities conducted at special-needs schools and similar organizations for disabled students, which was launched in 2012, recently marked its 10th year. To date, a total of about 18,000 people have participated.
One of the changes over the last 10 years was the start of an online school visit in 2020. The program has received requests from a total of 234 special-needs schools. After considering what it could do to continue this much-needed program during the Covid-19 pandemic and to support the valuable experience of school life, Sharp took advantage of its commitment to creativity to develop the three lectures that it is currently offering. Feedback from questionnaires given to teachers after the course indicates that students adopted a more optimistic outlook in day-to-day school life after participating in the course as they prepared for employment, and that the course provided an effective way for students to prepare for practical training. In addition, the program has proven effective as a substitute for out-of-school education, which has been difficult to provide during the pandemic.
At the same time, Sharp has continued to offer the on-site school visit program, in which instructors visit schools, while taking steps to prevent infection, for example by changing how group activities are carried out.
We are also working to create an environment in which students can easily participate in workplace tours and workplace experience/practical training, in which students visit Sharp, by taking steps to prevent infections, for example by restricting the number of participants per session.
Initiatives to promote self-sufficiency through work for disabled individuals are necessary and should continue. Going forward, Sharp will continue these and other programs to help as many people as possible find work while examining how career education support activities can function more effectively.
Online school visit
Comment from a Principal of a Special-needs School Participating in Career Education
We really appreciate all that Sharp Tokusen Industry Co. has done to help our career guidance program for students.
I’m grateful that we’ve been able to participate in the company’s online school visit, which began in fiscal 2020, for the last three years.
Our school is the prefecture’s only special-needs school for students with health issues. Our students are being treated for illness on an in- or out-patient basis, have mental health issues like neurosis or psychosomatic disorder or behavioral impediments, have a history of not attending traditional schools, or are not a good fit for traditional classes, for example because they are on the autism spectrum or have a condition such as a learning disorder or ADHD. Depending on the characteristics of individual students’ disorders, we see issues in the areas of sociability and the ability to manage one’s own health and life.
We discovered the company’s online school visit program just as we were exploring how we could foster students’ ability to work, live, and practice self-discipline through outside stimuli, which we believe are more necessary than ever due to the pandemic and the resulting lack of progress in educational plans. The program provides an extremely easy-to-understand explanation of not only knowledge for work, but also knowledge that’s necessary for life management and tips students can use while pursuing their education. In examining the meaning of work, the program asks students to think about things from the perspective of someone working in a way that fits into actual life. The program’s content offers a valuable opportunity to think in a concrete way about what they should be aware of in their daily lives in the future by leading them to learn in an autonomous way, interact with friends and learning materials, and think of their own answers, for example by focusing on life management, interpersonal skills, and students’ existing abilities. In addition, it has provided an excellent opportunity for students to reexamine their own lives and the concept of work itself.
Our school will continue to focus on students’ individual educational needs as we pursue a fine-grained program of educational activities designed to help each and every student develop and realize their own dreams in life.
To that end, we hope to strengthen partnerships by enhancing the trusting relationships and connections we’ve built with partner organizations to date. I look forward to more guidance and support from Sharp Tokusen and wish them further success and growth in future.
Tsutomu Ohki
Principal, Ibaraki Prefectural Tomobe-higashi Special-Needs School
Comment from a Sharp Tokusen Industry Co. Employee
We accept numerous trainees. One thing we try to do when we accept new trainees is to encourage self-help and self-reliance. Some people with midlife disabilities find themselves facing inconveniences in daily life. Such people can realize improvements by taking a variety of creative steps in their lives. We have trainees think about whether they can incorporate such creative steps into their work. To encourage growth on the part of trainees, I believe it’s important that they cultivate the ability to think of such steps themselves.
Another thing we try to do is to help trainees master the communication skills they’ll need in their jobs, for example reporting, communicating, and consulting as well as engaging in enjoyable small talk in the workplace. I feel that many of our trainees have difficulty communicating.
That’s why I make an active attempt to talk to them so that they can experience the joy of interacting with others.
I look forward to continuing to support them so that their communication skills improve and helping them to act in an independent manner.
Masahiro Ohnishi
Supervisor, Sharp Tokusen Industry Co.