News Room 2011 (The former Furukawa-Sky)
2011 Entrance Ceremony Welcome Speech by President & CEO (Summary)
April 1, 2011
First of all, I'd like to congratulate and welcome you on behalf of all employees to Furukawa-Sky. While there are many topics I would like to discuss, I will focus on three important issues.
The first issue concerns the current state and this year's strategy of our company.
In April 2010, the Furukawa-Sky Group announced its 2013 Mid-term Management Plan for the three-year period ending in fiscal 2013. We have achieved progress under this plan in the structural reform of our sheet rolling business. At the same time, we have further reinforced our actions in global markets with high growth potential, such as by establishing a coil center in Thailand, which has strengthened its presence into a major base for automobile production in Asia, and by opening offices in Shanghai and D・seldorf.
This year's slogan is: “Make a united Group effort to become an attractive company that ranks No. 1 in Asia.” The keywords are “Change” and “Strengthening our overall capability to respond.” The markets are changing, our customers are changing, our competitors are changing—hange has come to every aspect of our business environment. Furukawa-Sky, and we ourselves, must also change with the times.
And our response to change will not be limited to actions taken by a single division or under specific circumstances. No response can be effective unless each one of us strives to raise up our overall capabilities with the same clarity of purpose. This is the point at which I will expect much from your youthful energy.
The second issue I will discuss is in the form of a request.
We are faced with a multitude of vital tasks both in Japan and overseas. While becoming an effective member of our workforce quickly is something we would certainly appreciate from you, we are even more interested in your long-term growth. It is all right if you end up taking a longer pathway to develop into highly competent members of the company. We will of course work with you to bolster your skills; though your own attitudes are the real keys to your growth. Remember that very little can be expected from a passive attitude, so please cultivate broad interests and take personal responsibility for enhancing your abilities. While your potential may seem limited, it is in fact infinite. And I hope you will work hard to develop yourselves toward lofty goals.
Finally, I would like to talk about the Tohoku Pacific Offshore Earthquake.
Many victims continue to struggle under difficult conditions, while many others are working hard to recover from the disaster. We must brace ourselves against the possibility that the damages from the earthquake could turn ozut to be even more severe. While tough circumstances are expected to continue, I have called upon all employees of the Furukawa-Sky Group to remain alert for secondary damages and to serve as a reliable force for Japan's recovery by sharing our wisdom with those around us and working in concert.
Let us all move forward together!