News Room 2012 (The former Furukawa-Sky)
President Yoshihara's 2012 New Employees' Welcoming Ceremony Speech (Summary)
April 2, 2012
Congratulations on joining Furukawa-Sky. I would like to welcome you on behalf of everyone at the company. While there are number of things I'd like to talk about with you, today I'm going to focus on two topics.
First, let me tell you about the current state of the company and the direction forward.
The Great East Japan Earthquake that struck last year visited serious damage upon a number of industries as well as the lives of many people in our country. We also saw a rapid reversal of fortune in the global economy, marked by matters such as the downgrade of the US credit rating, the Eurozone debt crisis, and concerns about inflation in developing economies, particularly China. When we add to the above matters items such as the political upheavals in the Middle East and the floods in Thailand, it becomes clear that the business environment faced by our Group has changed drastically and become tougher than any we have seen before.
In confronting this situation we have hammered out a number of forward-looking policies. On the domestic front our goal is to create a stronger organization by proceeding with the restructuring of our sheet manufacturing operations. At the same time we are speeding up the development of overseas markets that will support our future growth, as seen in our announcements of participation in the joint acquisition of a North American aluminum rolling company, the construction of a new rolling mill in Thailand, and our consideration of electrode foil business and construction of a processing plant in China.
Taking into account the tough environment we are facing, we have chosen "Achieve Our Targets By Treating Changes As Opportunities" as our slogan for this year as we seek to accomplish steady growth while moving forward with our domestic and overseas policies. The keywords to keep in mind are "Change" and "Global." Changes such as never witnessed before are now taking place amidst a political and economic situation is chaotic both here at home and throughout the world. We must recognize that these changes are absolutely not someone else's problem, but rather that we are ourselves are directly involved in this changing environment. We must respond more quickly than ever before in devising and executing responses to change. Now is the time we must place our hopes in your youthful energies.
The second topic is a request I would like to make of you.
We are faced with a mountain of important work both at home and overseas, and I have strong expectations about your fighting potential. I will be grateful if you meet those expectations, but what I am hoping for even more is for you to grow well beyond that potential. I want you to develop into capable human resources, even if it takes a little while. While the company has various means to help you improve your abilities, in the end the most important thing is the attitude of the individual. Nothing comes of a passive attitude. Please take an interest in a wide range of subjects, and make an individual effort to develop your abilities. Your potential is limitless, even if it may not seem so. I am asking you to aim high in your efforts toward self-improvement. Let's build this company together!