Education/Awareness Building

Sustainable Environmental Management
with Full Participation

Ricoh Group’s environmental management incorporated into study materials at HBS  
(Ricoh Group/Global)

The circle of environmental management has been expanded to “the world’s seat of learning.”

Elementary and intermediate environmental e-learning for employees  
(Ricoh Group/Global)

Organization of environment-related specialized training courses  
(Ricoh Group/Japan)

Ricoh parent-child nature school held   (Ricoh Group/Japan)

Ricoh Group's Sustainable Environmental Management Conference  
(Ricoh Group/Global)

Green Communication Strategy Meeting in China-
Sustainable Environmental Management by Coordinated Efforts in Four Areas   
(Ricoh Group /China)

"Treasure Program" helps all employees to recognize improvement opportunities and participate in sustainable environmental management.

Executives from different nations emphasize with Ricoh’s environmental management

Suggesting the importance of reflecting the results of environmental management in business performance

"Treasure Map," a tool to find opportunities for improvement of environmental impact and cost reduction

Waste found creates opportunities for improvement. The results of improvement in environmental impact and costs are made visible

To realize sustainable environmental management with the full participation of all employees, clear instructions from top management and the active involvement of each division are essential. But also important is to give each of the employees opportunities to learn how to be proactive in pursuit of sustainable environmental management in their own operations. While sustainable environmental management is indeed a corporate act, it is also an act that can be realized only by the actions of individual employees. The outcome of sustainable environmental management activities of the Ricoh Group, therefore, greatly depends on the awareness and recognition of our 100,000 plus employees around the world. Through training and awareness-raising sessions, Ricoh employees learn to become good global citizens, good Ricoh Group employees, and specialists in sustainable environmental management.

Environmental education system chart

Environmental management at the Ricoh Group has been incorporated into case study materials for the Advanced Management Program (AMP) at Harvard Business School (HBS) in Boston, in the United States.

The AMP is an intensive course that runs six days a week for eight weeks, with formatted discussions covering the latest topics in business administration and using examples of excellent management at global corporations. Most of the students on the course are in managerial positions or on the fast track to management, and they stay in accommodation on the university campus during the course, which helps them develop relationships that can prove useful in their careers. Environmental management at Ricoh was selected as the first case study, when HBS decided to incorporate a case related to sustainability and management in 2010. In March 2009, Dr. Robert Eccles, Senior Lecturer at HBS, visited Japan with the purpose of collecting data in meetings with Ricoh’s president and CEO, executives in charge of finance and environment, and specialists at the Gotemba and Numazu Plants.

Work in the classroom finally started on May 18, 2010 with case materials prepared from the data collected by Dr. Eccles on his visit to Ricoh. Tatsuo Tani, general manager of the Corporate Environment Division at Ricoh, was invited to this first class.

The students consisted of 140 executives from 40 different countries. The night before the classroom session, the students were asked to read the materials on Ricoh and participate in preliminary group discussions; so they were well prepared. The students engaged in discussions packed with acute insight regarding Ricoh’s long-term environmental impact reduction goals for 2050 and the company’s environmental management activities. Student comments, such as, “Preempting social changes in 2050 is necessary for corporations,” and “We should do a better job of telling consumers and investors how environmental management is linked to improvements in competitive strength,” showed empathy with Ricoh’s environmental management. The discussions were very substantial and provided food for thought for Ricoh in our quest to raise the level of quality management.

Mr. Tani answers questions at the HBS class.

INTERVIEW with Mr. Tani, general manager of the Corporate
Environment Division at Ricoh

As a corporate manager, it was a valuable experience for me to address and answer questions from students at Harvard Business School. I was very happy to be there and I was encouraged that the faculty at HBS, which is the pinnacle of business studies, and executives from many countries showed empathy and understanding for our environmental management as an excellent management method with a long-term perspective that far exceeds expectations. The students seemed especially impressed that Ricoh had set a mid-term goal for 2020 and numerical targets for every three years up to 2050 based on its long-tem goal for 2050 and then carried out concrete activities by incorporating them into every detail of management.

The success of the class was so great that even after it had finished, the students and professors surrounded Mr. Tani and continued to ask questions despite running late for their next class. One professor even kept saying “Great work,” and praising Ricoh saying, “America doesn’t have companies like this one! Ricoh will become a classic case study for thinking about the environment and business.” Listening to the discussions, I recognized yet again the importance of policies that link the results of environmental management to investor and customer value in the shortest time possible, reflecting the results in stock prices and business performance. Taking this issue back to Japan, we promptly started internal discussions and I have a sense that Ricoh’s corporate value will be rated even higher if we communicate more effectively with investors who lean toward short-term profits. Also, Harvard University is originally a customer of IKON Office Solutions and as a result of this event, the university showed a greater interest in products made by Ricoh, so for IKON it was also an opportunity to broaden its business from the perspective of the environment.”

[Teaching materials used at HBS (English, PDF) available]

Anyone can purchase and download the teaching materials on environmental management at Ricoh (English, PDF) used for classes at HBS at a cost of $6.95 from the Harvard Business Review online shop. If you are interested, please be sure to get your hands on an original copy.

Elementary e-learning material with English subtitles In fiscal 2006, an elementary e-learning course, "First Steps to Sustainable Environmental Management," was conducted over the in-house LAN for Ricoh employees. The curriculum covered "Companies' Missions in Global Environment Problems," "Activity Cases in Respective Divisions," as well as other subjects, and aimed to enhance understanding and awareness towards sustainable environmental management. In fiscal 2007, the program was expanded to cover employees of other Group companies in Japan. In fiscal 2008, a digested version of the elementary environmental e-learning was published in compact disc form with English subtitles and distributed outside Japan. In addition, intermediate e-learning material was developed to include such information as how to effectively incorporate environmental perspectives into daily business operations and how to evaluate the effects of sustainable environmental management. The new e-learning material has been used to train the managers and those in charge of environmental promotion in each division.

To develop personnel who can manufacture environmentally-friendly products or manage chemical substances properly at their workplaces as sustainable environmental management specialists, environment-related specialized training courses, such as LCA and recyclable design, are organized for employees.
Environment-related specialized training courses Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) (basic) Life Cycle Assessment (LCA) (application) Safety of Supplies (elementary) Safety of Supplies (advanced) Environment-Related Laws and Regulations Noise (basic) Recyclable Design Thermal Design for Office Equipment Ricoh Group's Chemical Substance Management System (outline)

Participants sharing their thoughts and feelings at Afan Woodland The seventh Ricoh parent-child nature school was held in July 2008 at Afan Woodland of Kurohime in Nagano Prefecture under the joint sponsorship of Ricoh and the C.W. Nicol Afan Woodland Trust. The aim of the two-day nature-experiencing program for Ricoh Group employees and their families was to learn the importance of nature conservation through hands-on experiences. Writer C.W. Nicol started buying parcels of land in abandoned community forests- now Afan Woodland-20 years ago, hoping to restore them to rich natural forests where wild animals and people could coexist. The 25 adults and children who participated thoroughly enjoyed the experience through activities, such as art therapy, a night hike, and a forest treasure hunt.

Masamitsu Sakurai addresses Ricoh Group employees Ricoh Group's 15th Sustainable Environmental Management Conference was held in February 2009 under the theme "Let's Accelerate Sustainable Environmental Management Now!" About 370 participants gathered at the Ricoh Ohmori Office to attend the conference. During the opening lecture, themed "Roles of Corporations in Realizing a Low-carbon Society," Masamitsu Sakuari, chairman, told the audience he expected the members to act quickly to determine the targets of the technological revolution and move on to its promotion. Shiro Kondo, president and CEO, then encouraged employees to enjoy the process of examining what each of them can do and what he/she wants to try and to put the ideas into action in his talk titled "Ricoh's Ideal Sustainable Environmental Management." Two Grand Prizes and four Encouragement Prizes were awarded in the 7th Ricoh Group Sustainable Development Awards. Upon announcement of "Treasure Program" by Ricoh Electronics (Award for Sustainable Environmental Management Improvement Activities) and " Development of OPC Compact Line" by Ricoh RS Division (Award for Innovative Process Technologies), the improvements these two Grand Prize winners achieved were also explained. In October 2008, the Second Green Communication Strategy Meeting (Promotion of Sustainable Environmental Management by the Coordinated Efforts in the Four Areas) was held at the Shanghai head office building of Ricoh China Co., Ltd.(RCN), the China Regional Headquarters, with the participation of a total of 136 people from 13 family groups in China. In the China Region, sustainable environmental management is carried out as coordinated efforts of member companies that serve in four functions, namely, development/design, procurement/production, sales/services, and logistics. At the conference, the activities of these four sections in the previous year were reported.

On Nov. 6, 2009, 17 Ricoh Group firms in China hosted the third Green Communication Strategy Meeting (Promotion of Sustainable Environmental Management by the Coordinated Efforts in the Four Areas). A total of 220 people participated in the event, which connected participants in Beijing, Shanghai, Fuzhou, and Shenzhen for a teleconference. During discussions on the main theme, "Results of CO ₂ reduction activities at each firm," officials in charge of on-site sustainable environmental management activities talked about specific activities.
The most urgent agenda now is how China will balance economic growth with environmental preservation. Ricoh Group firms—which conduct businesses in four stages: development and design, procurement and manufacturing, sales, and distribution—will cooperate in Quaternity to implement sustainable environmental management by simultaneously making a profit and contributing to environmental preservation under the motto "No growth strategy without sustainable environmental management."

(Ricoh Electronics, Inc./U.S.)

A manufacturing subsidiary in the U.S., Ricoh Electronics, Inc. (REI), has long been promoting full participation of employees in sustainable environmental management. In 2002, REI started the Treasure Program to boost the effects of such activities. In the Treasure Program, any waste ("MUDA") found in manufacturing processes and business operation is treated as "treasure" that can be turned into an opportunity for improvement ("Kaizen"). Using the Treasure Map, which lists the areas where large scales of MUDA are constantly found, including procurement, assembly, quality assurance, logistics, office operation, environmental conservation, employees look for treasures and submit a proposal for improvement. Employees at REI have found many "MUDA" items and turned them into treasure. The improvement activities carried out so far include "energy saving with skylights," "reuse of pallets," and "efficiency improvement for die-cuts." The improvement projects and their results are recorded in the Treasure Database, which is readily accessible and provides effects that would come from specific environmental impact and cost reduction activities. Based on the effects, the proposal is evaluated and "Treasure Points" are given to the proposer. Accumulated Treasure Points are converted as a bonus and paid to the employees with their regular salary. In fiscal 2008, this easy-to-understand and highly motivating system generated a total of 1,515 improvement activities, reducing 1.3 million tons of CO ₂ emissions and $2.28 million in costs. Treasure Map

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