Corporate Social Responsibility and Legal Compliance: Fujifilm

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This report provides a comprehensive analysis of Fujifilm's Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) practices, with a specific focus on its legal compliance in Australia. The report examines Fujifilm's commitment to health and safety, including its policies, the role of the Work Health and Safety Act 2011, and the company's proactive health promotion initiatives. It also delves into Fujifilm's corporate governance structure, referencing the Australian Securities Exchange (ASX) recommendations and relevant legislation like the Australian Consumer Law and the Corporations Act 2001. Furthermore, the report assesses Fujifilm's environmental legal responsibilities, highlighting its adherence to the Environment Protection and Biodiversity Conservation Act 1999 and its broader approach to sustainable development and green economy. The analysis emphasizes the interconnectedness of these legal aspects within CSR, underscoring the importance of compliance for maintaining a positive public image, attracting investors, and achieving long-term business goals. The report concludes by reinforcing the significance of a robust CSR policy for Fujifilm, ensuring the organization's success and contribution to the development of society. This report is intended for students and provides a solid understanding of the legal requirements of CSR.
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Running head: CORPORATE SOCIAL RESPONSIBILITY
Corporate Social Responsibility
Name of the Student
Name of the University
Author Note
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Corporate social responsibility is a type of self-imposed regulations which are
incorporated into a business structure. The policies of corporate social responsibility act as a self-
regulatory mechanism through which a business supervisors and ensures that compliance is made
actively with ethical standards, spirit of law an international or National norms. The purpose of
every business is to make profit which can only be insured in the long run through positive
public relations in order to enhance shareholder trust along with ethical standards to mitigate
legal and business risk by indulging in responsible corporate actions. Through the compliance
with CSR policies emphasising on the legal aspects of the policies a company can be encouraged
to have a positive effect on stakeholders of the company including employees, investors, the
society, consumers and the environment Tai and Chuang (2014). This paper discusses the key
aspects of legal component of CSR in relation to Fuji films.
The company provides based on the principles that safety is one of the core needs of a
business operation, they directs their operations for the purpose of ensuring the protection of
employees through given the utmost importance to safety measures. The company also
implements mandatory compliance with regulations and legal provisions which are in relation to
health and safety in Australia according to Blowfield and Murray (2014) a company would only
be able to provide best and safe working environment for its employees if they have the intention
of ensuring compliance with the laws related to occupational health and safety strictly. Through
the statement the company makes it clear that they have the intention and objective of providing
a safe workplace for the employees. The operations of the company are conducted based on the
health and safety policy implemented by it. The company again emphasises its intention through
the policy by stating that it considers providing a healthy and safe working environment to the
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employees as a basic and fundamental corporate activity which must be one of the top priorities
for any organization. The organization states through its policies that it provides proactive
support towards the promotion and maintenance of the health of its employees. The organization
aims to realize high quality standards as demanded by the society in relation of OHS. The
organization also aims to develop a process of smooth communication between the all companies
related to Fujifilm with respect to the OHS related matters of their employees. The organization
through its policy on OHS also emphasises on providing education and raising awareness related
to OHS.
In Australia thee organization have the legal responsibility of complying with the legislations
related to OHS provided by the commonwealth and the states. The primary legislation which
deals with OHS in Australia is the Work Health and Safety Act 2011 (WHSA). Along with the
legislation the Work Health and Safety Regulation 2011 also deal with OHS at workplace. The
major code of practice in relation to OHS in the county is the Work Health and Safety code.
Each state also have their own codes, regulations and legislations in relation to OHS. SafeWork
of each state is the regulator of OHS. The legislations set out various provisions to be followed
the organization in relation to OHS. These provisions include the primary duty of care (s 19),
duties of officers (s 27-29), health and safety committees (s 75-79), issue resolution (s 80-82),
provisional improvement notice (s 90-102), Misleading, Coercive or Discriminatory Conduct
(Part 6) and various other provisions. The regulations provide a standard which have to be
observed by the companies with respect to the provision of the legislation towards OHS.
Fujifilms have created a group wide health promotion council which included the human
resource division, and industrial doctors of the group companies along with Fujifilm Group
health insurance association. The council since it had been incorporated in July 2013 have
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directed its focus on four primary areas which include quitting smoking, prevention of overwork,
mental illness and lifestyle related diseases. The council through its activities have been able to
reduce metabolic syndrome which occurs through lifestyle related dieses from 25% to 21% from
2015-2016 with the help of diet counselling and life-style habits. The company uses Ministry of
Health, Labour and Welfare’s “STOP Falling Accidents Project in from of a reference to conduct
activities for raising awareness to prevent falling accidents. As provided by Ruggie (2014) a
good CSR policy can only be implemented if the organization not only implements it within
itself but also raises awareness about it in the society. The company ensures strict compliance
with law and in addition provides a better working environment to its employees in relation to
health and safety as prescribed by the regulations (Fujifilmholdings.com. 2017).
This section of the paper provides a discussion about the corporate/workplace governance
policies of Fujifilm in relation to its CSR. According to Fernandez et al. (2014) corporate
governance is related to establishing a balance between social and economic goals and between
communal and individual goals. The principles of corporate governance provide that the
available resources should be used in an effective manner and the stewardship in relation to such
resources has to be raised. The focus of corporate governance of a company is ensure the interest
of its shareholders and the stakeholders such as creditors and thee society as a whole. It has been
provided by Kolk (2016) that an organization cannot function effectively within having in place
a sound and appropriate corporate governance policy in relation to its functioning. Through its
website it is provided by the company that it follows a very concise and legit corporate
governance structure. Fujifilm through its policies related to corporate governance provide that
their aim is to achieve growth in a sustainable manner and enhance the value of the Group. This
is done by the organization through indulging in fair and sincere business activities which are in
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accordance to corporate visions and philosophy. In order to achieve such objectives corporate
governance has been positioned as a significant priority of the management. The company
promises through its website to utilize latest technology in order to ensure top quality in relation
to its products. The actions also ensures enhancement of technology, science, culture along with
better environmental and health protection in the society. The organization has the objective of
enhancing the quality of life of people globally. The company through its visions states that
based on its clear, fir and open culture along with latest technology it has the aim to be the
leading organization through taking up challenges of creating new value and products. In
addition the company strives to get accustomed with alterations and changes in the operation and
management of the group in order to ensure enhanced corporate value and sustainable growth.
The organization also have the objective of contributing to the development of the society by
responding to its expectations and requests.
The Australian Securities Exchange (ASX) provide Eight Recommendations in relation
to corporate governance of an organization. The first principle provides recommendations about
laying concrete foundation with respect to the management and oversight. The second principle
takes about structuring the board in such a way as to add overall value to it. The third principle
imposes an obligation to act responsibly and ethically. The forth principle provides to safeguard
integrity in relation to reporting obligations. The fifth principle is in relation to making
disclosures in a balanced and timely manner. The sixth principle imposes an obligation to respect
the rights of all shareholders. The seventh and one of the most important principle is in relation
to the recognition and management of risk related to the business. The final recommendation is
in relation to providing fair and responsible remuneration to the employees. Although these
recommendations are not compulsory to follow the ASX uses a “if not why not” approach in
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relation to all listed organizations. Fujifilm have its own corporate governance policy which is
mostly in accordance to the recommendations of the ASX (Fujifilmholdings.com 2017). In
addition in Australia Fujifilm also have to ensure compliance with the Australian Consumer
Law given through Schedule 2 of the Australian Competition and Consumer Act 2001 (Cth).
Under the same legislation the company has an obligation to retrain itself from any anti-
competitive activities. The company is Australia also has to comply with the provisions of the
Corporation Act 2001 (Cth). The legalisation sets out the basic functioning for the organizations
operating and Australia such as the duties of its directors, remedies and constitution of the
company and issue of shares and dividends.
This section of the paper deals with the environmental legal responsibility of Fujifilm in
Australia. Crane, Matten and Spence (2013) have stated that it is one of the core responsibility of
an organization to ensure the protection of the environment. The company provides through its
website that it upholds tits corporate philosophy and clarifies the approach of the group towards
CRS for the purpose of fulfilling the company’s social responsibilities which are basic to the
philosophy. The approach of the group in relation to CSR is towards contributing to sustainable
development and green economy. The company emphasizes on the fact that sustainable
development is the most significant issue in relation to the earth, the humans and all business
organization in the 21st century. The company aims to provide a forefront effort with respect
achieving its goals in relation to the environment. The company aims to provide satisfaction to
its customers as well as make contribution towards sustainable development through ensuring
appropriate environmental quality in services, products and corporate activities. In order to
reduce risks in relation to the environment the company aims to manage the chemical content in
its products in an effective manner. The organization promises to abide by its own regulations as
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well as all legislations in relation to environmental protection. The organization also takes active
part in community activities to enhance the environment by collaborating with the government
and business partners. The company has set targets for its self in the long run in relation to
enhancing the environment. These targets include resolving issues related to energy, CO2
emissions and water resources (Fujifilmholdings.com. 2017). The primary legalisation which
deals with the environment is Australia is the Environment Protection and Biodiversity
Conservation Act 1999. The legislation sets out strict guidelines to be followed by organizations
in relation to activities which can have an effect on the environment.
According to Kolk (2016) the legal component in relation to CSR is mandatory for any
organization to follow in order to ensure that it has a sound and effective CSR policy. In order to
cover the legal aspect of CSR the three basic areas of law discussed above namely Health and
safety law, corporate law and environmental law have to be given significant relevance. Suliman
et al. (2016) highlights that all areas of law in retain to corporate social responsibility of an
organization are inter-related and the non-compliance with such areas not only results in
violation of the principles of CSR but also legal provisions which have significant consequences
in relation to the organization. Noncompliance with any legal area not only subjects the
organization to financial risks but also to the risk of losing out reputation and value in the
society. Goodwill is a significant asset to any organization and a reduction of reputation of the
organization in the society is bound to take place if it is identified that the organization is
indulging in the violation of laws. The investors would not like to invest in an organization
which has a bad public reputation. Therefore the legal aspects of CSR has to be complied with by
any organisation in order to achieve its business goals. Through the above discussion it can be
evidently provided that Fujifilm have a very sound CSR policy in relation to the Corporate,
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health and safety and environmental law. However the organization must ensure the
development of such polices in order to adopt with the changing legal environment.
References
Blowfield, M. and Murray, A., 2014. Corporate responsibility. Oxford University Press.
Crane, A., Matten, D. and Spence, L.J., 2013. Corporate social responsibility in a global context.
Fernandez-Feijoo, B., Romero, S. and Ruiz, S., 2014. Commitment to corporate social
responsibility measured through global reporting initiative reporting: Factors affecting the
behavior of companies. Journal of Cleaner Production, 81, pp.244-254.
Fujifilmholdings.com. (2017). [Priority issue 1] Raise Compliance Awareness and Ensure Risk
Management: Outline of Activities in FY2015:Ocupational Health and Safety/Promotion of
Health | FUJIFILM Holdings. [online] Available at:
https://www.fujifilmholdings.com/en/sustainability/valuePlan2016/process/policy03/
cprm2016/03.html [Accessed 30 Sep. 2017].
Fujifilmholdings.com. (2017). Green Policy (Environmental Policy) | FUJIFILM Holdings.
[online] Available at: http://www.fujifilmholdings.com/en/sustainability/vision/greenpolicy/
[Accessed 30 Sep. 2017].
Fujifilmholdings.com. (2017). Our Basic Policy on Corporate Governance | FUJIFILM
Holdings. [online] Available at:
https://www.fujifilmholdings.com/en/about/governance/framework/index.html [Accessed 30
Sep. 2017].
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Kolk, A., 2016. The social responsibility of international business: From ethics and the
environment to CSR and sustainable development. Journal of World Business, 51(1), pp.23-34.
Ruggie, J.G., 2014. Global governance and “new governance theory”: Lessons from business
and human rights. Global Governance, 20(1), pp.5-17.
Suliman, A.M., Al-Khatib, H.T. and Thomas, S.E., 2016. Corporate Social
Responsibility. Corporate Social Performance: Reflecting on the Past and Investing in the
Future, p.15.
Tai, F.M. and Chuang, S.H., 2014. Corporate social responsibility. Ibusiness, 6(03), p.117.
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