In recent years, the values that society demands of companies have changed significantly. Unlike the past when economic values such as profitability and growth were over-emphasized, social values are increasing in importance as indicators that determine to what extent a company fulfills its social responsibilities, and in what manner it contributes to sustainable development of society.

In response to these changes, OMRON established its new corporate principles in May 2006 by reviewing and reorganizing the platform of its corporate philosophy. The new OMRON Principles are more relevant and globally acceptable. Along with announcing our new Principles, we also declared both internally and externally our Corporate Core Value, which is 'working for the benefit of society'. As the OMRON Group grows, our operations have become increasingly decentralized.

Against this backdrop, the OMRON Principles serve as the cohesive power that unites all of us at the OMRON Group, as we face an increasingly diversified basis for judgment and value perceptions. The Principles also serve as the backbone for OMRON's corporate governance.

But no matter how respectable the corporate principles are, they are only words on a page unless each and every employee can describe them in their own words and put them into action. Our people are the driving force for all of our corporate activities. Only when each and every employee of the OMRON Group puts the OMRON Principles into practice on his or her own initiative, can all Group companies assume their corporate social responsibilities (CSR).

Based on this awareness, in fiscal 2006 we concentrated on sharing and instilling the OMRON Principles among all OMRON Group employees. As a first step, we had the OMRON Principles translated into all the native languages of the countries/regions in which OMRON Group operations are based, and distributed them to all employees of each site. As the top executives of OMRON, we also visited each region in the world and spoke with many local staff members about the Principles. As a result of these discussions, we asked employees from around the world to write essays on their thoughts about the OMRON Principles. The response was much more than we initially expected, and we have introduced these essay contributions on our intranet. In Japan, workplace meetings were held at each site to better understand and implement the OMRON Principles. The participants of each workplace meeting added up to over 10,000 people, which represents nearly the entire workforce in Japan.

The main mission of the OMRON Group is to pioneer the development and supply of products and services that are essential for building a better society. At OMRON, this mission is described with the phrase 'Innovation driven by social needs'. The spirit of challenging ourselves to produce such breakthroughs has been preserved and passed on since OMRON's inception, and is a key element of our corporate DNA.

With GD2010, OMRON envisions what we call the 'Optimization Society' in which a harmonious relationship is achieved between individuals and society, between humans and the environment, and between people and machines. This new society is expected to see a growing call for safety, security, environmental conservation and healthcare. Our task is to continue addressing these emerging societal needs by creating the 'best matching of machines to people'.

More than ever, the OMRON Group will work hard to preserve and implement an effective governance system while maintaining accountability through increased transparency in its corporate management.

At OMRON we also believe that, along with strictly complying with all applicable laws, regulations and social rules, it is equally important that we respect the philosophy and values that underlie these rules.

We will never urge our employees to meet goals if it means violating laws, regulations or social rules. While ensuring this compliance among all its employees, OMRON will continue to maintain fairness and integrity in its corporate activities to meet even higher standards of business ethics.

The OMRON Group prioritizes corporate citizenship activities. At OMRON, we consider that being a corporate citizen means going far beyond simply allocating a portion of profits for philanthropic contributions. Rather, a corporate citizen is a member of society, and must responsibly play its part in the sustainable development of that society.

The global community now faces various issues related to the environment, resources, human rights, labor, diversity, population, poverty, and many others. We believe that if OMRON is to become a valued corporate citizen, it must fulfill its social responsibilities by addressing these societal challenges through business processes or by drawing on the distinctive strengths of its businesses.

Outstanding individuals and organizations have three things in common.dreams, pride and self-confidence. For the OMRON Group, it is our dream to continue realizing innovation driven by social needs. Our pride is based on contributing to the sustainable development of society by fulfilling our social responsibilities. We believe that by pursuing our dream and maintaining our pride, we will be able to earn respect from society and produce high earnings, which is a source of our self-confidence. To make the OMRON Group an organization that is filled with dreams, pride and confidence, we are determined to put the OMRON Principles firmly in place within the OMRON Group and make them deeply rooted in the mind and behavior of each and every employee, while living up to these Principles. In this way, we will be able to refine and uplift the underlying philosophy behind the OMRON Principles into the level of our corporate culture. Our goals are to achieve a status in which the OMRON Group's existence itself represents the fulfillment of CSR, and to eventually become a corporate group that is highly valued by future generations and society at large.

For this Sustainability Report, we prioritized information that we believe is important for our stakeholders, and made sure to offer such information as much as possible. We sincerely welcome any and all comments you may have about the Sustainability Report 2007 and OMRON's commitment to CSR.