Fair Business Practices
The Group emphasizes sincere relationships with stakeholders and takes the measures to promote fair business activities
and achieve sustainable corporate development as follows.
Security Export Control
As a global company that undertakes its operations within many communities around the world, the Pioneer Group hopes for the maintenance and expansion of international peace and security. Therefore, the Group regards as fundamental management principles the international consensus in security export control and compliance with every country's laws concerning the regulation of exports. In addition, Pioneer has formulated its Basic Rules on Security Export Controls under the Rules of the Pioneer Group and appointed one of its representative directors to oversee the appropriate management of export control.
Ensuring Fair Trade
To promote fair and free business practices, the Pioneer Group has established the Basic Rules on Fair Trade, which serve as the basic standard for the Pioneer Group, and subordinate rules are laid out, as necessary, in manuals to prevent acts which violate laws and regulations pertaining to competition laws, such as the unreasonable restraint of trade, unfair trading methods, and private monopolization.
In order to make these basic rules and manuals thoroughly well-known within the Pioneer Group, the Group's domestic and overseas legal departments have taken the lead in offering compliance training. These efforts have been reinforced with the holding of workshops on countering bribery and other matters as well as formulating and communicating guidelines.
Exclusion of Antisocial Forces
In the spirit of promoting fair corporate activities with respect for social norms as specified in the Pioneer Group Charter for Corporate Operations, the Pioneer Group has completely cut off all interaction with antisocial forces and groups as required by the Pioneer Group Code of Conduct in applying Pioneer Group policy on excluding antisocial forces that threaten the safety and orderliness of civil society.
In addition, we have also established the Basic Rules for Excluding Antisocial Forces, and have set up a department that presides over responses to antisocial forces, forms partnerships with external specialized agencies, shares information within the Pioneer Group, and provides thorough guidance on handling rules and communication when addressing such situations so that we respond in a lawful manner that is systematic and resolute.
Protection of Intellectual Property and Copyrights
As an important part of our strategy for expanding our business, the Pioneer Group endeavors daily to augment our intellectual property, the basis for which is appropriately maintaining and managing intellectual property acquired from research and development of technologies as well as respecting intellectual property held by others. Pioneer and its Group companies have established a copyright liaison meeting for their respective administrators of relevant departments to ensure Group-wide compliance of copyright protection technology in all Pioneer products. Furthermore, to avoid betraying the trust that customers have in the Pioneer brand, the Company’s business divisions and Intellectual Property Division work together with related departments at Group companies to eliminate counterfeit goods from the marketplace, since they threaten to damage Pioneer’s brand value and confidence.
For the benefit of the Group’s employees in Japan, the Company posted a Q&A page on its intranet bulletin board concerning the protection of copyright in operational activities. At the same time, Pioneer has set up an inquiry desk to answer employees’ questions.
Information Security and
Protection of Personal Information
Within the Rules of the Pioneer Group, the Company has formulated the Basic Rules for Information Security Management. These Rules form the basis of the Group's information security framework and outline the policies and measures to be implemented to ensure the optimal protection, utilization and management of information assets.
Pioneer has also established the Rules for Protection of Personal Information as part of the Rules of the Pioneer Group, in addition to its publicly available Privacy Policy. Group companies handle all personal information in accordance with these rules and stringently safeguard customers' interests and rights. Pioneer has never experienced a case of a deliberate leak of personal information, such as external infringements or unauthorized removal of data from the business sites of Group companies.
Crisis Control Measures
Forming a part of the Rules of the Pioneer Group, the Basic Rules for Crisis Controls have been formulated to optimize the Group's response in the event of a crisis that has the potential to seriously impact its business and operations. Chaired by a representative director, the Emergency Management Committee has been established as a permanent organization pursuant to these basic rules. In addition to overseeing the education, training and notification processes as they relate to crisis management, the Committee assigns officers, who are responsible for addressing and resolving crisis events and issues, to each division of Pioneer and each Group company. The Crisis Control Manual outlines the roles and responsibilities of each crisis management organization as well as crisis management response procedures and protocol.
In the face of such disasters as a highly virulent influenza epidemic or an earthquake of major proportions, the Pioneer Group places the utmost emphasis on ensuring the safety of human life. In this regard, and in order to ensure a swift resumption of business activities, the Pioneer Group has created a disaster manual that outlines those measures and actions to be adopted in the event of a disaster or crisis. Moreover, the Group has taken steps to secure adequate reserves of emergency food, medical and other supplies while maintaining appropriate modes of communication. These initiatives are supported with continuous emergency drills and training.
Taking into account the experiences of major disasters that have previously occurred in Japan and overseas, a Business Continuity Plan (BCP) has been established to enable the prompt restoration of operations after the safety of human life has been secured. Training based on the formulated BCP is periodically conducted to enhance its effectiveness, while improvements continue to be made on the process for its evaluation.
Policy Regarding Material Suppliers
The Pioneer Group Code of Conduct requires the Group to deal fairly with suppliers on an equal footing, in accordance with relevant laws and agreements. In addition, it requires suppliers to act with awareness of their social responsibility, observing the laws of the countries and regions where they do business and respecting international agreements of the United Nations, the International Labour Organization, the Organisation for Economic Cooperation and Development, and so on.
CSR Procurement
Suppliers are provided with the Pioneer CSR Procurement Guidelines, which are grounded in the principles of equity, fairness, environmental conservation and social responsibility. They are asked to work with the Group to raise the level of CSR procurement.
Excluding Antisocial Forces
The Pioneer Group requires that its suppliers not associate with, utilize, or provide funds to antisocial forces.
Prohibition on Bribery
We require all our employees to comply with regulations against bribery applicable in the countries where the Pioneer Group conducts business.
BCP Promotion in the Supply Chain
As a manufacturer, the Group has a responsibility to recover quickly in the event of a disaster or unforeseen circumstances to ensure business continuity and continuation of supply. Therefore, it requires each supplier to clarify its supply chain, while establishing and continually improving its BCP.
Addressing Environmental Laws and Regulations
The Pioneer Group requests that our partners make the following efforts and enhancements based on our Philosophy of Environmental Preservation whereby we hold that "maintaining, improving, and handing over the global environment to the next generation is our corporate mission."
- Construct an environment management system
- Reduce greenhouse gases
- Promote resource recycling
- Manage chemical substances
Response to Conflict Minerals
It is the Pioneer Group’s policy not to procure any components or products that use raw materials from mineral resources mined in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (DRC) and nine adjacent countries that have led to human rights violations, environmental destruction and been a source of financing for armed groups in the course of mining such raw materials. If we discover that minerals are used which serve as a source of financing for armed groups, we will take action to resolve the situation.
Policies of Responsible Mineral Procurement, such as conflict minerals
