DEI is an acronym that stands for Diversity, Equity & Inclusion. In recent years, many companies are undertaking DEI initiatives based on the growing recognition that maximizing the diverse personalities of employees in corporate management leads to higher value creation.

The Panasonic Group defines DEI as follows.

Diversity:
Embracing and respecting the individuality of each person who accepts challenges and finding value in individual differences.
Individuality can refer to internal and external aspects such as values, culture, religion, personality, experiences, sexual orientation, gender identity, race, ethnicity, nationality, language, gender, age, disabilities, health, family, socioeconomic status, educational background, work experience, and other factors.

Equity:
Seeking fairness in providing opportunities for every individual who accepts challenges.
We strive to create a workplace where the individuality of each person is taken into account, one that endeavors to provide all individuals with the opportunity to take on challenges by utilizing information, tools and systems, and where everyone is treated fairly.

Inclusion:
The potential for each person who accepts challenges to exercise their characteristics so that the organization can leverage the power of individuality.
We aim to build an inclusive culture where each person who is highly motivated to contribute to the company’s pursuit of its goals can actively participate in management and openly discuss what needs to be said, which will enable the creation of greater value.

Diversity, Equity & Inclusion (DEI) is not a whole new concept that emerged and talked about just recently. It has been rooted in the Panasonic Group itself. For contribution to people’s lives by providing useful products and services through maximizing the potentials and skills of each employee, the Group-wide Basic Business Philosophy regards DEI as part of its Philosophy and seeks further promotion.

The founder Konosuke Matsushita once had the following to say about the idea that each of us are given different heaven-sent qualities and attributes.

“As the saying goes, ‘heaven grants us but one talent.’ This means that each of us are given, without a doubt, one special ability.” In other words, everyone is different, and everyone is destined to live and work in a different way. One person’s calling may be as a politician, another as a scholar, another as an engineer, or another as a merchant. Each person is given a different mission and is equipped with different talents.

“I believe that success means to make full use of your own heaven-sent qualities as they are. This is the right way to live as a human being. By living in this way, you will find satisfaction, and at the same time enhance the results of your work, which in turn will bring joy to those around you. In that sense, this is what success as a human being means.”

Following in the footsteps of the founder, Konosuke Matsushita, we promote DEI initiatives with an emphasis on creating an environment in which each and every employee who takes on a challenge can fully demonstrate their individuality and abilities. We will continue to take on the challenge of practicing participative management based on genuine collective wisdom with a sunao (untrapped) mind for the realization of an ideal society and the further improvement of people’s well-being by squarely addressing social issues.

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The Panasonic Group has always aimed to follow the management philosophy established by its founder, Konosuke Matsushita, in all of its corporate activities.

In April 2022, we shifted to a new operating company system for the purpose of ensuring autonomous responsible management. Prior to this, we revised our Basic Business Philosophy for the first time in around 60 years to reflect the current social and business environment. The Basic Business Philosophy is the basis by which we work to achieve our business objective of contributing to the development of society. As stated in our Basic Management Objective, we will devote ourselves to the progress and development of society and the well-being of people through our business activities, thereby enhancing the quality of life throughout the world.

Each of us at Panasonic must maximize and demonstrate our abilities and skills, clearly identify our ideal end state, share opinions that should be shared, make high-quality decisions speedily by integrating different opinions from diverse employees, and make untiring improvements. By doing so, we aim to be unrivalled in contributing to our customers and society. We must always take an honest look at the current situation, and if it conflicts with the direction of society, or if there is a better way, we will not hesitate to choose a new and better path promptly. We must put these basic values and principles into practice every day. This revision is intended to re-instill these fundamental ideas and guidelines for action.

We will also promote Group-wide DEI initiatives as part of our practice of the Basic Business Philosophy.

Source: The Basic Business Philosophy of the Panasonic Group (abridged from “Introduction”)

As the Group-wide guideline of conduct, the Panasonic Leadership Principles had been established by thorough discussions both in top-down and bottom-up manners. Regardless of being a manager or not, every employee in the Group works with a sense of leadership and is engaged in this guideline of conduct during work.

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In the Panasonic Group, other than company-led activities, employees gather to form voluntary groups over divisions or positions with shared thoughts toward a better management and work environment. These communities are formed by various concepts, such as people with disabilities, gender issues, a place for people with disabilities, gender, business model construction, technology development, or simply providing places to belong.

*Employee Resource Group (ERG): Groups and organizations of employees that are active voluntarily beyond Operating Companies and divisions, sharing the same values or ideas.

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