Passing On Our Social Mission
The NYK Group mission statement of “Bringing value to life” originates from the words of Mitsubishi Group founder Yataro Iwasaki.
“If we float a ship, it will bring more value to the world, and the benefits will fall on the heads of all the people.” (Paraphrased translation by NYK)
The NYK Group has inherited a sense of mission that entails helping enrich day-to-day life by taking a broad view of society rather than focusing exclusively on Group profits.
Aiming to realize this mission, we are accelerating efforts to both better understand and fulfill our responsibilities with respect to the human rights of everyone affected by our business activities.
Yuichi Suzuki, manager of the ESG Communication Team, recounts recent developments.
“Until now, individual divisions have taken steps to improve their working environments. However, in April 2022 NYK launched the Human Rights Project to enable Companywide initiatives.”
Belonging to the same team, Hiroshi Horie continues the explanation.
“Many see human rights as a challenging topic, but we view it as an opportunity to engage in dialogues with all rights-holders*1 on an equal footing.”
In the field of human rights, NYK has been a pioneer among Japanese companies. For example, we became a signatory to the United Nations Global Compact in 2006, when only a few companies had endorsed it. As a further example, since 2012 we have participated in a stakeholder engagement program*2 hosted by the nonprofit organization Caux Round Table Japan (CRT Japan). Moreover, this organization is currently a consultant in our Human Rights Project.
Advancing a PDCA Management Cycle Based on Direct Dialogues
Horie summarizes the team’s approach to the Human Rights Project.
“We never visit with the intention of conducting an audit. Instead, we try to engage as much as possible in direct dialogues with rights-holders on an equal footing. When employees have a sense of purpose and become more motivated about their work, the vitality of workplaces increases. In turn, this improvement strengthens the Company as an organization. With this in mind, we carry out day-to-day duties in order to create workplaces where all employees are involved in enhancing the corporate value of the NYK Group and realizing the Company’s mission. To this end, we advance in unison by following a set of processes and addressing the issues identified.”
In realizing the above approach, members of the Human Rights Project are taking measures based on the United Nations Guiding Principles on Business and Human Rights (UNGPs), formulated in 2011. In addition, CRT Japan is helping the team ensure that appropriate measures are taken.
In 2022, NYK conducted a human rights risk assessment designed by Verisk Maplecroft.*3 Also, human rights due diligence workshops have been held for managers of relevant in-house departments. As a result, we have identified five human rights categories in our value chain. In 2022 and 2023, human rights issues were identified by visiting India, Bangladesh, and the Philippines to conduct interviews with rights-holders belonging to three of the categories: workers in the automobile logistics business, workers at ship recycling yards, and seafarers in the oceangoing shipping industry. Going forward, we will follow up on the issues identified in these three categories. At the same time, interviews will be conducted to determine the status of issues in the remaining two human rights categories.
Serving as a third-party organization, CRT Japan conducts on-site interviews together with local partners.
Miho Okada of CRT Japan explains her main considerations when arranging interviews.
“As interviews must be held in local languages, we carefully search for local partners. While interviewers must be able to understand business and human rights and expertly assess the situations of rights-holders in the context of both international standards and domestic laws, it is even more important that interviewers have a personality that is akin to that of a father, mother, or brother; puts rights-holders at ease; and encourages them to confide concerns. In other words, for these interviews finding partners who can earn the trust of those in vulnerable positions and elicit their true feelings is critical.”
In the project, CRT Japan sometimes reports the results of interviews to the relevant NYK Group companies and business partners. The reports comprise points for improvement and issues that have been identified by experts with reference to rights-holders’ opinions. Okada feels that the project is progressing thanks to joint efforts.
“The NYK Group has a long history, and many of its suppliers represent their countries and operate on a scale that directly affects the lives of the people in those countries. In some cases, the suppliers work to enrich the people of the country and implement initiatives aimed at supporting the nation through businesses. Such companies understand our human rights goals and philosophy. In my opinion, they are cooperative with regard to interviews and very quick to grasp the issues we report. The project has moved forward at high speed thanks to relationships with people who share the ‘Bringing value to life’ philosophy, not only in Japan but also around the world.”
On occasion, NYK Group companies and business partners are puzzled by the reports and improvement suggestions they receive from CRT Japan. However, precisely such reactions are indicative of gaps in awareness between management and workers, who are rights-holders. The realization that management initiatives have not been communicated in ways satisfactory to both workers and management offers opportunities for the creation of new improvement activities.
Important lessons are learned by proceeding through a set of processes aimed at resolving previously unnoticed issues and concerns one by one. Sharing these lessons within the NYK Group and with its business partners will raise the basic level of initiatives as a whole. For this reason, we will pay close attention to feedback from each individual, ascertain the circumstances of and reasons for the human rights issues that come to light, and steadily advance a plan–do–check–act (PDCA) management cycle. We will unstintingly devote time and effort to this task to make solid steps toward finding and resolving further issues. Horie is enthusiastic about and committed to the project.
“Rather than sending people to every base at the same time, we place importance on taking the time to carefully improve each base. For any issue discovered through the advancement of a PDCA management cycle, we consider and then implement countermeasures. We then examine their outcomes and again proceed through said cycle. No matter how small the issues are, we must steadily work through PDCA management cycles for all of them. The basic task of the Human Rights Project is to gather examples of best practice, accumulate know-how in the NYK Group on dealing with human rights issues, and eventually create a system for the autonomous circulation of this know-how within each division.”
Identifying the Essence of Human Rights
Okada provides a simple definition of human rights.
“Respecting Human Rights is, in a nutshell, whether people can say ‘I am happy’ with a smile when she/he is asked if she/he is happy or not. One of the first members of the United Nations Working Group on the issue of human rights and transnational corporations and other business enterprises described what it means for people to have their human rights respected in this way. I believe that is, in fact, the essence of human rights.”
This definition gave Suzuki insight into human rights concepts. When preparing to explain the Human Rights Project to Filipino seafarers in November 2023, he realized that he had never been particularly conscious of human rights in his previous work environments. He pondered how to convincingly explain the project to seafarers who worked in a different culture and society. Even after referring to the Universal Declaration of Human Rights of the United Nations and the words of great leaders in the human rights initiatives of the past, he still had not internalized human rights concepts to the point where he could convey them to others in his own words. Suzuki recalls his initial difficulties.
“After much deliberation, I consulted with Ms. Okada and arrived at the word ‘smile.’ Being able to work with a smile on your face and keep in touch with your family on a daily basis means that human rights are being respected. I believe that making these conditions a premise and goal of joint efforts to resolve dilemmas and problems will put smiles on the faces of the rights-holders engaged in our businesses.”
Okada, who attended the presentation of the Human Rights Project in the Philippines, shares her impressions.
“When I saw the reactions of seafarers during the presentation, I felt that the word ‘smile’ was meeting with complete assent and really resonating with them. I think the goal of this project is to bring about smiles in the working environments of those engaged in the NYK Group’s businesses so that employees then encourage their own children to also become members of the Group in the future.”
Developing a Mutual Understanding That “Multiplies” Capabilities
Suzuki has high hopes for the Human Rights Project.
“Even within the Company, the project remains limited to the activities of a very small number of people. The question is how to encourage the employees of divisions and Group companies to own human rights issues. We know that opinions differ depending on each individual’s position. I hope that awareness of and attitudes to human rights will change as we spread the word about the social trends and the project we are advancing.”
Okada also sets out the permeation of a human rights-focused mindset as the next challenge. “I sometimes feel the difficulty of disclosing information. In certain countries and regions, when identifying and addressing human rights issues, the focus tends to be on ‘what we are not doing at present’ rather than on ‘what we can do going forward.’ Unfortunately, this approach may lead to a sense of shame about exposing human rights issues, or to concern that information on ‘what we are not doing at present’ could be used as the basis of lawsuits. In considering human rights issues in businesses, however, we can go beyond such approaches by first identifying the issues and then showing our commitment to plans for addressing them. Favorable evaluations of such commitment can establish a company’s legitimacy in the eyes of many stakeholders. If the NYK Group actively discloses initiatives aimed at uncovering human rights issues, advancing countermeasures that involve the entire Group and its suppliers, and fulfilling the Group’s mission, and if these initiatives receive appropriate external evaluations from stakeholders around the world, mindsets in relation to identifying and addressing human rights issues will change both inside and outside the Company. This approach will, in turn, extend the scope of the NYK Group’s positive impacts on society as a whole. I believe that the pursuit of such positive impacts can be integrated into the core of the NYK Group’s mission of ‘Bringing value to life.’”
The relationship of trust between NYK and CRT Japan is enabling the synergistic “multiplication” of capabilities rather than their simple “addition.”
Horie describes the complementary relationship between the two organizations.
“Frequent discussions with Ms. Okada and the other members of CRT Japan are steadily deepening our understanding of human rights. I have a real sense of NYK, which is thoroughly familiar with its businesses, and CRT Japan, which is well versed in human rights and acts as a ‘critical friend,’ learning about each other’s fields while working as a team to address human rights in businesses. Working in partnership in this way is heightening our motivation even further.”
For example, NYK’s oceangoing shipping business encompasses various countries. Often, seafarers are from countries other than the ship’s country of registry. This raises questions about which country seafarers are deemed to be working in and whether they should be considered foreign national workers or immigrant workers. Other questions include whether human rights issues that are generally treated as areas of concern should be similarly treated when considering such seafarers. Okada emphasizes the value of joint efforts.
“We can only determine which human rights issues are of concern once we understand the characteristics of businesses. I am very grateful that the team has asked us to work with them on this challenging task. The team is deepening the significance of the project by working closely with us both to deliberate matters and to educate us about businesses.”
While utilizing their respective areas of expertise in the fields of business and human rights, NYK and CRT Japan are actively furthering their understanding of each other’s fields as they work together on the project.
As the nature of happiness differs from person to person, the environment that elicits a smile depends on the person. Naturally, some issues take time to resolve. However, Suzuki is not discouraged. “Even though progress may be gradual, we will begin by tackling the things that can be done right now. Without becoming too daunted by the theme of human rights, we want to increase the number of partners who join hands with us.”
The project team is determined to advance the project without making any compromises, and they are fully committed to supporting the happiness of all stakeholders involved in the NYK Group, each of whom is “happy.”
(Interview January 11, 2024)
- *1 Rights-holder
Groups and stakeholders who may be affected by corporate activities - *2 Stakeholder engagement program
Through this program, representatives of companies, nongovernmental organizations, nonprofit organizations, academic institutions, and other bodies discuss the human rights due diligence required by the UN Guiding Principles on Business and Human Rights. - *3 Verisk Maplecroft
A leading global risk analytics, research, and strategic forecasting company