Corporate Environmental Management Project Report

CSR Strategies for SONY

(With Reference to Indian Electronics
Industry)

Submitted By:
Sandeep Srivastava
Roll No. 09, ISEM-05
NITIE - Mumbai

Guided By:
Prof. Shirish Sangle

National Institute of Industrial Engineering

Mumbai – 400 087
 CSR Strategies for SONY

December 2006

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1. Table of Contents:
CSR Strategies for SONY.............................................................................1
1. Table of Contents:...................................................................................3
2. Introduction:............................................................................................4
3. About SONY Group:.................................................................................5
4. CSR View of SONY:..................................................................................5
5. Management-oriented CSR Practices:.....................................................5
5.1 Corporate Governance:......................................................................5
5.2 Compliance:.......................................................................................6
5.3 Supply Chain Management:...............................................................6
6. People-oriented CSR Practices:................................................................6
6.1 For Shareholders:...............................................................................6
6.2 For Customers: ..................................................................................6
6.3 For Employees: .................................................................................7
6.4 For the Community: ..........................................................................8
7. Sony Group Environmental Vision:..........................................................8
7.1 Approaches to Environmental Issues:................................................8
7.2 Approach to Business Activities:........................................................9
7.3 Energy Saving and Resource Conservation:.......................................9
7.4 Management of Chemical Substances in Products:..........................10
7.5 Reduction of Environmental Impact in Logistics:.............................10
7.6 Environmentally Conscious Products and Services:.........................10
7.7 Product Recycling:...........................................................................10
7.8 Global Warming Prevention Measures at Sites:................................10
7.9 Resource Conservation at Sites:......................................................10
7.10 Chemical Substance Management at Sites:...................................11
7.11 Natural Environmental Conservation at Sites:................................11
8. The Way Forward:..................................................................................11
8.1 Reversing the Adversity of Outsourcing:..........................................11
8.2 Better Management of E-waste:.......................................................11
8.3 Trade Union of Professionals:...........................................................12
8.4 Safety of Female Employees:...........................................................12
8.5 Narrowing the Digital Divide:...........................................................12
8.6 Responsible Content Use and Privacy of Data:................................13
8.7 Crisis Management:.........................................................................13
8.8 Trade-in and Take-back Option:.......................................................13
8.9 Green Building Design:....................................................................14
8.10 Sustainable Food Service:..............................................................14
8.11 Employee Travel:...........................................................................14
8.12 Female Representation:.................................................................14
9. Conclusion:............................................................................................15
10. References:.........................................................................................16

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2. Introduction:
Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) can be defined as the set of
practices and behaviours that firms adopt towards their labour force,
towards the environment in which their operations are embedded, towards
authority, and towards civil society. This definition of CSR focuses
primarily on what firms actually do in these domains as opposed to what
they ought to do. It is the product of ongoing interactions between the
state, firms, and other civil society actors. CSR as a philosophy and
practice is not a new concept within India. Combining profit-making and
profit-sharing, business practices founded on ethics, and a commitment
towards community have been long-standing characteristics of the
business world, although not necessarily practiced consistently. Originally
considered an extraneous practice, the role of CSR has evolved
considerably over the years, and is considered by some to be a well-
integrated component of business practice. For many, CSR is still
perceived as a philanthropic practice, but gradually perceptions of CSR as
more than an aspect of the philosophy of business are gaining prevalence.
However, CSR can be an effective business strategy, in which all
stakeholders share a common goal of achieving working conditions that
are safe, secure, and legal, while being simultaneously profitable.

With the recent economic development in India, traditional sectors are

becoming more and more diversified. For example, the electronics sector
is now commonly divided into the following groups: consumer electronics,
electronics instrumentation, telecom equipments and cables, electronic
components, and computer hardware. The nature of diversity in this one
sector requires a careful examination of the scope for CSR as a
philosophy, strategy, and methodology for better business practices. The
immense possibilities of the electronics sector, and the engagement of
stakeholders at various levels, reinforce the importance of CSR and CSR
awareness in this sector. CSR should not be viewed just as a philanthropic
practice within the electronics sector, but rather as an evolving process
suited to the nature of business within this sector. CSR in relation to
policies and practices in the electronic hardware and manufacturing sector
has a serious impact on a large segment of unorganised workforce
employed within this sector directly or indirectly. Similarly, e-waste
management falls under the realm of CSR in this sector. The ways in which
CSR is being integrated into the electronics sector vary because the issues
and needs within this sector are so dynamic. CSR not only pertains to what
the corporations do and how, but also pertains to the development of
relationships between stakeholders. The future of CSR in the electronics
sector will be largely based upon how the sector itself develops.

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3. About SONY Group:

The Sony Group is primarily focused on the Electronics (such as IT
products & components), Game (such as PlayStation), Entertainment (such
as motion pictures and music), and Financial Services (such as insurance
and banking) sectors. Not only does it represent a wide range of
businesses, but also it remains globally unique. Its aim is to fully leverage
this uniqueness in aggressively carrying out our convergence strategy so
that it can continue to emotionally touch and excite its customers [10].

4. CSR View of SONY:

The core responsibility of the Sony Group to society is to pursue the
enhancement of corporate value through innovation and sound business
practices. The Sony Group recognizes that its businesses have direct and
indirect impact on the societies in which it operates. Sound business
practices require that business decisions give due consideration to the
interests of Sony stakeholders, including shareholders, customers,
employees, suppliers, business partners, local communities and other
organizations. The Sony Group will endeavor to conduct its business
accordingly [1].

5. Management-oriented CSR
Practices:
Sony celebrates the 60th anniversary of its founding in 2006. With this
history, Sony’s management has brought about various CSR initiatives as
a part of its commitment for sustainable society. Sony has witnessed
plethora of changes in its management structure to achieve its CSR
objectives.

5.1 CORPORATE GOVERNANCE:

Sony is committed to strong corporate governance. As a part of this effort,
Sony adopted a ‘Company with Committees’ corporate governance system
under the Japanese Company Law. In addition to complying with the
requirements of laws and regulations, Sony also has introduced its own
mechanisms to help make its governance system even more sound and
transparent, including strengthening the separation of the Director’s
function from that of management and advancing the proper functioning
of the statutory committees. Under this system, the Board of Directors
defines the respective areas for which each Corporate Executive Officer is
responsible and delegates to them decision making authority to manage
the business, thereby promoting the prompt and efficient management of
the Sony Group.

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5.2 COMPLIANCE:
Ethical business conduct and compliance with applicable laws and
regulations are fundamental aspects of Sony’s corporate culture. To this
end, Sony has established a Compliance Office at its corporate
headquarters and regional offices around the world, adopted and
implemented the Sony Group Code of Conduct, in order to reinforce the
company’s worldwide commitment to integrity and help assure resources
are available for employees to raise concerns or seek guidance about legal
and ethical matters.

5.3 SUPPLY CHAIN MANAGEMENT:

Sony bases its selection of suppliers and OEM suppliers on objective
standards. Sony expects these parties to comply with applicable laws,
respect human rights, protect the environment and adhere to the Sony
Group’s basic policies on the safety of products and services. Sony is
committed to fair business practices, transparency and equal opportunity
in its procurement operations. In Sony’s procurement operations, fair
business practices mean purchasing according to established policies and
procedures; transparency means not acting arbitrarily; and equal
opportunity means providing all suppliers with a level playing field. Sony
believes it is essential to develop bonds of mutual trust.

6. People-oriented CSR Practices:

Sony’s stakeholder mainly involves its shareholders, customers,
employees and community and it adopts various practices to cater the
CSR needs of all its stakeholders to the best possible way.

6.1 FOR SHAREHOLDERS:

Sony strives to provide timely, compliant, full, fair, accurate and
understandable disclosure of corporate information to shareholders and
investors worldwide and proactively communicates with them through its
investor relations (IR) activities.

6.2 FOR CUSTOMERS:

Customers form a vital audience of CSR initiative in Sony and it adopts
chiefly two strategies to cater them:

6.2.1 PRODUCT QUALITY AND CUSTOMER SATISFACTION:

Sony is wholeheartedly committed to improving product and service
quality from the customer’s viewpoint. Sony’s goal is to gain its
customers’ total trust, confidence and satisfaction. Since the start of its
operations, Sony has considered customer satisfaction (CS) as

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fundamental to its operations and has therefore given top priority to

providing customer-oriented products and services.

6.2.2 MAKING PRODUCTS EASIER TO USE:

With technological innovation, products are becoming increasingly
advanced and multifunctional while at the same time also becoming more
complicated. Accordingly, Sony has identified ‘usability’ as an essential
aspect of product quality and is taking steps aimed at making it easier for
people to use Sony products and services.

6.3 FOR EMPLOYEES:

As of the end of fiscal 2005, the total number of Sony Group employees
was approximately 158,500. Sony has undertaken various CSR measures
for its employees like:

6.3.1 EMPLOYMENT AND EMPLOYEE–MANAGEMENT RELATIONS:

It is the policy of the Sony Group to adopt sound labor and employment
practices and to treat its employees at all times in accordance with the
applicable laws and regulations of the countries and regions in which it
operates. Sony also values communication between management and
employees, which is essential in conveying management policies to
employees and encouraging employees to voice their opinions. All
workplaces around the world share common policies and visions while
respecting the diverse cultures and practices of the countries and regions
in which they operate.

6.3.2 DIVERSITY AND EQUAL OPPORTUNITIES:

Sony is committed to respecting human rights and providing equal
opportunities. To this end, Sony is focusing on promoting diversity among
its personnel as a significant component of CSR and believes firmly in the
importance of understanding and reflecting diverse views in its business
operations. The Sony Group Code of Conduct enacted in May 2003
establishes the following general provisions as the basis for human rights
related rules and activities throughout the Group:
 Equal employment opportunities
 Prohibition of forced and child labor
 Sound employment/working conditions
 Safe, healthy, efficient work environments free from discrimination

6.3.3 HUMAN RESOURCES SYSTEM AND PERSONNEL DEVELOPMENT:

Sony aims to build an appealing workplace that inspires the fulfillment of
the creative and innovative potential of all Sony employees. Sony also
strives to provide employees with sufficient opportunities, education and
training like:
 Employee Opinion Surveys
 Work-Life Balance
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 Awards for Employees Contributing to the Creation of Sony Value

 Developing Future Business Leaders
 Fostering Local Leaders
 Employee Training Designed to Satisfy a Variety of Needs

6.3.4 WORK ENVIRONMENT AND OCCUPATIONAL HEALTH & SAFETY:

Sony strives to adopt sound labor and employment practices and to
maintain a healthy, safe and productive work environment. It has taken
initiatives for risk assessment of workplaces and combating HIV/AIDS
among its employees and community members.

6.4 FOR THE COMMUNITY:

Community-initiatives form an integral part of any CSR leader and Sony
also practices different measure to address many of the community-based
CRS issues.

6.4.1 SOCIAL CONTRIBUTION ACTIVITIES:

Sony undertakes a wide variety of social contribution activities in fields in
which it is best able to do so, to help address the needs of communities in
regions around the world where Sony conducts business. Some of the
Employee Volunteer Initiatives are:
 Someone Needs You [1]
 Sony Matching Gift Program [1]

6.4.2 LOCAL INVOLVEMENT:

With the goal of fostering positive relationships with the communities in
which they operate, Sony Group companies, offices and foundations
engage in a variety of activities to address local needs and encourage
employees to play an active role in their communities through an
extensive employee volunteer activity support system.

7. Sony Group Environmental Vision:

The Sony Group Environmental Vision presents a vision and basic
approaches for environmental management activities throughout the
global Sony Group with the aim of creating a sustainable society. It utilizes
eco-efficiency to manage progress toward the target.

7.1 APPROACHES TO ENVIRONMENTAL ISSUES:

Sony recognizes how closely linked its business activities are to
environmental issues, on the global as well as regional levels and is
committed to applying the following strategic approaches to the four key
environmental issues outlined below.

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7.1.1 GLOBAL WARMING:

Sony is committed to reducing energy consumption and emissions of
greenhouse gases generated by business activities throughout the life
cycle of Sony products and services.

7.1.2 NATURAL RESOURCES:

Sony will continue to improve resource productivity in its manufacturing
processes. Efforts will include reducing the volume of materials and water
consumed and recycling and reusing these and other resources wherever
possible.

7.1.3 MANAGEMENT OF CHEMICAL SUBSTANCES:

Sony will maintain strict control over the chemical substances it uses,
while taking steps wherever possible to reduce, substitute and eliminate
the use of substances that are potentially hazardous to the environment.

7.1.4 NATURAL ENVIRONMENT:

Sony recognizes the importance of maintaining the earth’s biodiversity by
protecting the ecosystems that make up the earth’s forests and oceans
and the wildlife they sustain, and will take constructive steps wherever
possible to contribute to the preservation of the natural environment.

7.2 APPROACH TO BUSINESS ACTIVITIES:

Sony is committed to a program of continuous improvement of global
environmental management systems throughout the entire business
cycle. The cycle begins with the initial planning for new business activities
and continues through the product and service development, marketing,
product use, after-sales services, disposal and recycling phases. The Sony
Group Environmental Vision defines Sony’s approach to the following
eleven topics:
 Compliance with regulations
 Corporate citizenship
 Disclosure of information and effective corporate communications
 Education
 Business planning
 Research and development
 Planning and design of products and services
 Parts and materials procurement
 Site management
 Distribution, sales, marketing and after-sales service
 Post-use resource management

7.3 ENERGY SAVING AND RESOURCE CONSERVATION:

Sony continues to implement measures aimed at reducing the
environmental impact of its products throughout their life cycles. These

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measures encompass performing life cycle assessments at the planning,

design and engineering stages, setting targets for reducing power
consumption and resource use, and testing to gauge progress at various
stages up to and including shipment.

7.4 MANAGEMENT OF CHEMICAL SUBSTANCES IN PRODUCTS:

Sony recognizes the importance of efficient supply chain management in
facilitating management of chemical substances in its products.
Accordingly, Sony has deployed an advanced management system to
facilitate the control, reduction or elimination of a range of hazardous
chemical substances.

7.5 REDUCTION OF ENVIRONMENTAL IMPACT IN LOGISTICS:

Sony is working to reduce the environmental impact arising from the
transportation of parts and products by realizing a modal shift, improving
packing procedures and increasing transportation efficiency.

7.6 ENVIRONMENTALLY CONSCIOUS PRODUCTS AND SERVICES:

Sony designs its products from two perspectives, which are to provide
greater pleasure and exert less of an impact on the environment. Through
its unique ideas and innovative technologies, Sony creates products that
offer new ways to have fun and give better image and sound quality, while
providing greater stamina. At the same time, Sony also creates better
ways to be environmentally conscious.

7.7 PRODUCT RECYCLING:

With the aim of effectively using limited resources and respecting the
principle of extended producer responsibility, Sony is tasked with the
collection and recycling of end-of-life products. Sony is committed to
developing new recycling systems tailored to the requirements of different
regions and countries.

7.8 GLOBAL WARMING PREVENTION MEASURES AT SITES:

Sony is making extensive efforts to reduce its emissions of greenhouse
gases, which contribute to global warming. At all of Sony’s sites, energy is
used efficiently, energy conservation is promoted and renewable forms of
energy that do not emit greenhouse gases are being introduced.

7.9 RESOURCE CONSERVATION AT SITES:

Sony sites pursue various ways to use resources efficiently while also
reducing waste generation. The goal is to utilize a range of recycling
methods to achieve zero landfill waste.

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7.10CHEMICAL SUBSTANCE MANAGEMENT AT SITES:

Recognizing the potential long-term impact of chemical substances, Sony
is striving to achieve unequivocal, sustained reductions in the use and
emissions of certain chemical substances that may be hazardous to the
environment as well as people. Sony is also continually looking for
substances to use as alternatives.

7.11NATURAL ENVIRONMENTAL CONSERVATION AT SITES:

Sony is taking steps to reduce the environmental impact of its business
activities. At the same time, it is working to preserve the environment
surrounding its sites by cooperating with local communities in such areas
as resource recycling, greening and ecosystem protection.

8. The Way Forward:

Sony is undoubtedly one of the leaders following best CSR practices all
over the globe, but as the same time it can keep on adapting to upcoming
sustainability changes and updating its CSR offerings. There are many CSR
strategies that Sony can adopt to cater to the needs of the stakeholders of
electronics industry.

8.1 REVERSING THE ADVERSITY OF OUTSOURCING:

Traditional mindset says that outsourcing and CSR doesn’t go hand-in-
hand. As the business of outsourcing has boomed, the transfer of service
jobs to low-cost providers in developing country like India emerged as a
hot-button issue. As a result, employees, unions, and consumers voiced
anger and concern over the loss of domestic jobs. Sony is also in the
process of shifting many of its manufacturing operations to India mainly
because of the availability of the cheap labour. So, Sony can participate in
off shoring and yet can achieve public commitment to CSR. It can make
sure that none of its employees would suffer involuntary redundancy, and
that anyone interested would be given assistance in retraining, finding a
new position within Sony, or finding a position elsewhere. In case, some
other corporate is outsourcing some of its non-core processes to Sony
(e.g., Apple laptops use batteries of Sony), Sony can acquire the unit doing
that job previously and make it a wholly owned subsidiary. This case of
reverse investment by Sony can create a significant local employment
opportunity that can further be enhanced by upgrading the existing
facilities [6].

8.2 BETTER MANAGEMENT OF E-WASTE:

Growth in electronics industry has resulted in rapid increase in the use and
disposal of electronic products. As a result, huge quantity of e-waste has
been generated. Sony can take significant steps to handle this problem.

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Recovery recyclers, who collect the e-waste, are primarily in the informal
sector. Their methods, processes, and disposal methods are not
environmentally or socially responsible. Sony can help such recovery
recyclers in organising themselves and can provide them with training
related to state-of-art practices on collection and segregation of e-waste
as only a small part of e-waste is hazardous so its segregation from non-
hazardous is a crucial activity. Moreover, Sony should sell its in-house e-
waste not on the basis of who offers the best price but instead on the
basis of whose recovery and recycling is done in an environmentally or
socially sound manner [6].

8.3 TRADE UNION OF PROFESSIONALS:

Sony can facilitate its R&D employees and other employees related to
non-manufacturing domain to form a trade union of professionals and get
it affiliated with Registrar of Trade Unions. This will help these workers to
put their issues before the management in much more comprehensive and
transparent way and will help Sony to understand the work-related
problems of this segment, which generally do not get due considerations.
This can be implemented in similar way as what has been done for the
Union of ITES Professionals, first of its kind in India [12].

8.4 SAFETY OF FEMALE EMPLOYEES:

Sony is a research-driven organisation and a good percentage of the
workforce comprises of the female population. There are incidents of rape
and tragic murder of female employees when they used to board for their
workplaces. Sony can realize the importance of self-defence and assist its
employees in handling any situation. Female employees can be trained to
cope with variety of situations such as sexual harassment and robbery.
Moreover, Sony can implement pre-employment screening of all vendors,
including drivers of their cabs, and can share digitised record and radio
frequency with police [13] [14].

8.5 NARROWING THE DIGITAL DIVIDE:

The digital divide threatens global and national social equity due to the
restricted access to educational, health and enterprise opportunities that
results from limited or nonexistent access to technology. This issue will
affect all sectors of the industry and all sectors should address it. In this
context, Sony is being required to provide access to technology to under-
served communities (usually poor and rural communities) as part of its
CSR initiative. The undeserved sector of society forming the bottom of the
pyramid represents a massive potential market for Sony that it can tap by
such initiatives [5].

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8.6 RESPONSIBLE CONTENT USE AND PRIVACY OF DATA:

In the information age, sensitive and confidential data is routinely stored
in or transmitted across computer networks. And hence it becomes
ethically important for equipment manufacturers to ensure the safety of
such data. Consumer trust and confidence is critical to Sony's business
and hence a core component of Sony's CSR policy can be to create
products that protect data. At the same time, Sony can design its offerings
in such a way to ensure customer privacy, protection of computers from
viruses and prevention of human rights violations through abuse of data.
The objective is not only to meet the legal requirements for managing
private information, but also to understand the attitudes and expectations
of our stakeholders on privacy and security issues related to Sony's
business. By engaging stakeholders in this way, Sony can adjust its
policies and practices for managing these issues as the environment and
expectations change [2].

8.7 CRISIS MANAGEMENT:

Sony is basically a manufacturing-based organisation and hence its
operations as well as stakeholders are prone to many natural disasters like
earthquake, tsunami, floods, etc. In this regard, Sony can have a
multifaceted plan to respond consistently and effectively to any kind of
event, from a local site emergency to a large-scale community disaster to
a health pandemic. They can have a Safety and Security Team that is
responsible for day-to-day monitoring of events that may adversely affect
the well being, safety and security of employees, customers and
stakeholders. These situations include fire alarms, crimes in progress,
bomb threats, and suspicious odours. There could also be a Theatre Crisis
Management Team to respond to situations within a geographical region
that pose threats to employees, property, critical business functions,
customers, or the community. Threats could include events involving
injuries to multiple employees, severe weather and earthquakes, power
outages, and other crises affecting multiple buildings.

8.8 TRADE-IN AND TAKE-BACK OPTION:

As a part of its CSR philosophy, Sony can allow customers to trade in old
Sony products for credit toward the purchase of new Sony products. This
would encourage customers to return used equipment to Sony for
recovery or recycling in efficient and environmental-friendly way. Through
this program, customers with no plans to purchase new Sony products or
to use trade-in credits can still send equipment to Sony for proper
treatment, recovery, recycling, and environmentally sound disposal.
Moreover, Sony can refurbish many of these activities and then can
donate it for charity purpose to the needful through NGOs. This is similar
to what has been adopted by Bell – Canada for its unique customer
handset take-back program [5].

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8.9 GREEN BUILDING DESIGN:

The U.S. Green Building Council has developed guidelines under its
Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design (LEED) certification
governing sustainability, water savings, energy efficiency, materials
selection, and indoor environmental quality. Since Sony is expanding its
business in developing countries in India, it can seek LEED certification for
its new manufacturing centre facilities in the United States, India, and
other countries, as well as for many of its existing buildings, which may
qualify in their current state [2].

8.10SUSTAINABLE FOOD SERVICE:

Sony employs thousands of employees and taking care of their well being
is one of the most important component of its CSR activities. In this
regard, Sony can serve the food need of its employees in a healthier and
environmental-friendly way. Sony can purchase seasonal and regional
produce from local farmers within a 150-mile radius of campus and serves
it within 48 hours of harvest. The result is superior flavour and nutritional
value as well as reduced emissions associated with transport. It can also
purchase meat and dairy products free of growth hormone and antibiotics.
In addition, Sony’s cafeterias can purchase locally sourced fish when
available and follow the Monterey Bay Aquarium Seafood Watch guidelines
for sustainable seafood, designed to protect the ocean from over-fishing.
For example, salmon served should be wild, not farmed, and tuna served
is caught with dolphin-safe techniques. It can also encourage its cafeterias
to participate in composting and recycling such as conversion of waste
vegetable oil to bio-diesel for use in powering traditional diesel vehicles
[2].

8.11EMPLOYEE TRAVEL:
By encouraging home and remote tele-working, Sony can help its
employees contribute to their business anywhere at any time, which
reduces real estate costs for the company and decreases rush-hour
commutes and the pollution associated with them [2]. Sony can also
encourages the use of public transportation through commuter benefits
programs, including:
 Subsidized public transportation passes
 Rides home for car-poolers in an emergency
 Intra-campus shuttle services

8.12FEMALE REPRESENTATION:
Sony can take a lot of step for the welfare of its female employees and to
have their significant contribution both at managerial and well as
workforce level. Electronics industry is less attached to the traditional

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business model and more open to an equal workplace. In particular, the

most significant under-representation of women is at the board level and
hence Sony should make a point of recruiting female board members and
should offer training and mentorship possibilities to potential board
candidates. Sony should try to address four major barriers for women that
are exclusionary corporate culture, a lack of strategic and objective
recruitment, a sense of isolation in technology companies, and lack of
support to deal with competing demands of work and family. Sony can
take many steps to overcome such barriers. The first of these includes
work-life balance initiatives, which range from installing a health-centre in
factories for employees to conducting health and hygiene-related
programmes which include raising awareness of sexual and reproductive
health; raising awareness of HIV/AIDS; first aid training; counselling
against harassment & abuse; family planning programmes, and; special
clinics for pregnant mothers. Other initiatives include career advancement
through training in skill and knowledge building activities, which includes
the provision of IT-related training and empowering women through
training in language skills [5].

9. Conclusion:
Electronics sector in general and Sony in particular, is a leader in
corporate social responsibility despite a number of core challenges, and
such leader companies are routinely at the top of environmental and
employee relations rankings. There are significant gaps between the
performance of leadership companies and their competitors, so we have
both opportunities for positive change and proven leadership models with
which those solutions can be enacted.

Sony undoubtedly believes that corporations have a responsibility to

consider the broader effects of their operations on the communities in
which they do business. Its CSR practices demonstrate its culture of giving
back, its commitment of socially responsibility and environmentally
conscious, and its understanding that its actions improve the health of its
own business as well as the health of the global community. It also firmly
believes that a company’s social responsibility profile would require an
endless list of ingredients and to identifying priorities for future action.

Sony's vision and strategy are to drive increasing sustainability, taking

into account not only economic but also environmental, community and
workplace performance. In the dictionary of Sony, corporate responsibility
is simply good management and its not extra or superfluous. It needs to
be embedded in the way it do business - in human resources; public
affairs; purchasing; quality; investor relations; legal; environment, health
and safety; and every other aspect of the corporate life. Corporate
responsibility is firmly anchored in Sony's values and is integrated into its
corporate business principles.

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10.References:
[1] SONY CSR Report 2006
- SONY Corporation, July 2006

[2] CISCO Corporate Citizenship Report 2006

- CISCO Systems, Inc. 2006

[3] HP 2006 Global Citizenship Report

- Hewlett-Packard Development Company, 2006

[4] Intel Global Citizenship Report 2004

- Intel Corporation, 2004

[5] Corporate Social Responsibility Trends in the High-Tech Sector

- Canadian Business for Social Responsibility

[6] CSR Bulletin for the ICT Sector

- ASK-Verité

[7] The State of CSR in India 2004

- Ritu Kumar, TERI - Europe, London, United Kingdom

[8] Corporate Social Responsibility At Nine Multinational Electronics

Firms In Thailand: A Preliminary Analysis
- Tira Foran, University of California, Berkley

[9] Maximizing the Benefits of CSR for SMEs participating in Regional

and Global Supply Chains
- Richard Welford, University of Hong Kong

[10] http://www.sony.net/SonyInfo/CorporateInfo/index.html

[11] http://www.eicc.info/21OCT2004.html

[12] http://www.thehindu.com/2006/01/26/stories/2006012617190400.ht
m

[13] http://www.financialexpress.com/fe_full_story.php?
content_id=113277

[14] http://timesofindia.indiatimes.com/articleshow/1410984.cms

[15] http://www.pwc.com/extweb/industry.nsf/docid/
E44DA7E59D1E4C19852570D2007527C9

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 CSR Strategies for SONY

[16] http://www.socialfunds.com/news/article.cgi/2140.html

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