Review of 2020 and Prospects for 2021

There is no denying that 2020 was the year of the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic. Unexpectedly, this highlighted the role of the chemical sector as an essential industry that underpins stable living, and the Mitsubishi Chemical Group (MCC Group) was able to provide products that directly supported people as they lived with the pandemic. Even in the midst of the pandemic, the MCC Group maintained its unwavering commitment to squarely addressing various issues facing people, society, and our planet Earth, supplying necessary materials, and continuing to contribute to society.

 

To enhance the efficiency of our management, we have scaled back some businesses while strengthening the Group through M&A activities and other initiatives in growth fields. To adapt to a changing business environment and keep growing steadily, this year we will continue to implement a range of measures based on a safety-first approach and rigorous compliance as we pursue safe and stable operations, enhanced profitability, true globalization, and sales structure reforms.

 

Toward a New Personnel System and Organizational Structure

We decided to implement a new personnel system to realize a relationship where MCC chooses employees and they choose us. Under the basic policy of job-based and performance-based pay, we are making changes to the system to create a culture of challenging ourselves, fair evaluation and treatment, ownership by each employee, and a highly transparent personnel system.

 

In April of this year we will implement wide-ranging organizational reforms. We will consolidate departments to align them with products and market sectors and reorganize corporate functions into larger units. By breaking down organizational barriers and increasing interchange with people in closely related fields, we aim to promote synergy and improve the quality of solutions. By encouraging delegation of authority, we also intend to speed up decision-making and action, and facilitate more flexible resource allocation.

 

Circular Economy Initiatives

For some time now, climate change, resource depletion, safe and secure supply of food and water, and plastic waste have been regarded as major problems. In his general policy speech, Japanese Prime Minister Suga pledged to cut greenhouse gas emissions to net zero by 2050, and Japan has set a new course towards carbon neutrality. Drawing on all our resources as a comprehensive chemical company, the MCC Group believes that our mission is to provide society with technologies to save our planet Earth. In April 2019 MCC established a new Circular Economy Department, and from a global perspective we have summarized challenges for contributing to a circular economy across all our businesses, products, and services, and proposed solutions to these challenges. We have also launched joint industry-academia research on business models that the materials industry should aim for, from the standpoint of recycling and effective use of the Earth’s limited resources. With the aim of creating a sustainable society, this year we will further accelerate our activities aimed at providing value to all of society as a comprehensive chemical company.