Compliance Initiatives
Compliance Initiatives
To put our Corporate Philosophy into practice and be a company trusted and loved by customers and society, the KONOIKE Group must comply with laws, ordinances, and social norms, as well as conduct business fairly and transparently. To this end, we established a Corporate Ethics Code. Under this code, we further defined a Compliance Code and Operational Regulations on the Konoike Reporting Desk (Helpline), which we use to ensure compliance with and practical application of the Corporate Ethics Code. These measures guide our efforts to raise compliance throughout the Group.
Raising Compliance Awareness
Compliance education is provided to employees in career-track positions during their annual training and employment-grade-specific training. During each training, we reiterate our Basic Philosophy, explain case studies of wrongdoing and misconduct within and outside the Group, discuss observations made by government agencies, and work to raise employee awareness of ethics. Our goal is to be a good corporate citizen, acting with integrity toward all stakeholders in a way that is ethical and in accordance with accepted social values and norms.
Initiatives for Overseas Subsidiaries
We must promote the KONOIKE Groups philosophies to overseas subsidiaries, where business practices differ from those in Japan. In addition to providing compliance education through e-learning, we measure the workplace climate and employee attachment at each local subsidiary. This is done by conducting surveys to gauge compliance awareness and employee engagement at each location. We also work to improve engagement through various initiatives, an example of which is Katariba. We also hold study meetings on our corporate ethics code for managers and promote the thorough enforcement of the Basic Philosophies of maintaining safe and pleasant workplaces, contributing as a good corporate citizen, caring for the environment, and engaging in fair trade.
Internal Reporting System
The KONOIKE Group offers the Konoike Reporting Desk (Helpline) as an internal reporting system. We also offer access to a law firm as an external reporting point for employees who are reluctant to report to an internal party. Although there is no official code of practice applicable when it happens, Audit & Supervisory Board members do sometimes receive reports directly. In these cases, the members contact the department in charge to investigate the matter. Report contents are submitted to the Internal Control Subcommittee and the board of directors. We have also introduced internal reporting systems at some locations outside Japan, planning to gradually expand these reporting channels.
Strengthening Internal Controls (Measures to Prevent Recurrence)
We established the Management Quality Council in response to the misconduct and accounting irregularities by a former employee of the Company uncovered in November 2023. The Representative Director, Chairman, President and Chief Executive Officer leads this council, exploring measures to prevent recurrence and advancing such measures formulated by the council. We recognize that in addition to such recurrence prevention measures, strengthening internal controls is an important management issue. Konoike is committed to building an effective control environment.
Conduct compliance training
We conducted compliance training based on the fraudulent acts and accounting irregularities 15 times from April to May 2024. Training mainly targeted career-track employees, professional employees and managers, and group company executives and employees. We also plan to create compliance training materials for our sales offices and roll out these materials to all employees.
Review management system
Ensure the mobility and appropriate allocation of personnel
We formulated and implemented rules regarding long-term retention. These rules aim to prevent excessive camaraderie, including among business partners, and encourage personnel mobility to ensure proper checks and balances.
Review current internal regulations from a risk management perspective
We are reviewing and reorganizing existing internal regulations from the perspective of risk management. Items under review include potential overlooked risks and the prevention and early detection of risks.
Maintain appropriate business relationships with business partners
We revised our ethics code and established rules for giving and receiving offerings to build fair and equitable relationships. We also conduct periodic surveys of our business partners to detect inappropriate transactions.
Enhance internal audit effectiveness
We conduct in-depth audits of specific items, using interviews with site executives and trend analysis of accounting data, rather than relying solely on traditional qualitative methods.
Strengthen internal reporting system functions
The Konoike Helpline, our internal reporting system, was previously limited to directors, employees, part-time employees, etc. of the Company and our affiliates ("Employees, etc.") and Employees, etc. within one year of retirement. However, we expanded the scope of use to include Employees, etc. within three years of retirement and business partners to enhance system effectiveness. We also changed the helpline name to Konoike Reporting Desk (Helpline) to clarify that this system is a consultation service for fraudulent cases. We are updating posters and creating helpline cards to raise awareness of the service among business partners.