The Chemicals Company established the CS President Awards to encourage employees to engage in activities based on the principle of "incorporating the concept of Customer Satisfaction (CS) into every working day." The CS President Awards system is designed to support employees in making quality improvements so that the company may gain a competitive edge in the industry. CS improvement activities and the resulting improvement in processes are evaluated based on predefined criteria, and the president of the Chemicals Company grants awards to individuals or groups that have conducted noteworthy CS activities and achieved significant results. Since the start of the award system in April 2005, the president has granted 12 awards by June 2008, including one for the CS Improvement Activities in Distribution (please refer to the following). In 2006, the award system will be reformed to grant awards to closer in CS improvements, thereby increasing employee CS awareness. In addition, the system will be expanded to include both domestic and overseas affiliates.

To improve CS in the delivery of products, the Chemicals Company conducted a CS survey of corporate customers to which the Company delivered its products. This survey was conducted in cooperation with partner carriers (See the following table for details). Those in charge of the distribution process analyzed survey results (including requests and expectations as well as complaints) and solved and followed up on the identified problems in cooperation with those in charge of sales and partner carriers. The effectiveness of the solutions was then reviewed at the meetings of distribution process managers held in related plants. The Company will further continue the CS improvement activities in the delivery of products based on the “voice” of customers who are actually in charge of product delivery.

Overview of the CS Survey

The Chemicals Company has monitored the Management Committee from CS perspective since September 2004. Specifically, nonmembers of the committee attend committee meetings to monitor the discussions and decision making that take place to determine if they are in line with CS, identify any problems concerning the members' attitude toward CS, share the results with all those related, and make improvements on a continuous basis. A summary of the results taken from one year of monitoring revealed that the Chemicals Company is weak in nine CS aspects. These aspects were documented as Nine CS-Perspective Principles and made known to all its employees. The monitoring activities have continued, focusing on the nine principles, and the Management Committee reviews the effectiveness of improvement measures implemented based on these principles every three months.

In October 2007, the Chemicals Company integrated its Quality Assurance Office, Environment and Safety Office, and QMS Group into the present CSR Office. Taking advantage of this opportunity, the Company’s web-based inquiry services for matters concerning quality, environment, safety of substances, and business relations, which had been provided separately by each department in charge, were also integrated to provide customers with more convenient service via a single contact. The Chemicals Company has established a system to respond to inquiries made to this single contact in an appropriate and timely manner.