Murata

Murata Manufacturing’s components are used to produce digital hearing aids with Wi-Fi, Bluetooth and a radio frequency identification (RFID) tag. Moreover, the company discloses statistics for its employment of people with disabilities.

The company’s engineers host school visits in elementary schools in Japan to teach students basic digital skills.

No evidence was found of the company having leading practices in this area.

Murata Manufacturing partners with universities in research areas. The company also supports the tech innovation ecosystem by letting start-ups use the company’s resources and networks.

No evidence was found that Murata Manufacturing undertakes initiatives that contribute to increasing access to digital technology. There is an opportunity for the company to support initiatives in this area and to consider more impactful support of digital opportunities for women and girls. The company can also report how it distributes the wealth it creates among its stakeholders, as well as the taxes it pays and its employment in its main markets.

The company can expand its digital skills programmes to include intermediate and technical skills.

While the company discloses that it has a subcommittee responsible for overseeing cybersecurity, it lacks disclosure of how cybersecurity is managed. In addition, the company can also report how it monitors and responds to security incidents and disclose its data breaches.

Murata Manufacturing has an opportunity to enhance its support for open, inclusive and ethical innovation. It can improve disclosure in this area by reporting the number of its women employees in tech roles as well as the ethical principles it follows in its research and development (R&D) activities.

Murata Manufacturing has a publicly available policy document committing to respect human rights that the ILO has declared to be fundamental rights at work. It also describes the processes it uses to identify its human rights risks and impacts in specific locations or activities covering its own operations and discloses what it considers to be its salient human rights issues. The company lists the stakeholders it engages with in general but not specifically on human rights issues.

The company commits to ensuring the health and safety of its workers and has time-bound targets to promote gender equality and women’s empowerment. However, the company does not provide public disclosure of its stance on regular and overtime working hours. Additionally, it can report quantitative information on health and safety for its workers.

The company has a publicly available policy statement prohibiting bribery and corruption. However, it can significantly expand its disclosure of how it practices ethical conduct. For example, the company can make clear whether its global tax strategy is approved by the highest governing body.