Coca-Cola Bottlers Japan Group held 2020 Entrance Ceremony online after postponing it from April

News Release

 

 

 

October 12, 2020

Coca-Cola Bottlers Japan Inc.

 

 

 

Coca-Cola Bottlers Japan Group held 2020 Entrance Ceremony online after postponing it from April

President's Message to New Employees

 

On Monday, October 12, Coca-Cola Bottlers Japan Inc. (Headquarters in Minato-ku, Tokyo; Representative Director & President Calin Dragan; hereafter “CCBJI”) and our group company Coca-Cola Bottlers Japan Vending Inc. (Headquarters in Fukuoka City, Fukuoka Prefecture; Representative Director & President Takahide Baba) held a joint entrance ceremony for 388 new employees of FY2020.

 

A face-to-face ceremony had been planned for April 1, but to prevent the spread of COVID-19 in and outside the company and to prioritize the safety of our employees, a joint online entrance ceremony (FY2020) was held for newly hired employees using a web conferencing system.

 

To achieve our mission to deliver happy moments to everyone while creating value, “business as usual is not an option,” and we are constantly expected to transform and create innovation. Since diversity of employees with different values and ideas is the driving force for change and innovation, our Group has been engaged in diversity management, and 388 individuals of diverse characters, including 10 foreign nationals (USA, UK, Republic of Korea, Taiwan, China, Romania, Mongolia), joined the company this year.

 

Representative Director & President Calin Dragan, executives and HR personnel attended the ceremony to welcome the new employees.

The President's message (excerpt) is as follows:

 

【Message from Calin Dragan, Representative Director & President (excerpt)】

In the past six months, I’m sure you had gone through a variety of experiences in a new environment that you had no idea how it would turn out to be. It is not only you. The environment we are now in is actually new to us as well. Due to the outbreak of COVID-19, we are undergoing drastic changes in how we work and live day to day. 　　　　

 

We are trying to embrace these changes as positively as possible, and promoting new working styles that best suit our new ways of business. They include the transformation to enable our salespeople to interact with customers more freely in remote settings, optimizing the plant shift operations, and increasing the flexibility of commuting and working hours. I hope all of you here also continue to be a part of this effort to build our new corporate culture, and appreciate your cooperation.

 

I want you to keep in your mind that “The old ways are not an option anymore”.  As you know, we are in the midst of transformation. We always welcome your fresh ideas which will drive fundamental changes.  It may take some time until you feel such changes, but please stay confident and believe in your potential. I want all of you here not to hesitate to challenge, and always look for new ways of thinking and new values with the intention of disrupting old ways.

 

After six months of working with us, I would like you to focus once again on our corporate philosophy. I would like you all to raise your awareness about our corporate philosophy.

 

As you know, Coca-Cola Bottlers Japan Group has established a new corporate philosophy “Mission, Vision and Values” and adopted "Paint it RED! Repaint our future.” as the key slogan. Our corporate philosophy is a statement that defines the significance of our existence and the value we deliver as a company. It serves as the cornerstone of our corporate management. Our mission is to “deliver happy moments while creating value”. To accomplish this mission, I want you to be always conscious of acting according to our four Values. In other words, I want you to enrich your knowledge by “Learning” a great deal, act and respond readily with “Agility” and always strive to produce a successful outcome with a “Result-orientation” mindset. And engage in all these activities with “Integrity”.

 

Amongst these, let me share with you today an aspect of Integrity - how we have been committed to Diversity and Inclusion. In the midst of economic globalization and an aging society with declining birthrate, we need a wide range of perspectives and open-minded views from different perspectives to make our business more competitive. Only by respecting each other's backgrounds and accepting differences, we can come up with new values and proposals that can revolutionize our future.

 

For the success of companies like us, it is highly essential to provide all employees with opportunities, regardless of age, disability, nationality, religious beliefs, sexual orientation, gender identity, or any other factors that may limit their ability to show their performance.

 

CSV efforts is also an example to show our “Agility”. We consider CSV goals to be important to demonstrate our social responsibilities, and have taken actions with the mindset of “Agility”.  For instance, we have been showing our strong commitment toward creating a “World Without Waste”, which is our new environment target. We aspire to become a model case for plastic resource recycling in the world by deepening collaboration with excellent resource recycling schemes in Japan.

 

Activities that align with all these four Values are what makes us possible to “Paint it RED!”, meaning we will be able to prevail over the entire market by turning it into red, our Coca-Cola brand color.

 

Please remember that our Mission is what connects and unites all our employees as one team no matter which region, area of business or workplace you are assigned to work in.

 

2020 has become a year that made us all face and endure an unprecedented situation caused by COVID-19. Regardless of what kind of challenges and difficulties we are confronted with, we must continue pushing ourselves forward and keep on growing. For that, the company needs the fresh power you can all bring to our workforce. I believe that what you are experiencing now will further fortify the foundation of our collective strength to withstand and overcome whatever challenges we may encounter in the future.

 

Calin Dragan Representative Director and President

 

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*Please note that the information contained in news releases is current as of the date of release. Certain information may have changed since the date of release.