Sustainability management

Process of Identification and Review of Materiality

Process of Identification and Review

In fiscal 2016, the Mitsubishi Electric Group identified materiality and initiatives in response to today's social trends and business environment, as required by the fourth edition of the GRI Guidelines.

In fiscal 2021, a full internal review of the materiality, initiatives, and targets/key performance indicators (KPIs)  was undertaken by the Sustainability Expert Committee and Sustainability Business Promotion Committee, in view of subjective evaluations from outside the company, including stakeholder questionnaires targeted at general consumers (600 respondents) that have been carried out since fiscal 2017 as well as other questionnaires and interviews from a total of 951 people, including Mitsubishi Electric Group employees, suppliers, investors, and analysts.

In order to expand the scope of information disclosure, while continuing to incorporate opinions from inside and outside the company, these initiatives will be further strengthened, and the materiality, initiatives, and targets/key performance indicators (KPIs) will be reviewed through ongoing improvement activities based on the PDCA cycle.

Process of Identifying and Reviewing the Materiality

Step 1 Awareness of social issues (fiscal 2021)

Extraction of candidate materiality from guidelines, etc.

Candidate materiality (357 issues) were identified based on ISO26000*1, the GRI Standards*2, the SASB standards*3, and the Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs).

  1. *1 Guidelines concerning social responsibility issued by the International Organization for Standardization (ISO)
  2. *2 International standards for sustainability reporting issued by the international NGO, Global Reporting Initiative (GRI)
  3. *3 Information disclosure rules concerning the environment, society, and governance (ESG) created by the Sustainability Accounting Standards Board (SASB), a non-profit organization in the U.S.
diagram: Extraction of candidate materiality from guidelines, etc.

Extraction of candidate materiality from guidelines, etc.

Step 2 Assessment of internal and external views and study of materiality (fiscal 2021)

photo: Questionnaire for stakeholders

Questionnaire for stakeholders

Using the short list created in step 1, we conducted a questionnaire survey of consumers, suppliers, investors, and Mitsubishi Electric Group employees, who are our stakeholders, regarding what expectations they have for the Mitsubishi Electric Group to contribute to addressing social challenges. In addition, we received opinions from experts regarding the identification of materiality through interviews and dialogues with them in order to assess both internal and external views of the Mitsubishi Electric Group. Based on the results obtained, internal working groups narrowed down the issues that the Mitsubishi Electric Group should address as top priority, and the Sustainability Expert Committee and Sustainability Business Promotion Committee are studying the materiality of such issues.

diagram: Mitsubishi Electric’s Matrix of Materiality

Mitsubishi Electric’s Matrix of Materiality

  • photo: Internal working groups

    Internal working groups

  • photo: Interviews with experts

    Interviews with experts

  • photo: Dialogues with directors and experts

    Dialogues with directors and experts

Step 3 Identification of materiality (fiscal 2021)

Identification by the Sustainability Committee

photo: Sustainability Committee

Sustainability Committee

The issues thus extracted and studied through the above-described process and specific initiatives and targets/key performance indicators (KPIs) were confirmed by executive officers and identified as the Mitsubishi Electric Group's materiality by the Sustainability Committee.