Promotion system for various policies and measures

Komatsu holds the "Komatsu Way Committee" twice a year (or more as necessary), chaired by the President and composed of responsible persons from each business and function, to deliberate, decide on, and promote the execution of policies and important measures regarding human resources, labor affairs, education and human resources development, and employee benefits for the entire group. Furthermore, the content of the deliberations of the Komatsu Way Committee is reported to the Board of Directors for consideration.

Global personnel policy

Komatsu Group companies have established a personnel management system that can be tailored to the unique needs and circumstances of each region based on the following basic policy, with the aim of realizing an environment in which diverse human resources worldwide can contribute to business growth as a team.

• "Any action violating human rights (harassment of subordinate personnel, sexual harassment or other harassment related to pregnancy, childbirth, parenting or nursing care)" is specified as grounds for disciplinary action.

About the Komatsu Way

The Komatsu Way is a codified statement of the values that all employees of the Komatsu Group—including management—should continuously inherit and uphold. It articulates “Komatsu’s strengths,” the “beliefs that support those strengths,” the “basic mindset and perspectives to be maintained,” and the “style of behavior,” all of which were built by our predecessors based on the spirit of our founder throughout Komatsu’s history of growth and development. We actively promote the transmission and embedding of the Komatsu Way across the organization to ensure its continued presence for future generations.

The Komatsu Way/TQM promotion activities

To disseminate and practice the Komatsu Way at all Komatsu Group companies around the world, we are conducting various promotion activities and human resource development programs. Employees’ understanding of the Komatsu Way is deepened via training sessions and the creation of opportunities for exposition and group debates. We foster interpersonal communication between employees at such sessions to minimize generational gaps, allowing for a more effective "trickle-down" spread of this knowledge. Since 2007, Komatsu has been engaged in brand management activities to "be indispensable to our customers and continue to be their partner of choice". This objective is accomplished by visiting customer workplaces to understand their ideals and to build relationships that enable us to work together with them to help achieve their goals through concerted efforts by Komatsu Group and its distributors. In January 2025, we released the fourth edition of the Komatsu Way, revising its content to align with changes in internal and external environments and to clarify its connection with Komatsu’s purpose and values. To further promote global understanding and implementation of the Komatsu Way across different customs and cultures, we have translated the booklet and a promotional video into 13 languages, including Japanese and English. As part of our efforts to promote Total Quality Management (TQM), we conducted the second session of the local instructor development program launched in FY2023, helping to cultivate TQM instructors globally.

In Japan, we continue to enhance awareness of the Komatsu Way through stratified education programs, including group training sessions, online training, and e-learning modules.

We will continue to provide training and development for all employees and systematically promote the global dissemination and integration of the Komatsu Way and TQM. Through these initiatives, we aim to foster employees who embody the Komatsu Way and carry it forward to the next generation, contributing to the sustainable growth of the entire Komatsu Group.

Harassment prevention initiatives

Komatsu Group is committed to eliminating and preventing all forms of discrimination and harassment. Each of our business site has a designated harassment consultation desk, and we have established a system to promptly address issues as they arise. When a consultation is received, we conduct a careful investigation with utmost respect for the privacy of the individual seeking guidance, implement any necessary corrective measures, and take action to prevent recurrence, while also providing follow-up support to the person who raised the concern. Additionally, we regularly conduct anti-discrimination and harassment prevention training for all employees across all levels. This fosters a deeper understanding of discrimination and harassment issues among our staff, encouraging empathy and consideration for each other’s positions, and contributing to the creation of a safe and healthy work environment.

Facts about the initiative in FY2024

Brand management initiatives

What are brand management initiatives?

Becoming invaluable to our customers, who both create and assess our corporate value

Komatsu defines corporate value as the total sum of trust given to us by society and all our stakeholders, and our management principle is to enhance this corporate value.

Having grouped our various stakeholders into two distinct categories, while the former is responsible for employees, affiliate companies, sales / service shops, etc., the latter includes society, shareholders, investors, media, etc. We have come to the conclusion that it is only our customers who take on both of these roles. Customers create corporate value by purchasing our products, and assess our corporate value through the use and evaluation of our products (which returns to us via feedback).

We have thus redefined the meaning of "heightening the trust placed in us from our customers", into a commitment to "increase the trust placed in us to a degree at which our company is indispensable to our customers, in order to guarantee complete customer loyalty and retention". As of FY 2007, we have begun initiatives designed to mold our brand into one that conceptualizes this vision.

Realizing our customers' vision and mission "from the customer's perspective"

Our brand management (BM) activities are built on the fundamental principle of "from the customer's perspective." While marketing often involves considering differentiation from competitors and market positioning, viewing things from the "customer's perspective" means first and foremost understanding the customer’s ideals, mission, and goals—and focusing on how to help them achieve these.
To realize the customer's goals, we are engaged in activities designed to develop and deliver our own management resources and capabilities. These initiatives have traditionally relied more on experience and intuition, but in Komatsu’s BM activities, we utilize a variety of tools and methods to visualize case studies, accumulate know-how, and pass it on to the next generation.

Recent activities and future plans

Brand management activities, now in their 19th year since launching in 2007, have expanded globally across Komatsu's construction and mining equipment business as well as forestry equipment operations. The principles underpinning these activities have been incorporated into the Komatsu Way as the Brand Management Edition—a set of values to be continuously passed down and practiced by all employees at their worksites and workplaces throughout the Komatsu Group.

In the latest 4th edition of the Komatsu Way, we have added a new message stating that brand management (BM) activities are a company-wide initiative involving departments such as sales, production, development, and administration working together as one. Promoting BM activities through cross-functional teams has strengthened organizational capabilities and broadened the range of solutions Komatsu delivers to its customers. Komatsu will continue to advance BM activities as a united global team.