Third party opinion

The NTT Group is steadily implementing initiatives under its new "Road to Service Creation Business Group" medium-term management strategy announced in fiscal 2009. I have long advocated the integration of CSR theory and practice, both as a corporate employee overseeing the implementation of CSR activities and now as a university researcher engaged in developing a theoretical framework for CSR. It is from this standpoint that I offer this third party opinion.

Aspects that deserve praise

Good presentation of defensive and proactive CSR for "the creation of a safe, secure, and prosperous society connecting people with each other, their communities, and the global environment"

This year's report sheds light on the strategic processes that the NTT Group has adopted to strengthen groupwide CSR management in line with its CSR Charter. As well as PDCA-based analysis of progress made to date, the report explains how the NTT Group has considered its activities in the light of public expectations regarding CSR in order to select eight CSR priority activities in four areas.

Among these priority activities, the strengthening of corporate governance and building of internal controls and compliance systems are defensive CSR components that underpin the Group's continued growth by serving as a rock-solid guard against risks to its trust and credibility. And in the area of safe and secure communication, providing services for protecting children and communications that as critical infrastructure are capable of withstanding disasters could be rightly regarded as CSR that protects society.

Where its core competence — the provision of ubiquitous broadband communications — is concerned, the NTT Group can call on proactive CSR components such as its commercial NGN-based services, Biz Communicator ICT platform, and FLET'S Hikari Next to support its sustainable growth. These components are covered well in the "Communication between people and their communities" section. The initiatives for proactively protecting the environment outlined in "Communication between people and the global environment," and the respect for diversity, citizenship activities, and support for work-life balance outlined in "Team NTT communication" also contribute to the NTT Group's sustainable growth.

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Aspects that could be improved

Expectations for Team NTT Supporter-type of CSR activities that unite all employees

Involving employees in CSR activities is of tremendous importance, since employees are not only key stakeholders, but also key drivers of such activities. To help promote Team NTT activities too, I would like the NTT Group to launch a Team NTT Supporter-type program to recruit personnel capable of playing a central role in the Group, and to solicit ideas for CSR activities from employees that would unite everyone from top management to the business frontline. Aiming for CSR that focuses on society from the eye level of ordinary employees would, I think, boost employee satisfaction, and this would in turn boost customer satisfaction and serve as a cornerstone for the Group's sustainable growth.

Looked at from this perspective, working with the employee unions will be critical to implementing CSR that unites employees behind the company. I would like to see the NTT Group make even greater efforts to work with its employees and the unions to implement CSR that connects people with each other, their communities, and the global environment and helps to create a safe, secure, and prosperous society.

As with our 2008 report, we endeavored in this report to present the activities of NTT Group companies in a form that our stakeholders will find easy to understand. We also put more emphasis on the Group as a whole by including a special feature on Group CSR management and introducing the specific initiatives of Group companies in each section in the light of our Group CSR Priority Activities.

Professor Mizuo endorsed our efforts to strengthen Group CSR management as presented in the special feature, and interpreted our various initiatives favorably in terms of defensive and proactive CSR. His comments will serve as invaluable encouragement to us as we continue to implement our CSR activities.

As an aspect that could be improved, Professor Mizuo says that he would like to see more CSR activities that unite all Group employees. We are grateful for this valuable opinion and will take it to heart as an important priority in our future endeavors. His proposal of CSR that focuses on society from the eye level of ordinary employees is particularly meaningful, highlighting as it does the way that the possession of a CSR mindset — in other words, an eagerness by all Group employees to contribute to the sustainable development of society through their work — would enhance relationships with our stakeholders and lead by extension to the sustainable growth of the NTT Group itself. In this respect, although it is only a small step, we participated as a Group in the Tanabata Light Down event held by the Ministry of the Environment in July 2009 to raise awareness of the importance of addressing global warming and protecting the environment. We will make every effort to further promote the participation of our employees in such initiatives.

We intend to implement Professor Mizuo's suggestions in our efforts to make further CSR improvements. We will continue to put priority on communication with our stakeholders and do our utmost to fulfill our corporate social responsibility to contribute to the sustainable development of society.

CSR Promotion Office
NIPPON TELEGRAPH AND TELEPHONE CORPORATION