APC 2013 Annual Report Download - page 164

3CORPORATE GOVERNANCE
INTERNAL CONTROL AND RISK MANAGEMENT
Operating Divisions and operating units Global Functions (Human Resources,
Purchasing, Manufacturing, Supply Chain,
The Operating Division management teams play a critical role in
Information Systems,etc.)
effective internal control.
Schneider Electric centralizes decision-making and risk
All Group units report to one of the Operating Divisions, which are management at the corporate level through specific bodies such
headed by an Executive Vice-president, supported by a financial as the Group Acquisitions Committee (see “Risk Factors –
controller. Acquisitions”), by combining certain functions within the Finance
The Executive Vice-presidents of the Operating Divisions sit on the and Control – Legal Affairs Department (see above) and through
Executive Committee, which is chaired by the Chairman and CEO dedicated Global Functions.
of the Group. The financial controllers report to the corporate An Innovation and Technology Council meets 11 times per year to
Management Control and Accounting Unit. ensure cross-functional coordination among the Global Function
Within each division, the management team organizes control of for innovation and new products.
operations, ensures that appropriate strategies are deployed to The Human Resources Department is responsible for deploying
achieve objectives, and tracks unit performance. and ensuring the application of procedures concerning employee
A Management Committee led by the corporate Management development, occupational health and work safety.
Control and Accounting unit reviews the operations of the The Purchasing Department is responsible for establishing
Operating Divisions on a monthly basis. guidelines concerning purchasing organization and procedures;
The Operating Divisions have teams of business internal controllers relationships between buyers and vendors; and procedures
who promote Key Internal Controls in the units within their scope governing product quality, the level of service, and compliance with
and analyze the quality of the internal control self-assessments environmental standards and Group codes of conduct.
(including ratings and action plans) returned by the units. Global Functions also issue, adapt and distribute policies, target
They detect internal control issues that require action plans in procedures and instructions to units and individuals assigned to
some or all of the units within their scope. They also identify units handle their specific duties.
that need specific assistance and either implement or oversee the Global Functions have internal control correspondents who work
implementation of the appropriate support. with the Internal Control Department to establish and update the
They carry out monitoring of the remediation plans drawn up at the Key Internal Controls deployed across the Group. They analyze the
time of the self-assessments and control assignments on site. results of self-assessments concerning the Key Internal Controls
Lastly, the internal control teams offer suggestions for enhancing that fall within their Function’s scope, identify internal control issues
and updating the Key Internal Controls. that require action plans and either implement or oversee the
implementation of these plans.
Distributing information: benchmarks and guidelines 9.3
The main internal control benchmarks are available to all set up, and correspondents appointed to steer action in this area,
employees, including on the Group’s Intranet. Global Functions to make updates and to validate changes.
send updates of these Reference Documents to the appropriate The correspondents also answer employee questions that are not
units and individuals through their networks of correspondents. addressed in the document Our Principles of Responsibility or in
In some cases, dedicated e-mails are sent out or messages are the complementary documents that are available, or that managers
posted on the Intranet portal to inform users about publications or are unable to answer (Companion guide, e-learning module, FAQ).
updates. (see “Responsible expansion of renewable energies driving
economic performance”, Chapter2 Section2).
Whenever possible, the distribution network leverages the
managerial/functional organization to distribute standards In addition, communication actions and Questioning and Alert
andguidelines. process formalization actions have been undertaken since2011, a
“professional alert system” has been gradually implemented
Principles of Responsibility
since2011. The purpose of this new professional warning system
is to allow all employees to launch an alert when in their judgment,
they have been a witness to or victim of a breach of the rules of
The Principles of Responsibility, initially published in2002, were ethics and responsibility expressed in Our Principles of Liability.
updated in2009. Translated into the main languages used within
In accordance with the legal requirements inherent in the use of
the Group, given to all new employees and available on the
such a system, an organization in charge of administration and of
Group’s Intranet, they are designed to guide employees in their
background investigation has been established. It is intended to
decisions and actions. They define the Group’s essential values
ensure compliance with the protection of people and of those who
and set out individual responsibility in respect of these values, laws
issue alerts.
and regulations. They also set out the interrogation and alert
procedures. A Committee on Ethics and Responsibility has been
162 2013 REGISTRATION DOCUMENT SCHNEIDER ELECTRIC