Siemens 2009 Annual Report Download - page 115

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 Managing Board statements, Independent auditors’ report, Additional information
Commitment to collective action
Siemens, in cooperation with various international organiza-
tions, is committed to combating crime. Working together
with international organizations and non-governmental orga-
nizations (NGOs) assists us in our effort to continuously im-
prove our compliance program. In addition, Siemens has
joined the collective action workgroup of the World Bank Insti-
tute (WBI). This workgroup helps ensure fair competition by
eschewing corruption, thus contributing to enhanced eco-
nomic and social development. Our cooperation with the UN
Global Compact and the Partnering Against Corruption Initia-
tive (PACI) of the World Economic Forum are other good exam-
ples of our activities in fiscal 2009. In June 2009, Siemens
joined the International Business Leaders Forum (IBLF), which
focuses, among other things, on joint efforts to combat cor-
ruption.
Favorable reception of our efforts
The effectiveness of our compliance measures has received
approval and appreciation, both from within and from outside
our Company. This is underscored by the Company’s top rating
in 2009 of 100 percent in the Dow Jones Sustainability Index
(DJSI) for “Codes of Conduct/Compliance,” reflecting a year-on-
year improvement (2008: 93 percent). As in the previous year,
we again received a rating of 100 percent for “Risk & Crisis Man-
agement”. Following the changeover to the assessment cate-
gory “Diversified Industrials,” Siemens was able to immediately
capture the No. 1 position. We consider the high rating of our
compliance activities as a confirmation of our efforts to date,
but above all as a commitment to the future.
In addition, we have intensified in-house training of compli-
ance trainers and introduced so-called train-the-trainer courses
with certification. At the end of fiscal 2009, we developed the
concept of advanced compliance officer training. This training
is designed to equip experienced compliance officers with a
deeper understanding of the expectations and requirements
of external stakeholders and to provide them with best-prac-
tice examples and strategies for dealing with non-governmen-
tal organizations (NGOs), international organizations and as-
sociations. The new training courses were successfully tested
as a pilot project in October 2009 and will be incorporated into
the compliance training program.
Employees will receive assistance on specific questions from
our “Ask us” help desk. For this purpose, we established a
Company-wide network of experts to answer incoming inqui-
ries. Since its launch in September 2007, the “Ask us” help desk
has received more than 8,000 compliance-related inquiries
from all parts of the Company. The evaluation of the inquiries
gives us valuable information on how to shape our training
courses and processes more effectively. With the “Improve it”
compliance help desk that was newly introduced in the year
under review, our employees can additionally help to improve
the compliance program by adding their ideas and sugges-
tions. A number of employee suggestions made through the
“Improve it” help desk have already been implemented.