Siemens 2012 Annual Report Download - page 140

1 A. To our Shareholders
21 B. Corporate Governance 49 C. Combined Management Report
50 C. Business and economic environment
64 C. Financial performance measures
69 C. Results of operations
82 C. Financial position
93 C. Net assets position
95 C. Overall assessment of the economic position
96 C. Subsequent events
97 C. Sustainability
111 C. Report on expected developments and
associated material opportunities and risks

.. The Siemens Group
...  
  
We are a globally operating, integrated technology company
with core activities in the fields of energy, healthcare, industry,
and infrastructure, and we occupy leading market positions
worldwide in the majority of our businesses. We can look back
on a successful history spanning  years, with groundbreak-
ing and revolutionary innovations such as the invention of the
dynamo, the first commercial light bulb, the first electric
streetcar, the construction of the first public power plant, and
the first images of the inside of the human body. On a continu-
ing basis, we have around , employees as of September
,  and business activities in approximately  countries
and reported consolidated revenue of €. billion in fiscal
. We operate in excess of  major production and manu-
facturing plants worldwide. In addition, we have office build-
ings, warehouses, research and development facilities or sales
offices in almost every country in the world.
Siemens comprises Siemens AG, a stock corporation under
the Federal laws of Germany, as the parent company and a to-
tal of about , legal entities, including minority invest-
ments. Our Company is incorporated in Germany, with our
corporate headquarters situated in Munich. Siemens operates
under the leadership of its Managing Board, which comprises
the Chief Executive Officer (CEO) and Chief Financial Officer
(CFO) as well as the heads of selected corporate functions and
the CEOs of the Sectors.
Our fundamental organizational principles are:
> the CEO principle,
> the end-to-end business responsibility of the Sectors,
Divisions and Business Units, and
> the unrestricted right of selected corporate functions to
issue instructions in relation to a function to the extent
legally permissible.
The Siemens Managing Board is the sole management body
and has overall business responsibility in accordance with the
German Stock Corporation Act (Aktiengesetz). At all other orga-
nizational levels within our Company, management responsi-
bility is assigned to individuals who make decisions and as-
sume personal responsibility (CEO principle). This principle es-
tablishes clear and direct responsibilities and fosters efficient
decision-making.
Our Sectors, Divisions, Business Units and Financial Services
(SFS) are “global entrepreneurs” and have end-to-end business
responsibility worldwide, including with regard to their operat-
ing results. They therefore have “right of way” over the regional
units (Clusters and Countries) in business matters. The Clusters
and Countries are responsible for the local customer relation-
ship management and for implementing the business strate-
gies of the Sectors and SFS as well as the requirements set by
the corporate functions.
In addition to their particular authority to issue binding com-
pany-wide guidelines and to their monitoring and coordinating
responsibilities, the heads of selected corporate functions (Fi-
nance and Controlling, Legal and Compliance, Human Resources
and Supply Chain Management, for example) have an unrestrict-
ed right to issue instructions in relation to a function across all
parts of the Company to the extent legally permissible.
Below the Managing Board, Siemens is structured organiza-
tionally into Sectors, SFS which acts as business partner for
the Sectors and also conducts its own business with external
customers, Cross-Sector Services that support other Siemens
units, Corporate Units with specific corporate functions, and
regional Clusters. The Sectors are principally broken down into
Divisions and these in turn into Business Units.
During fiscal , we initiated a change in the organizational
structure of our Sectors which became effective October , .
Beginning with fiscal , we formed a fourth Sector, Infra-
structure & Cities, in addition to our existing three Sectors, Ener-
gy, Healthcare and Industry, in order to benefit from the growth
of urban centers and the demand for infrastructure solutions.
The Infrastructure & Cities Sector comprises the activities of the
former Industry Sector’s Divisions Building Technologies and
Mobility and the former Energy Sector’s activities of the Power
Distribution Division, including Smart Grid applications. Results
for prior years are presented on a comparable basis.
Following this change in the organizational structure, our busi-
ness activities focus on four Sectors, Energy, Healthcare, Indus-
try and Infrastructure & Cities. These Sectors form four of our re-
portable segments. In addition to our four Sectors, we have two
additional reportable segments: Equity Investments and SFS.
.    