Corporate Governance & Compliance

Governance encompasses the overall management of the company and thus also the early identification of opportunities and risks in the strategic, operational, economic and legal areas. In order to generate added value for the company, this management must be integrated into day-to-day business.

Risk assessment within the company should be centralised and integrated in order to ensure a consistent view of risks and to do so as efficiently as possible. Risk management should be carried out directly within the business processes so that action can be taken at an early stage and extra work can be avoided, for example by checking for sanctions in sales. There must always be room for decentralised solutions that can adequately take into account differences in business models, varying corporate cultures and organisational characteristics. We are talking here about horizontal topic integration, vertical process integration with simultaneous decentralisation and strong value management.

The effects of the pandemic, climate change, the energy crisis, political conflicts, decoupling – these are just a few of the issues that are currently affecting the economy and are likely to continue to do so for some time to come. In addition, technological developments present opportunities and risks for existing business models. Effective risk management must identify and address such issues and assess and manage their impact on the company and its business model.

Current issues are also leading to new or stricter regulatory requirements, for example in relation to sanctions, occupational safety regulations, human rights and CO2 regulation. A reassessment of corruption risks in light of existing friction in the supply chain is also a must. Compliance management must therefore be geared towards monitoring legal changes, evaluating them for the company and taking appropriate measures.