Annual Report 2012 - Knorr-Bremse AG.

Report
39
YOU CHOSE TO DEFINE NEW
CORPORATE VALUES IN 2012.
WHY DID YOU THINK THE TIME
WAS RIGHT
Dr. Marc Pastowsky: The business
world has been stepping up its
focus on values for some time
now, and of course we haven’t
remained untouched by this trend.
But I believe that in intensively
re-examining our values at
Knorr-Bremse, we were actually
responding to an inner need. A
lot has changed in recent years,
both at Knorr-Bremse and in our
business environment. We have
grown rapidly as a company and
are becoming increasingly global,
embracing more and more people
of different cultural backgrounds.
In particular, young people who
join our company as well as many
employees at our different
locations across the globe want to
know what the company stands
for. By redefining our values we
were aiming to formulate our
identity – our “corporate DNA”
– and set it down in writing,
making it accessible to our
employees around the world.
Julia Thiele-Schürhoff: Values
traditionally play an important role
in a family-owned business. Our
responsibility towards future
generations is also becoming
more and more important for us
as a company. Taken together,
these considerations led us to
focus on what actually defines
Knorr-Bremse as a company. What
factors contributed to our success
and made us so strong in the
past And how can we ensure that
this success continues in the
future In our corporate values, we
have written down all of the
convictions and expectations that
form the core of our corporate
culture. The values now serve as a
kind of compass for all employees,
setting uniform standards for the
way we work, our business
practices and our behavior
towards one another. They are
intended to build bridges between
the different regions and
locations within the Group – transcending
cultural differences. And
finally, they are designed to inspire
us to keep moving forward and
developing. Not just as a company,
but also as individuals.
ANY DISCUSSION OF VALUES
AUTOMATICALLY INVOLVES AN
EXAMINATION OF BASIC
PRINCIPLES. WHEN YOU WERE
FORMULATING THE NEW
VALUES, WERE YOU ALSO OUT
TO REDEFINE THE KNORR-
BREMSE BRAND
Julia Thiele-Schürhoff: To all intents
and purposes, these values already
existed within the organization –
they just hadn’t been stated
explicitly. Clearly defined and
authentic corporate values
certainly make a brand stronger,
but in this case we weren’t aiming
to redefine the brand itself. As a
manufacturer of safety-critical
technology, for instance, Responsibility
is essential and has always
been part of our daily thoughts
and actions. And our other values
– Entrepreneurship in the form of
proactive, forward-looking
practices, Technological Excellence,
Reliability and individual Passion
– are all part of our tradition.
Dr. Marc Pastowsky: It was more
that we didn’t quite see ourselves
reflected in the values in their
previous form. In the past, the
corporate values were more
like a code of conduct – good
in principle, but not very
company-specific. They could
have applied to any corporation.
Our newly formulated values, on
the other hand, come from within
and reflect the special qualities of
Knorr-Bremse: the strengths that
have made us great and that
remain vital to our future success.
YOU SAID THAT THE VALUES ARE
SUPPOSED TO PROVIDE A KIND
OF COMPASS FOR ALL KNORR-
BREMSE EMPLOYEES. HOW
DOES ONE ARRIVE AT THAT
SORT OF FRAME OF REFERENCE
IN A GLOBALLY ACTIVE GROUP
THAT UNITES MANY DIFFERENT
CULTURES
Julia Thiele-Schürhoff: The most
important thing for us was that