2010 REGISTRATION DOCUMENT (3.4 Mo) - Groupe Casino

CORPORATE GOVERNANCEChairman’s Report5Internal control components• Internal control pre-requisitesObjective setting and communicationGroupe Casino sets its strategic and financial objectives in a three-yearbusiness plan under the responsibility of the parent company’s SeniorManagement. The plan is fully reviewed and updated on an annualbasis. The first year of the plan constitutes the budget.The Strategy department is responsible for drawing up the plan, andin this role has the following tasks:■■■■■■co-ordinating the preparation of three-year business plans by thevarious Group business units and ensuring that they are consistentwith the Group’s strategy;drawing up the Group’s consolidated plan;verifying the Group’s broad financial targets, particularly in terms offinancial resource allocation and debt management;optimising the allocation of capital expenditure in line with the Group’sexpansion and profitability objectives, in particular by ensuring anoptimum, consistent capital-expenditure policy, selecting the mostprofitable projects, taking a detailed medium-term approach tocapital expenditure requirements and assessing the results;monitoring achievement of the plan, in association with the FinanceDepartment (mainly Financial Control) and updating it regularly onthe basis of actual results;working with the Executive Committee and the operating units andsupport functions to draw up related action plans and ensuring thatthe measures provided for are implemented.Rules of conduct and integrityGroupe Casino conveys values of ethics and integrity throughout theorganisation. These values are relayed through a set of managerialattitudes and behaviour, supported by ongoing training for allmanagement staff throughout 2010.• OrganisationBecause of its broad range of business activities, the Group hasa decentralised structure to take better account of each businessunit’s specific features and to make the decision-making processmore effective.In France, the business unit heads are responsible for applying theGroup’s strategy, whilst in the International business units responsibilityfor implementation lies with the Country Managers overseen by theInternational Co-ordination department and the Development andHoldings department.Each business unit has its own support departments, which have areporting line to the corresponding Group department.Responsibilities and powersSegregation of dutiesEach business unit is responsible for organising its structure andfunctions in such a way as to ensure proper segregation of duties.Delegation of powers and responsibilitiesThe Group Legal and Human Resources departments manage andsupervise the process of delegating powers and responsibilities inaccordance with local law.Human resources policyThe Group’s human resources policy aims to ensure an appropriateallocation of resources within the Group through structured recruitmentand career management policies designed to help achieve theobjectives set by the parent company.The Group also has specific training policies in business management,personal development and the Group’s various business areas.The business units base their pay policies on an analysis of marketpractices and on the principle of internal fair treatment, in order tomotivate employees.Managerial practices are assessed each year during the annualappraisal process to ensure that they conform with the Group’s set ofmanagerial attitudes and behaviour. The results will partly determinethe amount of variable compensation received.Information systemsGroupe Casino has developed a target model based mainly on twowell-known management software suites available on the market,one for administrative functions and one for commercial functions.The model also encompasses IT industry standards and governanceframeworks to ensure that the information systems are geared to theGroup’s current and future objectives. These references also serveas a basis to spread best practices, particularly in areas such asphysical and logical security, data backup and business continuity.They are taken into account when setting and monitoring objectivesand deadlines for each business unit, with a view to reducing risklevels.Operating procedures, content and communicationmethodsThe Group has internal control procedures for its significantbusiness processes. They describe the objectives of the process,the departments and activities concerned and the guidelines tofollow. These procedures are published on the intranet sites andother documentary databases of the various Group business unitsor circulated within the company.• In-house dissemination of informationAppropriateness and reliability of informationManagement is responsible for deciding what information should becommunicated to the various parties involved and for assessing itsappropriateness. It must provide employees with all the informationthey need to fulfil their duties, Senior Management with the informationit needs for decision-making and other entities with any informationlikely to have an impact on their activities.The Financial Control teams of each business unit use IFRS accountinginformation in their standard monthly management reports. GroupFinancial Control consolidates the report to identify any potential errorsand any variances against forecast and prior year data.Dissemination of informationTimeframe for providing informationThe timeframe for providing information is designed to give the partiesinvolved sufficient time to react appropriately. This is particularly trueof events likely to lead to a crisis at Group level, for which there is aspecific alert procedure.Communication methodsThe Group’s information systems, intranet sites, databases and othercommunication media are not only used to communicate informationbut also to centralise and circulate procedures applicable to variousactivities.In cases likely to lead to crisis at Group level, events are reportedaccording to a specific procedure. A reporting tool is also usedby a number of business units for prompt reporting to SeniorManagement.Registration Document 2010 | Casino Group187