Siemens 2009 Annual Report Industrials Germany 4 actiOn Background: Siemens are the pioneer in energy efficiency, industrial productivity, affordable and personalised healthcare systems, and intelligent infrastructure solutions. To realise the Company vision, Siemens outline their strategy as continually rekindling their spirit of innovation in order to open up new perspectives for the Company. The Siemens Annual Reports have seemingly been engaged with sustainability issues since the early 2000s as each report has mentioned sustainability as a focal point. content review: The Siemens Report from the start is very engaging and invites you to take a journey with them with ambassadors for the Company’s green solutions, to see the concrete benefits of their environmental portfolio. The Report is structured around three key areas: our world; our company; and our structure. The ‘our world’ section sets up the key global sustainability challenges – demographic change and healthcare, urbanisation and sustainable development, climate change and energy supply and globalisation and competitiveness. Detailed spreads then contain very ‘big picture’ and ‘future thinking’ by Siemans, pitching the Company’s position in society and its potential to impact and influence future changes for long-term sustainability. The graphic spreads indicating ‘our world’ and ‘our profile’ help provide summaries for the reader as well as directing them to more extensive information. Consistent reference to strategy is maintained from the initial group strategy set-up to the sustainability section and other areas of the Report. The sustainability issues discussed are shown as being directly material and relevant to the Company but there does lack that final link to the bottom line financials. The risk section falls behind slightly in terms of the extent to which non-financial risks are discussed and presented. The only direct risk relating to the environment is that of potential environmental regulations which may impact the Company so, where the rest of the Report presents sustainability as an integral element of the business, this is not carried through to the risk section. Summary: Overall the Siemens Report is fairly integrated throughout with an interesting approach taken to reporting on sustainability issues such as the terminology used, i.e. ‘our understanding of sustainability’. The design of the Report enhances the usability of the Report with the sustainability section introduced with a brief synopsis of each of the categories discussed in the section and an introduction of how Siemens views sustainability as being integral to their business and the Company strategy. 52 The integrated journey
