Case study: How Autoneum promotes compliance
With 55 production facilities worldwide, Autoneum is the market and technology leader in acoustic and thermal management solutions for the global automotive industry. Autoneum seeks to be a good corporate citizen, maintaining, consistently, high legal and ethical standards. Tweet This! Accordingly, it is Autoneum’s strategic commitment to further strengthen its compliance framework, deepening the integration of compliance principles in the company’s culture.
This case study is based on the 2018 Corporate Responsibility Report by Autoneum published on the Global Reporting Initiative Sustainability Disclosure Database that can be found at this link. Through all case studies we aim to demonstrate what CSR/ ESG/ sustainability reporting done responsibly means. Essentially, it means: a) identifying a company’s most important impacts on the environment, economy and society, and b) measuring, managing and changing.
Abstract
All Autoneum employees not only abide by applicable international and local laws and regulations but also act in line with Autoneum’s values, principles, the Code of Conduct and other internal regulations and directives. All employees have to sign the Code of Conduct as part of their employment contract, and must comply with the provisions stipulated therein. In order to promote compliance Autoneum took action to:
- implement a Code of Conduct
- enable stakeholders to report compliance incidents
- strengthen employee awareness of compliance-related topics
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With this case study you will see:
- Which are the most important impacts (material issues) Autoneum has identified;
- How Autoneum proceeded with stakeholder engagement, and
- What actions were taken by Autoneum to promote compliance
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What are the material issues the company has identified?
In its 2018 Corporate Responsibility Report Autoneum identified a range of material issues, such as economic performance, effluents and waste, occupational health & safety, diversity & equal opportunity, anti-corruption. Among these, promoting compliance stands out as a key material issue for Autoneum.
Stakeholder engagement in accordance with the GRI Standards
The Global Reporting Initiative (GRI) defines the Principle of Stakeholder Inclusiveness when identifying material issues (or a company’s most important impacts) as follows:
Stakeholders must be consulted in the process of identifying a company’s most important impacts and their reasonable expectations and interests must be taken into account. This is an important cornerstone for CSR / sustainability reporting done responsibly.
Key stakeholder groups Autoneum engages with:
| Stakeholder Group | Method of engagement |
| Employees | · Dialog between employees and managers · Satisfaction surveys · Idea management · Intranet · Digital collaboration platforms |
| Customers | · Development process of products and services · In-house fairs on customer premises · Media · Social media |
| Financial community | · Shareholder meetings · Dialog with financial institutions and analysts |
| Research | · Cooperation with universities · Scientific lead or participation at conferences · Hosting of students on R&T projects |
| Media & public
| · Communication through website · Publications · Advertising · Social media and media events |
| Local communities
| · Community engagement projects · Plant visits · Neighborhood dialog · Open door events · One-on-one dialog with local authority representatives |
| Civil society
| · Inquiries · Collaboration projects · Memberships |
| Industry associations
| · Memberships in various organisations · Event hosting · Participation in working groups |
How stakeholder engagement was made to identify material issues
To identify and prioritise material topics Autoneum engaged with its stakeholders through a workshop, where their perspectives were systematically collected.
What actions were taken by Autoneum to promote compliance?
In its 2018 Corporate Responsibility Report Autoneum reports that it took the following actions for promoting compliance:
- Implementing a Code of Conduct
- The Code of Conduct, which all employees have to sign, is the centrepiece of Autoneum’s compliance policy framework. It describes Autoneum’s commitment to complying with relevant international and local laws and regulations, defines the fundamental rules of employee conduct and helps to cultivate business relationships that are based on the principles of truth and honesty. Autoneum suppliers have to abide by the Code of Conduct for Suppliers, which is an integral part of all supplier agreements and contains rules of conduct pertaining to labour and human rights, health and safety, the environment, material compliance and business ethics. In 2018, Autoneum expanded its compliance policy framework to include two new directives. The Anti-Bribery & Corruption Directive gives a general overview of bribery and corruption risks and defines the principles and rules of behaviour employees must follow in critical situations. In addition, in conformity with the European General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR), Autoneum has adopted a Data Protection Directive, which describes the key elements of data protection, the privacy rights of employees and the rules of data processing and control. The Directive is enforced by the Data Protection Officer and his deputies who have been appointed in each Business Group.
- Enabling stakeholders to report compliance incidents
- Autoneum operates a global Speak Up Line, which enables employees, customers, suppliers and all other external stakeholders throughout the world to report violations of the Code of Conduct and other regulations securely, confidentially and, if preferred and legally allowed, anonymously. The Speak Up Line is another option that has been added to Autoneum’s existing internal channels (i.e. reporting incidents to a superior, the Human Resources department or the Legal & Compliance department). In 2018, 43 reports were raised, the majority of them via the Speak Up Line. If allegations were confirmed or substantiated, Autoneum has taken appropriate action to remedy these. In 2018 there were no legal actions pending or completed regarding anti-competitive behaviour and violations of anti-trust legislation in which Autoneum was identified as a participant.
- Strengthening employee awareness of compliance-related topics
- In 2018, Autoneum implemented a variety of measures to strengthen employee awareness of compliance-related topics, continuing its mandatory Code of Conduct training programme. Overhead staff were trained via e-learning sessions, reaching a completion rate of 95%, which is in line with the Advance Sustainability target. Operators without computer access were trained in classroom training sessions carried out in plants, with a completion rate of approximately 85%. Additionally, Autoneum rolled out e-learning campaigns on topics that are relevant only for certain segments of the population. These included GDPR (completion rate: 97.6%), Protecting and Handling Data (97.1%), Cybercrime Awareness (96.4%), Preventing Phishing (97.3%) and Physical Security (95.2%). The Legal & Compliance department also conducted a worldwide poster campaign, to raise staff awareness of the Speak Up Line.
Which GRI Standards and corresponding Sustainable Development Goals (SDGs) have been addressed?
The GRI Standards addressed in this case are:
1) Disclosure 205-2 Communication and training about anti-corruption policies and procedures
2) Disclosure 205-3 Confirmed incidents of corruption and actions taken
3) Disclosure 206-1 Legal actions for anti-competitive behavior, anti-trust, and monopoly practices
4) Disclosure 419-1 Non-compliance with laws and regulations in the social and economic area
Disclosure 205-2 Communication and training about anti-corruption policies and procedures corresponds to:
- Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) 16: Promote peaceful and inclusive societies for sustainable development, provide access to justice for all and build effective, accountable and inclusive institutions at all levels
- Business theme: Anti-corruption
Disclosure 205-3 Confirmed incidents of corruption and actions taken corresponds to:
- Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) 16: Promote peaceful and inclusive societies for sustainable development, provide access to justice for all and build effective, accountable and inclusive institutions at all levels
- Business theme: Anti-corruption
Disclosure 206-1 Legal actions for anti-competitive behavior, anti-trust, and monopoly practices corresponds to:
- Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) 16: Promote peaceful and inclusive societies for sustainable development, provide access to justice for all and build effective, accountable and inclusive institutions at all levels
- Business theme: Compliance with laws and regulations
Disclosure 419-1 Non-compliance with laws and regulations in the social and economic area corresponds to:
- Sustainable Development Goal (SDG) 16: Promote peaceful and inclusive societies for sustainable development, provide access to justice for all and build effective, accountable and inclusive institutions at all levels
- Business theme: Compliance with laws and regulations
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References:
1) This case study is based on published information by Autoneum, located at the link below. For the sake of readability, we did not use brackets or ellipses. However, we made sure that the extra or missing words did not change the report’s meaning. If you would like to quote these written sources from the original, please revert to the original on the Global Reporting Initiative’s Sustainability Disclosure Database at the link:
http://database.globalreporting.org/
2) https://www.globalreporting.org/standards/gri-standards-download-center/
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