Chrysler 2005 Annual Report Download - page 15

14 Reporton Operations Sustainability Report – Economic, environmental and social responsibility
01 Report on Operations
Sustainability Report – Economic,
environmental and social responsibility
One year ago, even though it was a period when pulling the company
out of the crisis was the top priority for everyone at Fiat, the Group
took the time to publish its first Sustainability Report.
This was considered a way of reasserting the importance Fiat assigns
to providing the public with balanced information about the issues
associated with management accountability, respect for the
environment, and corporate social responsibility. A way of emphasising
that for Fiat, dialogue with the community is far from marginal:
instead, it’s a vital part of its business.
The Sustainability Report testifies not only to the work Fiat has
performed on its finances, manufacturing programmes and products,
but also to the great strides forward made by the Group in
corporate responsibility, as it believes that these efforts do not
hamper its business, but add to its value.
The Sustainability Report is divided into three sections, dealing in
turn with the Fiat Group’seconomic,environmental and social
responsibility.Several additions have been made since the first issue,
reflecting the goals that were set out in last year’s Report and which
to a large extent have been met.
Because this is yet another area where Fiat has made good on its
promises. And it also bears out the Report’s twofold aim: to take
stock of what has been done, and to establish the targets to which
the future work must tend.
In economic responsibility, Fiat has reached its goal of increasing the
Group’s value and competitiveness. In doing so, it has stayed true to
its Code of Conduct, and made significant progress in ensuring that
its suppliers abide by the principles of the Code of Conduct and
those of the Compliance Programme. In this connection, Fiat has
concluded its awareness-raising efforts and is now monitoring results.
In environmental responsibility, Fiat’s commitment took concrete shape
with the new central Research and Innovation function, set up in 2005
to provide a better way of making sure that technological development
also lightens the impact of products on the environment. At the same
time, the number of plants which have received ISO 14001 certification
increased, from 84 in 2004 to 89 in 2005. In addition, the Environmental
Management System has been extended to manymore manufacturing
sites, and the results of the first efforts at tying respect for the
environment in with Fiat’s business targets are promising.
In the area of social responsibility, significant progress has been
made.The information provided in the section on Human Resources
nowcovers worldwide data. In addition, the Group continued to
support major programmes designed to help the disadvantaged in
countries such as Brazil, and embarked on new initiatives in Europe
and elsewhere. Fiat devotes particular attention to developing
services and individual and collective transportation means to help
people who face special challenges that can limit their mobility: ways
such as the Autonomy Programme, the range of agricultural
equipment for the disabled, and Fiat’s contribution to the Torino 2006
Paralympic Games, where the Group provided funding and
management expertise.