Mercedes 2015 Annual Report Download - page 131

138 B | COMBINED MANAGEMENT REPORT | RISK AND OPPORTUNITY REPORT
The Daimler Group’s divisions are exposed to a large number
of risks that are directly linked with business activities.
A risk is understood as the danger that events, developments
or actions will prevent the Group or one of its divisions from
achieving its targets. It is also important for the Daimler Group
to identify opportunities so that they can be utilized as part of
Daimler’s business activities, thus safeguarding and enhancing
the Daimler Group’s competitiveness. An opportunity is under-
stood as the possibility to surpass the planned targets as a result
of events, developments or actions. The divisions have direct
responsibility for recognizing and managing business risks and
opportunities at an early stage. As part of the strategy pro-
cess, risks related to the planned long-term development and
opportunities for further profitable growth are identified and
integrated into the decision-making process. In order to identify
risks and opportunities at an early stage and to assess and
manage them consistently, Daimler applies effective management
and control systems, which are integrated into a risk and
opportunity management system. Risks and opportunities are
not offset. The system is described below.
Risk and opportunity management system
The risk management system with regard to material and
existence-threatening risks is integrated into the value-based
management and planning system of the Daimler Group.
It is an integral part of the overall planning, management and
reporting process in the legal entities, divisions and corporate
functions. The risk management system is intended to system-
atically and continually identify, assess, control, monitor and
report material risks and risks threatening Daimler’s existence,
in order to ensure the achievement of corporate targets and
to enhance risk awareness at the Group.
The opportunity management system at the Daimler Group
is derived from the risk management system. The objective
of opportunity management is to recognize the possible oppor-
tunities arising in business activities as a result of positive
developments at an early stage and to utilize them as optimally
as possible for the Group by taking appropriate measures.
Taking advantage of opportunities may lead to an overachieve-
ment of planned goals. Opportunity management considers
those opportunities that are relevant and implementable, but
which have not yet been included in any planning.
In the context of operational planning, risks and opportunities
– with consideration of appropriate risk and opportunity
categories – are identified and assessed generally for a two-year
planning period. Furthermore, the discussions for the deriva-
tion of mid-term and strategic targets in the context of strategic
planning include the identification and assessment of risks
and opportunities relating to a longer period. The reporting of
risks and opportunities in the Management Report generally
relates to a period of one year. Besides the reporting at specific
times and with reference to the described periods, risk and
opportunity management is established as a continuous task
within the Group. In addition to the regular reporting, there
is also an internal reporting obligation within the Group for risks
with reporting relevance arising unexpectedly. The Group’s
central corporate risk management regularly reports the identi-
fied risks and opportunities to the Board of Management
and the Supervisory Board.
Risk and Opportunity Report
Assessment of probability of occurrence and possible impact
Level Probability of occurrence
Low 0% < Probability of occurrence ≤ 33%
Medium 33% < Probability of occurrence ≤ 66%
High 66% < Probability of occurrence < 100%
Level Possible impact
Low €0 < Impact < €500 million
Medium €500 million ≤ Impact < €1 billion
High Impact ≥ €1 billion
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