Sennheiser 2010 Annual Report Download - page 26

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FIN ANCIAL REPORT 2010
50 FIN ANCIAL REPORT 2010
Report of the Supervisory Board
The members of the Supervisory Board of Sennheiser electronic GmbH & Co. KG have examined the
Consolidated Management Report and the Consolidated Financial Statements for financial year 2010, which
were submitted on time by the management. Sennheiser Beteiligungs GmbH, Wedemark, Germany, was
responsible for the management of Sennheiser electronic GmbH & Co. KG in its capacity as general partner.
In financial year 2010, Volker Bartels, Dr. Heinrich Esser and Stefan Junker were appointed as registered
Presidents of Sennheiser electronic GmbH & Co. KG, Wennebostel, Germany. In addition to the above-named
Presidents, the other members of the Executive Team were Susanne Seidel (Global Marketing) and Paul
Whiting (Global Sales). This year, the members of the Supervisory Board were Dr. Frank Heinricht, Andreas
Dornbracht and Dr. Hans-Peter Wiendahl; Prof. Dr. Jörg Sennheiser served as Chairman. Dr. Hans-Peter Wien-
dahl retired from his position on the Supervisory Board at the end of 2010, and Johann Soder was appointed
as his successor as from the start of the new financial year. The Supervisory Board monitored the develop-
ment of the Sennheiser Group during regular meetings. Between meetings, the Supervisory Board was
given detailed information by the management, both orally and in writing, about all important decisions,
projects and other business events. In particular, the following topics were discussed intensively by the
Supervisory Board:
– The implementation of the model for the systematic establishment of a reasonable distribution
structure, which had been introduced in the previous year, in the European countries. Together with the
management, it was assessed step by step with regard to its practicality, and developed further.
– The Supervisory Board approved the proposed concept for developing a strategy at Group level and
within the various market segments, and for deriving palpable measures as well as for comparing actual
and plan figures using the balanced scorecard system, and released it for implementation. This has
made the updating and development of various strategies an integral part of business planning; both
are carried out prior to the budgeting process.
– The net present value (NPV) and return on investment (ROI) valuation methods were developed,
proposed and approved to provide for an improved comparability of internal projects. This makes it
easier to assess the future impact of projects on the company’s success prior to their commencement,
and to prioritize targeted measures to the best advantage of the company. This method has already
been implemented for this year’s budgeting process, and will be continued in the future.
– The large reorganization project ACT (accountability, communication, transparency) was presented and tracked at each Supervisory Board meet-
ing. Together with the management, it was steered in the right direction. This project will transform the past functional organization of our com-
pany into a divisional organization. The design had to be well thought out, and therefore took up a lot of the management’s and Supervisory Board’s
time and resources. Once the concept for the reorganization of the global Group had been developed, filling the management positions was another
highly debated subject. For this, we fell back on the practical experience of the Supervisory Board members, which helped us make the right,
sustainable decisions.
– The proposed concept for the reorganization project ACT was approved for implementation at the last meeting of the year. At the same meeting,
the members of the Executive Management Board (EMB) were appointed and their responsibilities allocated:
Volker Bartels: Corporate Services and Spokesperson of the EMB
Daniel Sennheiser: Strategy & Finance
Dr. Andreas Sennheiser: Supply Chain Division
Peter Callan: Consumer Electronics Division
Dr. Heinrich Esser: Professional Systems Division, and ad interim: Installed Sound Division
Paul Whiting: Global Sales Division
– A look back at 2010 shows that we emerged from the crisis in 2009 within the first six months of the year. Business in the second half of the year was
positive on account of developments in the markets and the targeted efforts of the entire company, our subsidiaries and partners, and we even man-
aged to gain new market shares. The Supervisory Board carefully monitored these developments and provided many additional suggestions taken
straight from real-life experience. This paved the way for creating a realistic guide for the following year.
The Consolidated Management Report and the Consolidated Financial Statements for financial year 2010 have been audited by the auditing firm
Deloitte & Touche GmbH, and have been confirmed unconditionally. The Supervisory Board ratified the auditors’ report, and recommends that the
shareholders accept it. Having completed its own examination of the Consolidated Management Report and the Consolidated Financial Statements,
the Supervisory Board hereby concurs with the auditors’ report.
Wedemark, Germany, May 12, 2011
Prof. Dr. Jörg Sennheiser, Chairman of the Supervisory Board of Sennheiser electronic GmbH & Co. KG