Ubisoft 2012 Annual Report Download - page 179

Governance and Internal control
2012
174
Clear goals and responsibilities
The division of powers and responsibilities is clearly defined by the organization charts.
In order to enable the various operational teams to achieve their goals, temporary and permanent
operational and banking authorizations are granted. These are frequently reviewed by the treasury
department and updated to reflect any changes in roles and responsibilities. Senior management
defines the rules for delegating power to subsidiaries.
Consequently, at an individual level, each major subsidiary has local internal control procedures
(delegation of bank signing authority, verification of day-to-day transactions, segregation of duties
between the signatory and the person preparing the payment in order to provide effective fraud
prevention, etc.).
Similarly, budgetary goals are defined annually by senior management and monitored in each
subsidiary by the accounting and finance teams. Management audit teams monitor business
performance: At subsidiaries, these teams provide relevant costs analyses to operational managers so
that they can reach suitable management decisions. This information is periodically reported in a
standard format and is consolidated by head office teams, which analyze the differences between
objectives and actual performance.
Human resources policy
HR policy is key to the internal control system and its effectiveness. HR teams at subsidiaries
establish and implement the policy, programs and systems required to meet recruitment goals set at
Group level, whilst ensuring the development of employees’ skills and potential.
These teams also ensure compliance with local regulations and apply the Group’s policies on
improving collective and individual performance, through regular appraisals, growth plans, appropriate
training, stock options, employee share subscription plans, etc.
Appropriate systems and operating methods
Reporting to the information systems department, IT teams provide teams with resources adapted to
individual business activities. Together with operational and functional teams, they decide on the
information systems required to produce information and to ensure that transactions are securely
managed. The range of solutions used within the Group is varied and includes purchased software as
well as tools developed commercial. These solutions will evolve to take into account growing needs in
managing and analyzing information.
To meet an increasing need for flexibility, security specialists are now systematically involved in the
research on structures and solutions carried out by the ISD and development teams. These studies
have helped to reduce the risks associated with the development of applications and internal and
online infrastructure.
Similarly, each subsidiary and team strives to continuously improve processes and documentation,
notably through the establishment of internal procedures suited to activities and organizational
schemes. In particular, management departments frequently review and update Group procedures at
all levels to ensure uniform local application. These procedures are made available to the relevant
teams through collaborative tools developed by the Group: Mapping systems, wikis and other systems
for the exchange of internal documents.
Procedures relating to the production of accounting and financial information are described in section
1.8.3.