Mercedes 2012 Annual Report Download - page 171

6 | Corporate Governance | Report of the Audit Committee | Integrity and Compliance
179
Integrity and Compliance
Daimler wants to do decent business, and in both senses
of the word: We aim to be financially successful – but not at any
price. We want to achieve our business success with decency,
in other words, by respectable means. Integrity is therefore
one of our four corporate values, which form the foundation for
our business activities. We are convinced that doing business
decently brings us sustained success, and is also good for
society as a whole. As a group with global operations, we accept
responsibility and want to be a pioneer in terms of ethical
business conduct.
UN Global Compact. We orient our business conduct towards
the principles of the Global Compact of the United Nations.
Daimler is a founding member of this initiative by Kofi Annan
and is a member of the LEAD Group. E see page 182
Group-wide “Integrity Dialog” and revision of the Integrity
Code. Our goal is to permanently establish integrity in our
corporate culture. But ethical principles cannot simply be
dictated. They must be put into practice on the basis of an
inner conviction. Daimler therefore promotes integrity through
a variety of measures and through continuous dialog on
the subject. E see page 72 Our new “Integrity Code” that
we created in 2012 reflects the results of our Group-wide
“Integrity Dialog”. The principles of behavior and guidelines
for everyday conduct set out in the Integrity Code are therefore
based on a shared understanding of values. E see page 182
Creation of the Advisory Board . For the course we have
set to achieve a culture of integrity at the Daimler Group,
in addition to the numerous measures we have already taken,
we also regard a view from outside as helpful. We have there-
fore established an “Advisory Board for Integrity and Corporate
Responsibility” to support the integrity process at Daimler
critically and constructively. We have been able to gain external
personalities from various fields with valuable experience
in questions of ethical conduct. E see page 72
Integrity goes beyond what we at Daimler understand by
compliance. Integrity is more than adherence to the law, internal
rules and voluntary commitments. We understand integrity
to include acting responsibly and in accordance with ethical
standards, through which we not only secure our company’s
success for the long term, but also create benefits for society.
Members of Daimler AG’s Advisory Board for Integrity
and Corporate Responsibility
Name Function
Stefan Aust Journalist, publicist and author
Professor Kai Bussmann Head of Economy & Crime Research
Center, Martin-Luther-Universität,
Halle-Wittenberg
Professor Helmut Holzapfel Head of the Department for Integrated
Traffic Planning and Mobility
Development, University of Kassel
Renate Hornung-Draus Managing Director of the German
Employers‘ Association (BDA),
Head of the Department of the European
Union and European Social Policy
Professor Michael Kittner Former Professor of Business,
Labor and Social Law, University
of Kassel and legal advisor for IG Metall
Professor Julian Nida-Rümelin Professor for Philosophy,
Ludwig Maximilian University, Munich
Pierre Sané Board Member, UN Global Compact
Sylvia Schenk Attorney in Frankfurt, Board Member
of Transparency International Germany
and German Olympic Academy
Professor Ernst Ulrich
von Weizsäcker
Environmental scientist, Climate expert
and former Member of the Bundestag
6.01