Mercedes 2013 Annual Report Download - page 133

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C | Combined Management Report | Risk and Opportunity Report
In principle, there is also a danger that due to a failure of
production equipment or a problem with a production plant,
the level of production cannot be maintained as planned.
In order to avoid bottleneck situations, priority is placed on
the regular maintenance of production equipment and on
avoiding capacity bottlenecks by means of foresighted planning.
The possibility of a risk occurring in this context is low.
Another factor is that the availability and quality of products
is continuously monitored within the context of managing
the entire value chain.
Information technology risks. Information technology plays
a crucial role for the Daimler Group’s business processes.
Storing and exchanging data in a timely, complete and correct
manner and being able to utilize fully functioning IT applica-
tions are of key importance for a global group such as Daimler.
Risks of occurrences which could result in the interruption
of our business processes due to the failure of IT systems or
which could cause the loss or corruption of data are there-
fore identified and evaluated over the entire lifecycles of appli-
cations and IT systems. Daimler has defined suitable actions
for risk avoidance and limitation of damage, which are continu-
ally adapted to changing circumstances. These activities
are embedded in a multi-stage IT risk management process.
For example, the Group minimizes potential interruptions
of operating routines in the data centers by means of mirrored
data sets, decentralized data storage, outsourced archiving,
high-availability computers and appropriate emergency plans.
In order to meet the growing demands placed on the confi-
dentiality, integrity and availability of data, Daimler operates
its own risk management system for information security.
Despite all the precautionary measures taken, Daimler cannot
completely rule out the possibility that IT disturbances
will arise and have a negative impact on the Group’s business
processes. IT risks are not allocated to the segments of the
Daimler Group because there are no segment-specific differences
with regard to the types of risk in the IT risk portfolio.
Personnel risks. Daimler’s success is highly dependent on
our employees and their expertise. Competition for highly
qualified staff and management is still very intense in the industry
and the regions in which we operate. Our future success also
depends on the magnitude to which we succeed over the long
term in recruiting, integrating and retaining executives, engi-
neers and other specialists. Our human resources instruments
take such personnel risks into consideration, while contri-
buting towards the recruitment and retention of staff with high
potential and expertise and ensuring transparency with regard
to our resources. One focus of our human resources management
is on the targeted personnel development and further training
of our workforce. Our employees benefit for example from the
range of courses offered by the Daimler Corporate Academy
and from the transparency created by LEAD, our uniform world-
wide performance and potential management system. Because
of demographic developments, the Group has to cope with
changes relating to an aging workforce and has to secure a suffi-
cient number of qualified young persons with the potential
to become the next generation of highly skilled specialists and
executives. We address this issue by taking appropriate mea-
sures in the area of generation management. There is no
segment-specific assessment of the human resources risk
because the described risks are not related to any specific
business segment but are valid for all segments. If this risk mate-
rializes, depending on the size of the personnel shortage, an
impact on the Group’s activities and thus also on the earnings
of the Daimler Group is to be expected.
As described above, our employees constitute great potential
for the Daimler Group. With their ideas and suggestions, they
are involved in the respective activities and working processes
and thus contribute considerably to our improvements and
innovations.
To support this process, the Daimler Group has established an
ideas management system through which employees can
submit ideas and suggestions for improvements. The processing
of the information received by this system and the integration
of ideas in an assessment process carried out by experts and
persons in charge of the respective processes is supported by
the established IT system “idee.com.” This is intended to ensure
the systematic and sustained promotion of our employees’
ideas and suggestions for improvement.
Furthermore, workgroups create processes and instruments
to produce new business ideas and to establish cross-depart-
mental cooperation. In this context, an online community
exists in the area of business innovation to which suggestions
for discussions can be submitted, which all employees can
assess and develop further.
Risks and opportunities related to equity interests and
joint ventures. Cooperation with partners in joint ventures and
associated companies is of increasing importance for Daimler
to utilize additional growth opportunities, and also against the
background of increasing national regulations, particularly
in the emerging markets. The successful implementation of coop-
eration with other companies is also of key importance to
realize cost advantages and to combat the competitive pressure
in the automotive industry.
Daimler generally bears a proportionate share of the risks
and opportunities of its joint ventures and associated companies
in growth markets. In the relevant regions, the increasing
relevance of cooperation with partners in joint ventures, asso-
ciated companies and cooperations therefore increases the
potential risks and opportunities, because the factors that have
a negative impact on those companies’ profitability also
reduce the Group’s earnings in proportion to the ownership
interest.