Corporate governance and risk management
To effectively and responsibly manage risks and challenges, standards of good corporate management are important. We have established a corporate governance framework that addresses rights of shareholders, the responsibilities and duties of the Executive Board, including social and environmental considerations, and the Supervisory Board and how they collaborate; information and disclosure obligations; and solutions for any conflicts of interest.
The governing principles we have established ensure good management and control of the business. A comprehensive risk management system addresses internal or external risks that may affect the Group’s goals, strategies, brand image or financial performance and health. The Group function Social and Environmental Affairs is an integral part of the risk management system and provides the Executive Board with regular updates on social and environmental risks and developments. SEA strategic business plans that have been approved by the Board support the development of business contingency plans and staff advisories for public health and safety issues.For more detailed information on corporate governance and risk management, see the Corporate Governance and Investors sections on the corporate website.
Employee Code of Conduct
Integrity is one of the core values of the adidas Group. Accordingly, all employees are expected to act with fairness and responsibility as well as in compliance with the laws and regulations while carrying out their tasks. In order to maintain good corporate governance, we therefore adopted a Code of Conduct as part of our internal Global Policy Manual. The Code of Conduct defines binding rules for all employees with respect to legally compliant and ethical behaviour towards other employees, business partners and third parties, for handling information – in particular insider information – as well as for dealing with financial matters. The Compliance Programme of the adidas Group is regularly updated and ensures that complaints and potential breaches of the Code of Conduct are dealt with independently and objectively. adidas Group employees have been trained in the details of the code through a tailored e-Learning tool that was launched at the end of 2007.