Key success factors

20 Value-Driven Corporate Management
Organization and management
The Group’s management and system of line responsibility
is structured by regions. The Executive Committee is
supported by efficient corporate staff units and modern
management systems.
Corporate governance also means efficient management
and control
Holcim knows that its credibility and reputation
depend on professional and transparent corporate
governance. This promotes confidence on the part
of investors, business partners, employees and the
public at large.
The overall system of corporate governance, which
includes directing, monitoring and organizing the
highest corporate management levels, formulating
business policy principles and applying internal and
external control mechanisms, forms the basis for responsible
management and control of the company
with focus on sustainable value creation. Although we
believe we have made great progress, this is an area
in which efforts never cease.
The Code of Conduct defines Group-wide standards of
behavior expected of all staff and it underscores our
responsibility as entrepreneurs and employers. The
text of the current Code of Conduct can be found on
our website under www.holcim.com.
vidual Executive Committee members assisted by
Area Managers and Corporate Functional Managers.
In addition, each Executive Committee member has
functional responsibility for specific corporate areas
such as Cement Manufacturing, Commercial Services
or Human Resources. This dual management approach
gives Holcim an ideal combination of standardized
Group-wide know-how and local value creation.
If our Group companies are to strengthen their cost
and market leadership in their markets, they need
both entrepreneurial room for maneuver and support
from the Group in the form of specific know-how and
predefined parameters. In our view, success depends
on striking a balance between local power and autonomy
on the one hand and the right degree of support
and intervention from Group headquarters on the
other. A coherent program of basic and continuing
management training, as well as systematic succession
planning to develop candidates with executive
potential at both national company and corporate
level, are important factors in the drive to strengthen
the Group.
Dual line and functional management responsibility
Holcim is globally active with around 90,000 employees
on five continents. We manufacture and distribute
our core products cement and aggregates in countless
local markets, along with products and services based
on these core products in the ready-mix concrete,
asphalt and concrete products sectors. The key to the
Group’s success lies in the competence of our local
management teams. The operating units in over
70 countries fall under the line responsibility of indi-
Holcim’s efficient and lean organizational structure
enables it to respond rapidly to new challenges.
Holcim’s hierarchical structures are flat and its divisions
of responsibility clearly defined – both at Group
level and in the individual Group companies.