ir-V
SOCIAL SÜSTA INABILITY
and support at several levels and addresses the
dilemmas which can arise in practice. Heineken
encourages continuous dialogue with stakeholders,
from which can be distilled a shared corpus of exam
ples of how and how not to behave and against which
each employee can compare his or her own conduct.
Local management will be responsible for
implementation at local level of an integrity policy
which reflects the principles and priorities defined by
Heineken at the international level. Local manage
ment will be supported by an international infra
structure, including a network of experts to assist
with formulating policy, facilitating the exchange of
experience and providing advice. The infrastructure is
supplemented by a whistleblower's charter, to ensure
that errors committed despite our credible and effec
tive integrity programme are reported, so that
Heineken can, if possible, make good any loss suffered
by individuals, the community or Heineken itself.
The first elements of this integrity programme will
be tested in 2004 before being rolled out worldwide.
43 per cent of our operating companies have
policies on donations to good causes and non-finan
cial support and 57 per cent also have policies
on non-commercial sponsorship. Expenditure on
community involvement in 2003 amounted to 0.55
per cent of the profit before tax. On average, just
over €160,000 per operating company was spent on
good causes.
Community involvement
average per operating company in euros
NON-COMMERCIAL
SPONSORSHIP
GOOD CAUSES
NON-FINANCIAL DONATIONS 40,000
Complaints
4.10 Heineken in the community
The activities at Heineken's production units, as in
any manufacturing facility, can cause some degree of
nuisance to people living in the immediate vicinity,
and distribution can give rise to traffic problems.
Consistent with our involvement in the communities
in which we operate, our policy is to minimise these
adverse effects. The way in which the operating
companies implement this policy is left to the discre
tion of local management.
'Cruzcampo'
Heineken Spain shows its social face
I
-
JULIO CUESTA
Fundacióri Cruzcampo was set up by
Heineken Spain to promote social and
cultural initiatives of many kinds.
It uses its annual budget of €5-600,000
to support social causes, including a
drug and alcohol rehabilitation pro
gramme and organisations which help
orphans and the poor and disadvan
taged, sporting activities and the arts.
The foundation has recently received
a number of awards in recognition of
its work.
32 per cent of our operating companies have formal
procedures in place for local communities to lodge
complaints about nuisance or inconvenience. 30 per
cent of our operating companies have policies for
managing the impact of their activities on the local
community and 53 per cent also have policies on
environmental impact. The operating companies'
procedures have been officially recognised in a
significant number of cases, with 36 per cent of them
receiving awards in 2003 for their social, ethical or
environmental performance. Heineken N.V. won the
2003 Dutch Reputation Award for the company with
the best reputation.
Political interference
It is not Heineken's policy to become involved in
national or local politics, except where necessary to
explain or defend its legitimate corporate interests.
This latter eventuality arose among four per cent of
our operating companies. Third parties attempted to
use six per cent of the operating companies for
political purposes, in most cases by attempting to
influence appointments within the company.
TOWARDS sUSTA INAB I L I TY
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