in giving direction to social developments. This self-evi
dent truth is not, however, generally accepted in all
countries, not even now that in wide circles it is coming
to be realized once again that enterprises constitute an
important source of employment and in other respects,
too, perform an essential role in the economic and
social system.
Our enterprise wants to be a good citizen. In addition to
the participation of employees in social activities, this
means above all that views existing outside the enter
prise should be taken into account from the outset when
drawing up plans. Our aim is to have harmonious con
tacts with institutions and groups which in some way or
another have an interest in the functioning of our es
tablishments. This calls for a flexible attitude and a
conscientious approach, as social and legal ground
rules differ from country to country.
Within the framework of our social responsibility our
enterprise has again been actively involved in the past
year with the issues of the misuse of alcohol. For the
combating of this problem we expect specific informa
tion campaigns to be more effective than bans on ad
vertising, limitations on availability or increases in excise
duty. It is therefore particularly gratifying to us that, on
the initiative of the brewing industry as a whole, a Foun
dation has been set up in the Netherlands to encourage
the responsible use of alcohol, supported by the alco
holic beverages industry. In the context of information,
we are in favour of the mentioning of the alcohol content
on the packaging. This subject is similarly under consi
deration at European level.
New developments
In various breweries of our Group extensions and/or
renovations were completed during the year under
review. Mention may be made here of Zoeterwoude
(the Netherlands), Schiltigheim (France), Thessalonika
(Greece) and Massafra (Italy). These will be dealt with
in further detail elsewhere in the report. Our technical
experts have also been involved in expansion of the
capacity of breweries in Angola, Burundi, the People's
Republic of Congo, Nigeria, Rwanda, Surinam, the Neth
erlands Antilles and St. Lucia.
At Ruisbroek (Belgium) the buildings and installations
of a maltworks were acquired.
In the field of production the research into energy
savings is beginning to bear fruit. A conscious energy
policy will undoubtedly be of great importance for the
further development of our technology.
To improve the efficiency of bottling plants we have
proceeded to use mathematical simulation techniques.
Much useful experience has so far been acquired with
them.
During the past year our research and development ac
tivities have again been aimed at new products and im
provement of production methods. In this context men
tion may be made of non-alcoholic malt beverages and
low-calorie beer.
Research into further improvement of process water
proceeded successfully. As a result we have applied the
technique investigated on an industrial scale. The big
gest installation in Western Europe, based on reverse
osmosis (hyperfiltration), has now been brought into
operation in the Netherlands. Application of this techni
que will undoubtedly have further significance for the
brewing industry.
Our employees
The labour relations throughout the Group were gener
ally good during the period behind us. We trust that this
will also remain the case in the years ahead, especially
as an additional call will have to be made on our em
ployees in the future in order to cope with the increasing
competition and the cost increases.
We wish to take this opportunity to express our appreci
ation and gratitude for the dedication of the employees
during the past year.
The continuing internationalization of the enterprise and
the concomitant changes in the organization make in
creasingly high demands on the quality of the persons
occupying key positions. We have need of employees
who not only by virtue of their ability, but also having
regard to their mentality, are capable of involving both
internal and external aspects, also in the longer term-m
the effective exercise of their function. This calls ffP
further improvement in the methods of selection and the
guidance of potential managerial executives, especially
also with regard to their skills outside their own field of
specialization.
In these times of economic recession the workers' or
ganizations in numerous countries attach much impor
tance to the preservation of employment.
In this connection the pressure to spread the available
work over more people is becoming increasingly strong.
It is very open to question whether the shortening of
working hours provides the desired solution and whe
ther it would not be better to pay more attention to pos
sible solutions for the recession. Partly in view of the
fact that in the process of consultation people show little
or no willingness to surrender a proportionate part of
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