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 14

Jaarverslagen en Personeelsbladen Heineken

Jaarverslagen | 1980 | | pagina 16