2002 in Retrospect
Environment
As well as being beer's principal constituent, water plays
an important part in many stages of the production pro
cess. Heineken's policy of economising on water consump
tion has now been introduced in all operating companies
in which we have a majority interest. The impact of our
'Aware of Water' programme, which was launched in 2000,
was clearly apparent. A new system installed under our
waste-water treatment expansion programme was com
missioned at Ibadan in Nigeria in 2002. Work on a new
waste-water treatment plant at Enugu in Nigeria is in
progress and the contracts for construction of the plants
at Kinshasa in the Democratic Republic of the Congo and
Hatay in Vietnam have been awarded.
New waste-reduction and energy-saving programmes
are being developed and will be implemented in the next
few years. The target for our 'Aware of Energy' programme
is to reduce energy consumption by 10% from the begin
ning of 2003 to the end of 2004. Achieving that target will
require both promotion of energy-saving practices and
adoption of new technologies, such as heat recovery and
biogas.
A joint approach by the industry, government and health
organisations to combating alcohol-related problems is
one of the objects of the dialogue project initiated by the
Amsterdam Group of international companies, with which
Heineken cooperates in promoting responsible alcohol
use and preventing its abuse. However, cooperation with
governments in this area cannot be truly effective until the
dialogue project is sufficiently advanced and a common
position on the issue has been agreed.
The first phase of a 'virtual forum' project in the
Netherlands, which enables young people to learn about
the use of alcohol and other substances via an interactive
game, has been completed. This sociopsychological
approach is designed to find effective ways to help young
people avoid behaviour which incurs health risks.
Personnel
The average number of people employed by Heineken
increased by 8,212 to 48,237, due to the acquisition
of several breweries and beverage wholesalers. Excluding
acquisitions, the number of employees decreased,
as a result of the action taken to boost efficiency.
Alcohol and Society
Most people use alcohol sensibly, as one of the pleasures
of life, but a small minority abuse it, and that can lead
to problems. Heineken initiates and supports - in some
cases with the European trade organisation - information
and education projects to prevent alcohol abuse and
has formulated internal rules to ensure that its marketing
messages do not encourage it.
Heineken regards acknowledgement of the distinction
between responsible use and abuse of alcohol as the basis
for effective action by and cooperation between the indus
try, government and other organisations to prevent and
curb alcohol abuse. Governments still resort too often to
blanket measures to address alcohol-related problems,
for example by restricting advertising or distribution or
influencing prices through excise duty. The use of alcohol
only presents a danger to safety and/or health if it is used
at an inappropriate time, for example before driving a
vehicle or operating machinery, or in excessive quantity.
In a growing number of countries, we are going further
than imposing internal rules to prevent our commercial
communications encouraging alcohol abuse. In the United
States, the Netherlands, Ireland and Italy, our advertising
now carries a warning against abuse and we are planning
to introduce similar messages in other countries.
Central personnel policy is involved with the recruitment,
development and retention of managers for senior inter
national positions. The operating companies have their
own policies for other staff which take account of the local
labour market, regulations and practices.
As an international group, Heineken needs managers
with an international outlook and a recognisable manage
ment style. Heineken fosters the creation of a shared cul
ture and encourages the international exchange of expert
ise by organising international postings for management
trainees and placing staff, including senior management,
on temporary secondment. In 2002 there were 260 expa
triates working within the organisation, of whom 100 were
relatively young. These expatriates came from 26 coun
tries and were employed in 62 host countries.
The findings of the Europe-wide study of recruitment
and retention of highly qualified staff, which was complet
ed in 2002, will be used by Heineken as a starting-point
for encouraging the individual employee to take a more
active role in the development of his or her career.
A new cooperation agreement between the European
works council and Heineken N.V. came into effect on
1 January 2002 which clarifies the decision-making process
in relation to important local acquisitions and requires
that the European works council be informed in good time.
HEINEKEN N.V. ANNUAL REPORT 2002
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