VAUDE CSR-Report – Management and Committees

VAUDE is 100 percent family-owned. The Board of Partners consists of the founding family, von Dewitz:

Founding family in the Board of Partners

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The Board of Partners is the supreme controlling body for VAUDE Sport GmbH & Co. KG. There is normally a meeting of partners at least twice annually. In this meeting of partners, the following issues are discussed and decisions are made:

Discharge of the management
Approval of annual financial statements
Appropriation of profits
Confirmation of auditors

Albrecht von Dewitz as advisor

In a revised version of the partnership agreement, the role of company founder Albrecht von Dewitz as an advisor was formalized in 2014. The task of the advisor is to advise and monitor the management.

Albrecht von Dewitz

Albrecht von Dewitz founded VAUDE in 1974 and passed the company on to his daughter Antje von Dewitz in 2009.

Executive Board spans company divisions

The Executive Board consists of CEO, Antje von Dewitz, and the two authorized signatories: Chief Sales Officer and Head of Sustainability, Jan Lorch and Chief Financial Officer, Erwin Gutensohn.

In the Management Meeting, all primary strategic issues are discussed and decisions are made on key issues, such as issues of risk management, alignment of company divisions, financing and sustainability strategies. Economic decisions such as budget releases and calculation requirements are also under the responsibility of the management.

Four levels of hierarchy in the management

The management structure at VAUDE consists of four hierarchical levels:

CEO with Executive Board

Division Heads
Department Heads
Team Leaders

Seven Divisions, Six Divisional Heads

The company is divided into six areas and each area has a Division Head:

Distribution and Logistics
Finance
Marketing
IT (Information technology)
Personal und Organization
Product development and implementation

One division head post (Marketing) is filled by the CEO Antje von Dewitz in personal union. Sales and Logistics Manager Jan Lorch is also Head of Sustainability/CSR. The VAUDE Sustainability Team reports to him.

Directly under the Executive Board are the administrative departments Business Development, Organizational Development, Quality Management, and CSR Management. Thus, four members of the CSR Team answer directly to the Board – see also "CSR team as a driving force for sustainability”

Division Head Panel as a forum for decision-making

All Division Heads are represented on a Division Manager Panel. Here questions on organizational and operational issues in the company are addressed, especially in the area of personnel and organization, such as job security, job descriptions and the payroll system.

GRI:

102-18