Confidence Building
Siemens Takes a Leading Role ................ by RebeCCa bRaCe
siemens says it’s “addressing the world’s toughest questions” in its corporate brochure, an assertion that is certainly borne out by the views of Joe Kaeser, its CFo since 2006, who joined the company in 1980. As finance chiefs focus on gauging the impact of the uropean debt crisis on their own businesses, Kaeser believes multinational corpora-
tions have an even more fundamental role to play in restoring confidence in the economy. “our
biggest task right now is that we go out to the public and our customer base and work with them
on how we can help them finance their projects—and how we can help them to gather more
confidence again to invest into the opportunities of the global market,” says Kaeser, who was pre-
viously chief strategy officer.
“It is important that all over the world CFos,
Ceos and other industrial leaders go out and
provide encouragement to employees as well as
to the global society. Politicians and many governments in europe—and also, I believe, in the
u.s.—are just not able to provide the confidence
it takes that the economy will resume again and
trust is being provided. We need to take on that
leadership because we can make it happen.”
Image from Getty
siemens, which in 2010 reported revenues
of almost 76 billion euros ($100.7 billion) and
405,000 employees, is well-positioned to take on
such a role. Having overcome a major corruption
scandal in 2006 that still lingers in u.s. courts,
the electrical engineering giant is accustomed to
facing problems head on. siemens replaced its
Ceo in 2007 and the same year launched the Fit
For 2010 program, which Kaeser says was effec-
tively a change management program.
