By Manfred Stockburger
Hardly any company in the region has as high standards as the Ingelfingen-based valve manufacturer Bürkert. This applies to the technology just as much as for the interaction with employees, customers and suppliers. Manfred Stockburger talked to Bürkert CEO Heribert Rohrbeck about the challenge of bringing together expectation and reality.
Mr. Rohrbeck, in terms of ethics Bürkert has a different perspective than most companies. What kind of ethic demands do the company's owners have?
Heribert Rohrbeck: In daily business we have a clear separation of capital and management, as far as ethics is concerned there is close cooperation. The Bürkert family does not focus on the classic shareholder value. It's not about doing business at any cost.
Andreas Bürkert, the board's spokesperson, spent the 80s as a development worker in Nicaragua, among others. What does this mean for the company?
Rohrbeck: No business with the defense industry, no nuclear energy. These are very concrete and clearly defined points. Furthermore it means that we try very hard to respect other cultures as they are and not appear with a wagging finger. We don't want any Bürkert colonies which have to function the same way as the headquarters.
When partaking in the global economy one does automatically become part of the inequalities associated with that. When you are travelling the world you also see the misery and suffering there...
Rohrbeck: Misery and pure capitalism: The scissor effect in China is really extreme. I have never seen so many Porsche Cayenne on the highway as there - and actually original ones. China is an extremely rich country, but on the other hand it still receives 68 million Euros of development aid per year from Germany.
How does Bürkert deal with this contradiction?
Rohrbeck: When you see these opposites it definitely gets you thinking. But we don't pursue a classic form of relocation policy. Others not only want to use cost benefits but exploit them. We try to develop the market.
But isn't the line blurred?
Rohrbeck: Yes. If you walk through a textile factory and see that after dyeing the textiles the color is simply dumped and just left to drain away in the ground somewhere, and if our products are embedded in this machine, you do ask yourself to which extent you are morally or ethically responsible for that. Those are in fact extreme crucial tests. If we chose to stay out of these markets, we would not be able to keep the jobs in Germany.
If you play the game however, do you also have the chance to participate in making the rules?
Rohrbeck: In the specific example of the textile factory where I was horrified to see how our products are employed, we were able to take advantage of the situation and offered a recycling system. Environmental awareness has meanwhile grown in China as well - after all, the country wants to be clean for the Olympic Games. Yet you can not cherish the illusion that now everything's settled. If the system doesn't pay off, the customer will never accept either. It is about profit.
Big corporations are increasingly being optimized according to return ratios. Do you get an ethics discount from your stakeholders?
Rohrbeck: We don't have to check on our assets every Monday and then pay the money into some accounts as might be the case in a conglomerate. But the world does not consist of Bürkert alone: We need economic successes and a result that allows us to stay independent. There is no ethics discount in that. Our goals however are defined with a long-term perspective in mind.
After all, you don't do business at any cost...
Rohrbeck: Once I was on the road for almost 24 hours in order to get to a customer in Asia regarding a huge deal. Technology and prices had already been worked out. The customer then insisted that I come by personally. The head of purchasing eventually asked me if there was anything I would like to add. He was waiting for me to bring something to the table. I didn't. That meant the contract was lost for us. The competitor got it...
But corruption does not only exist in Asia. What does it look like here?
Rohrbeck: You don't even have to look that far for that. It is a known fact that major German automobile corporations definitely have their problems with that. Be it that they exercised according influence on the workers' council. Or in dealing with suppliers. A few years ago we had a specific case with this automaker who did not give us an order because we weren't willing to buy a built-in kitchen for the purchaser. What's disappointing is that such practices are still common practice.
How do the customers react to this self-concept of Bürkert?
Rohrbeck: We don't want to proselytize our customers but set a good example. We notice that recently they have been paying more attention to it and also question what we mean by that. There are however very big customers with whom it is all about terms and conditions. That's when we try to convince with new ideas. This way we can make the deal from here.
You are currently in the process of restructuring the company again - the employees are worried. What is the meaning of ethics at Bürkert in this context?
Rohrbeck: That's a little bit of a paradox. Ethics also implies honesty and openness. For the most part it is openly addressing these issues which can lead to great worries and fears among the staff. Yet we choose to deal with it openly anyway because we believe that we can only prepare for the future if we know what we are facing.
What does that mean precisely?
Rohrbeck: If the company is running well, the necessity to take action isn't always apparent right away. If the psychological strain is too big, it is easier. But you always have to reinvent yourself in order to be successful. This is why we are changing the jobs. But everyone gets the chance to play a part in the new position.
A while ago you took the workers' council to China. Was that a form of pressure?
Rohrbeck: That was not about any such issues or even collective negotiations. We have to create an awareness for what is going on outside of the Kocher valley. We took the councils on customer visits to see how the market works. We visited suppliers to find out what a foundry in China looks like. We even visited a direct competitor.
You get around in the world a lot yourself. Where do you get the worst gut feeling?
Rohrbeck: I have a very ambivalent relationship with India. This is due to the divide between the poor and the rich. It is shocking and difficult if you are invited to a reception in a five star hotel in Bombay and on the way there you see children dying in the street. Ten minutes later you're engaging in ostentatious small talk and are served a canape of Black Forest ham - freshly flown in the night before.
How do you deal with that?
Rohrbeck: At this point naturally no Code of Conduct stating that we respect other cultures helps anymore. This is when the inner voice comes up, which cries out and tells you that this just can't be happening. You want nothing more than to stop immediately and dig a trench around those camps so that the water can drain off. But you're powerless. As a company you may be able to deal with your employees in a fair way and take care of their families. But this will not turn a huge state upside down overnight.
Which consequences are you drawing from this as a private citizen?
Rohrbeck: Personally, I try to deal with things more consciously. Of course everyone is happy when he can make a bargain. We should however ask ourselves how it is possible that a DVD player with full functions is available for 19,99 Euros when license fees alone are 12 Euros. The other 8 Euros have to include production costs, too. If you keep in mind what this means for working conditions, a bargain all of a sudden is a lot less fun.
Source: Heilbronner Stimme, Tuesday, 27 November, 2007
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