Corporate Governance Framework
When discussing the governance of any business, it is essential to consider several points, starting with the corporate governance framework, focusing on board structure, committees, and key governance policies. According to Kerry Group’s report, there are now fourteen members of the Board: ten non-executive directors, one additional executive director, the chief financial officer, the chief executive officer, and one non-executive chairperson (Kerry Group, 2021a). The Directors believe that the Board’s makeup offers the breadth of pertinent business experience required to supervise the Group’s operations efficiently (Kerry Group, 2021a).
In order to effectively administer and oversee the Group, each Director contributes a wide range of abilities, understanding, and expertise, encompassing financial as well as industry and global experience (Kerry Group, 2021a). In addition to developing and overseeing tactics and managing organizational risks, the Board’s primary responsibility is to support the Company’s long-term, profitable growth (Kerry Group, 2021a). It is also in charge of monitoring and evaluating culture across the entire organization, as well as ingraining the proper values and behaviors and assimilating the Company’s mission (Kerry Group, 2021a). Thus, the Board of Directors, its independent members, and its committees are essential to the Company’s prospering.
Corporate Culture and Ethics
At the same time, governance analysis is not limited to the executives of the corporation. The culture of the Group is predicated on a shared comprehension of its principles, which are reinforced by the safety-first, quality-always policies (Kerry Group, n.d.). The Company relies heavily on its Code of Conduct, which is a testament to its commitment to honesty and operating under the strictest moral guidelines (Kerry Group, n.d.).
It is founded on the fundamental ideas of upholding communities, preserving business information and assets, safeguarding the Company’s people, and operating with honesty (Kerry Group, n.d.). The Group lives its purpose of Inspiring Food, Nourishing Life guided by its values (Kerry Group, n.d.). They stand for the essential qualities of the corporation’s history as well as its aspirations for the future (Kerry Group, n.d.). In this situation, Kerry Group’s values drive its operations and priorities.
Risk Management and Internal Controls
Another area that must be reviewed when discussing the governance of Kerry Group is its risk management. Maintaining the Company’s long-term growth and achieving strategic goals are facilitated by efficient risk management (Kerry Group, 2021b). The Group frequently deals with business uncertainty, and it is able to react quickly to, minimize, and handle these risks as well as seize opportunities when they present themselves owing to an organized approach to risk management (Kerry Group, 2021b).
An essential component of the company-wide risk management approach, which is implemented throughout the Group in order to promote the accomplishment of the strategic goals, is the yearly risk assessment (Kerry Group, 2021b). The present risk assessment integrates both top-down and bottom-up evaluations to ascertain the probability of incidence and the potential cumulative effects of these risks on the Group (Kerry Group, 2021b). The Group Risk Register is created by compiling feedback from executive Company and functional leaders through a series of seminars, one-on-one interviews, and surveys (Kerry Group, 2021b). Therefore, the main controls of the Company are based on the hierarchical structure of reporting and monitoring of risks, demonstrating an efficient approach.
Shareholder Rights and Engagement
When it comes to shareholder rights, the policies are not much different from its peers. How the shareholder retains their Group shares will determine how they can exercise their voting rights (Kerry Group, 2023). The shareholders can vote by physically attending the annual general meeting.
Additionally, they can exercise their right to vote by designating a representative to vote on behalf of them, such as the Chairman (Kerry Group, 2023). Moreover, in accordance with Section 1107, investors are entitled to ask questions concerning matters on the annual general meeting’s goals, and the Company is obliged to respond, subject to whatever reasonable steps it takes to verify the identity of shareholders (Kerry Group, 2023). As a result, the engagement of investors takes various shapes and gives them flexibility.
Performance and Disclosure
Finally, the Company delivers annual reports and quarterly results, emphasizing its performance and demonstrating a full disclosure of all data. After reviewing its latest 2022 report, one can see the speeches of the chairperson, CEO, and CFO. According to Edmond Scanlon, CEO, the Company had a great year in general, with Group revenue rising by 19.3% to €8.8 billion, primarily due to price increases of 11.7% and volume expansion of 6.1% (Kerry Group, 2022).
In addition, it achieved notable advancements in several other metrics, such as cutting food waste in its business activities by 32% (Kerry Group, 2022). At the same time, few details were observed when it comes to the major failures of the Company. The corporation admits that it needs to keep changing its strategy since the problems affecting its sector are structural, and the necessary transformation must be extensive (Kerry Group, 2022). The executives believe the best approach to deal with this is to have continuous, inclusive stakeholder interaction (Kerry Group, 2022). Overall, the Company gives a proper disclosure of information in order to engage all stakeholders.
Reference List
Kerry Group. (n.d.) Code of conduct. Web.
Kerry Group. (2021a) Corporate governance report. Web.
Kerry Group. (2021b) Risk management report. Web.
Kerry Group. (2022) Annual report. Web.
Kerry Group. (2023). Notice of annual general meeting 2023. Web.