Continental Buys Siemens VDO
By Zul • Jul 28th, 2007 • Category: Career •
A friend working in in Penang wrote to me yesterday that his company Siemens VDO is being bought over by tyre company Continental AG. The deal is said to be worth about 11.4 billion euros. The merger between Siemens and Continental will create one of the largest suppliers in automotive electronics in the world.
In 2006, both Siemens VDO and Continental recorded a combined sales of 25 billion euros and having a total 140,000 employees worldwide. While mergers and acquisitions are usually followed by retrenchment and downsizing, it looks like it won’t be the case for this merger. Siemens Corporate Executive Committee spokesperson, Prof. Hermann Requardt, said,
“The sale of Siemens VDO is the best option for the Siemens shareholders as well as for the Siemens VDO employees: During our negotiations with Continental AG, we fully agreed, that we had to seriously consider the interest of the 53.000 Siemens VDO employees worldwide. That is why Continental AG is committed to comprehensive employment guarantees.”
Siemens VDO is an automotive supplier of of electronic components as well as manufacturer of wide range of products related to drive train, engine management electronics and fuel injection. Its Malaysia manufacturing facilities are located at Seberang Perai Industrial Complex, Penang. While Continental is a manufacturer of tires, brake systems,vehicle control systems and other automotive parts having a base in Hannover, Germany. Siemens acquisition is the largest purchase made by Continental in its 136 years of history.
While most mergers and acquisitions are made to please the shareholders and ensure profitability, the move to retain the employees deserves an applaud. However, Narayana Murthy, the guy who founded Infosys said it right, “Love your job, but never fall in love with your company because you never know when the company will stop loving you.” Just like my friend who only knew the news when he came in the morning, you never know when you will receive the same news. According to Narayana,
“I know people who work 12 hours a day, six days a week, or more. Some people do so because of a work emergency where the long hours are only temporary. Other people I know have put these hours for years.
I don’t know if they are working all these hours, but I do know they are in the office this long. Others put in long office hours because they are addicted to the workplace. Whatever the reason for putting in overtime, working long hours over the long term is harmful to the person and to the organization.
There are things managers can do to change this for everyone’s benefit. Being in the office long hours, over long periods of time, makes way for potential errors. My colleagues who are in the office long hours frequently make mistakes caused by fatigue.”
You can read Narayana’s full speech at Vijayv’s website.
Infosys is a company that started as a home based office in India some 30 years ago and created history by becoming the first Indian company to be listed in NASDAQ in 1999. It also won many accolades and in 2001 it was rated as “Best Employer in India” by Business Today and was also named “India’s Most Respected Company” by Business World.
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