Our Strategic Action Areas

To reach our goals and be the leading company in the chemical industry for our customers, we are strengthening our performance in innovation and in operations as the leading chemical producer and plant operator. We leverage digital technologies and data to create additional value added for us and our customers. We are embedding sustainability even more deeply into the steering of our business. We want to foster a passion for our customers in all employees. We are expanding our portfolio and refining our organization to better meet customer needs using the power of our Verbund integration. To this end, we have defined six strategic action areas on which will continue to base our activities.

Action areas sharpen customer focus

Innovation

Our ambition is to be the most attractive partner for our customers whenever they are confronted with challenges that can be approached with chemistry. Our research and development competences are industry-leading. We aim to build on and leverage this strength to develop innovations together with our customers. We want to continuously improve our innovation processes so that we can bring products to the market more quickly.

Sustainability

We are successful in the long term when our products, solutions and technologies add value to the environment, society and the economy. We want to be a thought leader in sustainability, which is why we are increasing the relevance of sustainability in our steering processes and business models. This secures the long-term success of our company, creates business opportunities and establishes us as a key partner supporting our customers.

Operations

We produce safely, efficiently and reliably so that we can deliver products to our customers on spec and on time. We strive to continually improve the reliability and availability of our plants, as well as our agility. Above and beyond this, continuous process improvements and effective debottlenecking of our existing asset base are paramount to ensure our competitiveness.

Digitalization

Digitalization is an integral part of our business. This creates value added for our customers, grows our business and improves efficiency. We are extensively promoting digital skills among our employees to ensure that the necessary resources are always available to leverage the opportunities of digitalization to the benefit of our customers.

Portfolio

We will sharpen our portfolio and focus our capital allocation toward growth areas. We will focus primarily on organic growth through capital expenditures and innovation. We also make targeted acquisitions where this makes strategic sense and creates value and divest businesses that are no longer a strategic match. Our segment structure creates a high level of transparency regarding the steering of our businesses, the importance of value chains and the role of our Verbund. The physical, technological, market and digital integration of the Verbund is at the core of our portfolio and our strengths.

Employees

We aim to clearly position each business against its relevant competitors and establish a high-performance organization to enable us to be successful in an increasingly competitive market environment. Our people are what will make the implementation of our strategy successful. We rely on the engagement of our employees and give them the tools and skills necessary to be able to offer our customers differentiated and customized products, services and solutions. Our tailored business models and organizational structures ensure that each business unit can optimally serve its market segment.

How we act is critical for the successful implementation of our strategy: This is what our four core values represent – creative, open, responsible, entrepreneurial. They guide our actions and define how we want to work together – as a team, with our customers and our partners.

Creative: We make great products and solutions for our customers. This is why we embrace bold ideas and give them space to grow. We act with optimism and inspire one another.

Open: We value diversity, in people, opinions and experience. This is why we foster feedback based on honesty, respect and mutual trust. We learn from our setbacks.

Responsible: We value the health and safety of people above all else. We make sustainability part of every decision. We are committed to strict compliance and environmental standards.

Entrepreneurial: We focus on our customers, as individuals and as a company. We seize opportunities and think ahead. We take ownership and embrace personal accountability.

The BASF brand

BASF’s success as an integrated global chemical company relies on having a strong brand. Our brand and mission are manifested in our strategy and our corporate purpose – “We create chemistry for a sustainable future” – as well as our values. “Connected” describes the essence of the BASF brand. Connectedness is one of BASF’s great strengths. Our Verbund concept – realized in production, technologies, the market and digitalization – enables innovative solutions for a sustainable future. The claim “We create chemistry,” as stated in the BASF logo, helps us embed this solution-oriented strategy in the public perception. Our brand creates value by helping communicate its benefits for our stakeholders and our values.

Wherever our stakeholders encounter our brand, we want to convince them that BASF stands for connectedness, innovation and intelligent solutions, value-adding partnerships, an attractive working environment and sustainability. This contributes to our customers’ confidence and to our company value.

We are constantly developing our brand image. We regularly measure awareness of and trust in our brand and our company. A global study commissioned by us and conducted worldwide every two years by an independent market research institution again showed in 2018 that, in terms of awareness and trust, BASF is above the industry average in numerous countries. Our goal is to continue increasing awareness of BASF in all of our relevant markets.