Competence Profile, Diversity Concept and Succession Planning for the Board of Executive Directors

The Supervisory Board works hand in hand with the Board of Executive Directors to ensure long-term succession planning for the composition of the Board of Executive Directors. BASF aims to fill most Board positions with leaders from within the company. It is the task of the Board of Executive Directors to propose a sufficient number of suitable individuals to the Supervisory Board.

BASF’s long-term succession planning is guided by the corporate strategy. It is based on systematic management development characterized by the following:

  • Early identification of suitable leaders of different professional backgrounds, nationalities and genders
  • Systematic development of leaders through the successful assumption of tasks with increasing responsibility, where possible in different business areas, regions and functions
  • Desire to shape strategic and operational decisions, and proven success in doing so, as well as leadership skills, especially under challenging business conditions
  • Role model function in putting corporate values into practice

The aim is to enable the Supervisory Board to ensure a reasonable level of diversity with respect to education and professional experience, cultural background, international representation, gender and age when appointing members of the Board of Executive Directors. Irrespective of these individual criteria, a holistic approach will ultimately determine a person’s suitability for appointment to the Board of Executive Directors of BASF SE. Both systematic succession planning and the selection process aim to ensure that the Board of Executive Directors as a whole has the following profile, which serves as a diversity concept:

  • Many years of management experience in scientific, technical and commercial fields
  • International experience based on background and/or professional experience
  • At least one female Board member
  • A balanced age distribution to ensure the continuity of the Board’s work and enable seamless succession planning

The first appointment of members of the Board of Executive Directors is for a term of no more than three years. The standard age limit for members of the Board of Executive Directors is 63.

The number of members on the Board of Executive Directors is determined by the Supervisory Board. It is guided by insights gained by BASF as a company with an integrated leadership culture and is determined by the needs arising from cooperation within the Board of Executive Directors. The Supervisory Board considers six to be an appropriate number of Board members given the current business composition, future responsibilities associated with development and the fundamental organizational structure of the BASF Group.

The current composition of the Board of Executive Directors meets the competence profile and the requirements of the diversity concept in full.