Josep Piqué considers that a code of ethics favors company competitiveness

Josep Piqué, CEO and Second Vice-Chairman of OHL, has taken part in a value-enhancement initiative, along with Pedro Nueno, lecturer at IESE and Chairman of Asociación para la Búsqueda de la Excelencia (ABE), and Santiago Tarín, Chairman of Grupo Master Consulting and Vice-Chairman of ABE, pursuing excellence in the business world. Josep Piqué has highlighted the importance of a company establishing its own code of ethics. In his opinion, ethical conducts are gradually becoming more indispensable in private organizations and capital markets “as they favor our competitiveness, as an enterprise and as an economy. There is nothing more contrary to sustainable competitiveness than unethical behavior”, he added.

Since 2010, OHL has a Code of Ethics that replaced the code of conduct for executive staff, applicable in the company since 2002. OHL’s Code of Ethics was updated in January 2015 and constitutes one of the main components of the company’s Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) management, as a channel to develop its corporate values. The aims of the Code include the development of models and standards for professional, ethical and responsible conduct, which should guide all our company employees distributed in more than 30 countries; preventing criminal or illegal conduct in professional activities; and establishing the necessary follow-up and control systems to guarantee compliance.

During the interview, Josep Piqué highlighted the fundamental role played by the Board of Directors when transmitting an ethical policy within the organization. Thus, OHL has an Auditing, Compliance and CSR Committee which, through the Compliance Management, is in charge of implementing the Group’s criminal risk prevention model and its continuous improvement. According to Piqué, this is because “the markets value something more than a mere balance sheet or P&L account; they value the extent of a company’s commitment to CSR and ethical conducts”.

Finally, the CEO and Second Vice-Chairman of OHL highlighted the value of honesty and transparency, given that “information is not company property” and needs to be “treated transparently, professionally, accurately and strictly, avoiding at all times any deceit or manipulation”, he added.