When a philosophy is put into practice
With the ifm philosophy, the ifm group put its values and conduct on paper as early as June 1990 thus making it a tangible testimony to what has been true since the company was founded. Also against the background of current geopolitical developments, the ifm group invokes the ifm philosophy and the wish to be a moral company which does not develop, produce or sell products which directly serve military or weapons purposes.
“ifm promotes the optimising and/or solving of technical processes by offering sensors, system communication, controllers, and engineering services in all markets all over the world” (extract from ifm’s philosophy) – this is the business mission of the ifm group. Founded in 1969, the second-generation family-run company formulated “ideas, perspectives, and corporate principles which shall jointly accompany, shape, and unite us” in the 63-page philosophy. This philosophy is handed over to new ifm employees on their first day of work and is part of everyday life throughout the company.
The ifm philosophy bundles a multitude of thoughts and considerations of the company regarding employees, customers, partners and products. For example, it has always been clear to ifm that “the employees represent the biggest asset of any company.” and as early as 1990, environmental protection played an important role for ifm, which is condensed in the principle “ifm demands and promotes ecologically conscious decisions and conduct.” Two strong principles that are both a promise and a call to action.
“The ifm group is and will always be a moral company - that is why we refuse to supply ifm products to the military industrial complex. And we will certainly not change this principle, which is also firmly anchored in our corporate philosophy, against the background of the current war being waged by the Russian regime against Ukraine,” says Michael Marhofer, Chairman of the Board and co-CEO of the ifm group. “But there is much more to a moral company: Above all, it means neither being naive nor looking away when other people are facing great hardship. It is also necessary to analyse the background of events and to draw the right conclusions. We have always tried to be as neutral as possible in conflicts, but in view of the current situation, the ifm group of companies can no longer follow this strategy.”
With the start of the war in Ukraine, the ifm group closed its location in Russia. In Moscow, some employees are still working, as they are needed to answer questions and make sure that ifm meets its financial obligations towards the employees. All other employees are on leave, just as in Ukraine, and continue to receive 100% of their salary. “Besides, on 24 February 2022, we decided to stop all deliveries to Russia as from 25 February 2022, as we want to prevent by all means that our products are used to keep machines of the Russian industry operational as spare parts, or worse, are installed in war equipment without us being able to control this,” Marhofer continues.
The delivery stop will be maintained until there is peace between Russia and Ukraine. “If need be, we will wind up our location in Russia; and that is also the truth of the matter. The ifm group will rather lose its assets in Russia than support such a regime, even if only indirectly. I wish to emphasise again: We are a moral company where morals will always take precedence over making money. However, we realise that we are in a dilemma. On the one hand, we want to protect our employees worldwide, but on the other hand, we feel compelled to close our location under these circumstances. Morality and determination cannot be split into segments or modified. We will take care of our employees as long as we can without exporting to Russia.
The last few days have shown that unity among a large community can achieve great things: “We want to join this community and hope that our partners and customers will do the same,” says Marhofer.