With the latest reports coming in of Sudanese planes bombing Darfur in the four year civil war which has killed 200,000 people and left 2.5 million homeless, and European Union foreign ministers considering hitting Sudan with sanctions , Siemens chief Klaus Kleinfeld says his company might pull out of Sudan for moral reasons.
This from an outfit embroiled in a scandal where half a billion dollars is believed to have been been embezzled and pumped into overseas slush funds for use as bribes to win telecom deals. Siemens clearly needs every bit of moral high ground it can get.
Already, the company's ex-chief financial officer has been fingered in the scandal. Heinz-Joachim Neubuerger now works for private equity. Surprise, surprise.
Kleinfeld has been trying to transform Siemens, modelling himself on ex-GE chief Jack Welch, reports BusinessWeek. Sounds like he uses Welch-style medicine when there's resistance too.
It is, as BusinessWeek says, a real culture clash for a company that has a world-wide reputation for sluggishness. The question is whether the bribery scandal will hamper his battle to reinvent Siemens.
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