BUSINESS "One of the clear messages is that we've got to do it," he continues. "Nobody will do it for us. Another point came early on: Our reputation is in our hands. Our ability to attract and retain top-quality people is in our hands. The ability to process innovation into products is in our hands." ical industry doesn't lack leadership: Establishment of the leadership counThere are companies that society can cil was one of the first recommendations. identify, and their management," says The council will address three basic arStickings, who is BASF's European re- eas by means of three units. First is a gion president and chairman of BASF pic, chemicals innovation center that will pull the German firm's U.K. operations. together various existing initiatives and programs—for example, regional initiaTHAT LACK of identity, as well as a num- tives, collaborations with universities, and ber of measures showing that the UK. in- programs at Britain's Office of Science & dustry "is not doing as well as we ought, Technology. given our history and our capabilities, catThe second is a "futures" group that alyzed the government and the industry will develop policies and direction in the to act," he adds. areas of reputation, sustainable developThe current British science minister, ment, and regulation, especially selfDavid Lord Sainsbury, "has a real inter- regulation. est in innovation and the innovation The third group—a skills networkprocess," Stickings observes. Sainsbury will formulate the skills requirements of has been looking at several industries with the industry, now and into the future, and a view to improving the innovation chart ways by which the various U.K. skills process. The first to be scrutinized was councils and universities can meet those the automotive industry; a report was is- needs. This group, Stickings adds, will alsued at the beginning of 2002. so look at the question of diversity. "What we want," he notes, "is leaders Sainsbury then moved on to the chem-
LEADERS NEEDED
New council aims to give guidance and support to British chemical industry
T
HE U.K. CHEMICAL INDUSTRY IS
in the throes of an identity crisis. It is the direct employer of 235»000 people, generated a trade surplus ofmore than $9 billion in 2001, and invests roughly $4.5 billion in capital spending and $5.8 billion in R&D each year. But—to the industry's dismay—it has a relatively low profile in the U.K., and this situation affects its status with regulators, its reputation among stakeholders, and its ability to attract and retain the bright young people it needs for a thriving future. The response has been an intense study by a team pulled together from industry, government, academia, trade unions, and nongovernmental organizations, including environmental action groups. The effort, which began in January of last year, issued its report in December. And late last month, its first recommendation—formation of a Chemistry Leadership Council—was implemented at the annual business outlook conference of the U.K.'s Chemical Industry Association (CIA) in London. Barry J. Stickings, who is to chair the new council, says one problem facing the U.K. industry is that "there is no longer any one public company or anyone public figure about whom people can say, That is the chemical industry.' So peo- Stickings pie think that there is no longer a chemical industry here." This reflects, if nothing else, the dramatic change in business and image of ICI, once a bellwether of British manufacturing and a giant in the "traditional" chemical industry. I d ' s managers now eschew identification with the chemical industry, emphasizing instead a variety of more consumer-oriented specialties. That leaves, as the British chemical industry, the chemical divisions of three oil giants (BP, Shell, and Exxon), subsidiaries of foreign chemical companies, and a host of small to medium-sized independents. It's a problem that doesn't exist in Germany, for example. "The German chem18
C & E N / FEBRUARY 1 0 , 2 0 0 3
"There is no longer any one public company or any one public figure about whom people can say, 'That is the chemical industry/ So people think that there is no longer a chemical industry here/' ical industry, and he kicked off the study at CIA's conference last year. As Stickings, who was part of the Chemicals Innovation & Growth Team pulled together for the study, recalls it, Sainsbury told the team to look at the industry's relationships in the changing environment and see what ought to be done differently or better in the future to enable the industry to continue to innovate and grow. One of the important conclusions of the study, Stickings says, is that "the future of the industry is in the hands of the industry. Of the 10 recommendations finally made, nine are for industry, and only one—to continue to act as a champion, supportive for the industry—is for the government.
in the industry, whatever their function is—people who are prepared to take an active role in the future of the industry and are prepared to stand up and talk about it. If you're a CEO or close to it, you have to be prepared to take a leadership position, because if you don't, who will?" he asks. "It's in our hands; we have only ourselves to blame if we don't." Stickings points out that there is a difference between leadership and representation. The new leadership council has no intention of stepping on the toes of representative bodies that already exist, such as CIA and trade associations. "What we want to do is lead, not represent," he explains, "although this should result in a higher level of representation for the industry as a whole."—PATRICIA SHORT HTTP://WWW.CEN-ONLINE.ORG
