The board’s work
Published:
01.05.2024
The Carlsberg Foundation’s board of directors has established rules of procedure for the board’s work, and the work follows an annual plan, which is discussed in detail by the board. The board holds 9-11 meetings per year. Decisions taken at meetings are minuted, and the board members may consult with experts where needed. Furthermore, the board’s work and collaboration are evaluated annually, and principles have been established for collaboration and fees paid to board members. Members of the foundation’s board also sit on the boards of the foundation’s departments.
BASIS FOR THE BOARD’S WORK
The board of directors holds 9-11 meetings per year. The board’s meetings are convened and chaired by the chairperson. The agenda and electronic meeting materials on the individual agenda items are sent out one week before the board meeting in order to ensure the effectiveness of the board's work. Decisions taken by the board at meetings are enacted by the foundation’s CEO and the secretariat.
In particularly urgent cases, the board may choose to carry out written processing. Decisions taken in this manner are minuted at the next board meeting.
At its meetings, the board considers, among other things, applications submitted to the foundation in response to the foundation’s open calls. Some applications are evaluated by external experts in peer reviews, which are included in the board’s processing.
Members of the foundation’s board also sit on the boards of the foundation’s departments: the Carlsberg Research Laboratory, Frederiksborg • Museum of National History and the Tuborg Foundation.
Additionally, the board has representatives on the boards of Ny Carlsberg Glyptotek, Queen Ingrid’s Roman Foundation, Professor Johs. Pedersen’s Grant, Carlsberg Mindelegat and property companies affiliated to the Carlsberg Foundation.
Three of the foundation’s four departments receive funding from the foundation according to a distribution model set out in the charter.
The fourth department, Frederiksborg • Museum of National History, receives funding according to a budget. The board members’ management tasks in the departments are not therefore considered to affect their independence.
The board of the Carlsberg Foundation also appoints the board and chairperson of the New Carlsberg Foundation following consultation with the serving members of the New Carlsberg Foundation’s board. Furthermore, the Carlsberg Foundation appoints two members of the board of Ny Carlsberg Glyptotek.
The board’s chairperson holds annual individual evaluation meetings with the other board members. The meetings form the basis of a written report on the evaluation of the board’s work, which is subsequently reviewed by the whole board.
In this context, the other board members evaluate the chairperson’s leadership of the board and the foundation’s work. Every three years, the evaluation is performed with the assistance of an external consultancy firm.
The board routinely evaluates the work and performance of the executive management and the secretariat, as well as the collaboration between the board, the executive management and the secretariat.
RULES OF PROCEDURE
The Carlsberg Foundation’s board of directors has established rules of procedure for the board’s work.
In the report on the rules of procedure for the foundation’s board, you can read about the board’s composition, election, tasks and duties, as well as the board members’ duty of confidentiality, duty to inform, quoracy and incapacity to act.
PRINCIPLES FOR GOOD BOARD COLLABORATION
- Identity
We embrace the purpose, history and principles that, as the basis of the Carlsberg family since 1847, make us unique. - Ownership
We understand our role and responsibilities in the Carlsberg Foundation’s committed ownership of Carlsberg A/S, and undertake to point out opportunities and risks in the foundation’s other activities. - Propriety
We always interact with mutual respect for one another, boldly putting forward our knowledge and opinions and allowing our colleagues to do the same. - Consensus
We always seek consensus in the board’s decisions and represent those decisions as a united board – regardless of individual differences of opinion within the boardroom. - Openness
We actively work with inclusion through openness in our communications with the outside world, and bring our knowledge and competences into play in the board’s work. - Competences
We strive to actively deploy our broad palette of knowledge and experiences, and at the same time to create the optimal framework for developing new competences collectively and individually. - Sparring
We develop and drive progress in the Carlsberg Foundation by giving constructive feedback and sparring with one another and the secretariat on everything from the strategic objective to personal development. - Camaraderie
We appreciate and invest in good camaraderie – both in relation to the board members and the secretariats in the Carlsberg family.
HONORARIA AND REMUNERATION
The Carlsberg Foundation’s board members receive fixed honoraria. In accordance with the foundation's charter, the amounts of these honoraria are determined by the board and approved by the Royal Danish Academy of Sciences and Letters.
For 2023, the foundation’s board members received total remuneration of DKK 3,147,000 for their work in the Carlsberg Foundation and total remuneration of DKK 1,670,000 for their work in Carlsberg A/S.
The current honoraria for the individual board members and the chairperson are shown in the following table.
| The Carlsberg Foundation | The Carlsberg Group |
|||
| 2023 | 2022 | 2023 | 2022 | |
| Majken Schultz (chairperson) | 1,228 | 1,468 | 1,040 | 750 |
| Søren-Peter Fuchs Olesen (deputy chairperson) | 614 | 623 | 630 | 610 |
| Jens Hjorth | 410 | 415 | 0 | 0 |
| Lars Stemmerik | 0 | 0 | 0 | 103 |
| Susanne Mandrup | 410 | 311 | 0 | 0 |
| Kim Ryholt | 75 | 0 | 0 | 0 |
| Carl Bache | 410 | 665 | 0 | 610 |
| Flemming Besenbacher | 0 | 0 | 0 | 464 |
| 3,147 | 3,482 | 1,670 | 2,537 | |
For 2023, the Royal Danish Academy of Sciences and Letters gave its approval for the Carlsberg Foundation’s ordinary board members to each receive an honorarium of DKK 410,000 (basic honorarium), for the deputy chairperson to receive an honorarium of 1.5 times the basic honorarium and for the chairperson to receive an honorarium of 3 times the basis honorarium (3.5 times for 2022).