Lenovo ESG
Ethical Business
Our Approach
Lenovo is committed to the highest standards of integrity and responsibility. To ensure that we adhere to international and local best practices, we have a clearly defined corporate governance structure. Regularly reviewed, it includes our:
- Corporate governance
- Business practices
- Privacy Program
For more information, including our risk management and internal control procedures, please see our Annual Report.
Corporate Governance
The board of directors (the “Board”) and the management of Lenovo Group Limited (the “Company”, together with its subsidiaries, “Lenovo” or the “Group”) strive to attain and uphold a high standard of corporate governance and to maintain sound and well-established corporate governance practices for the interest of shareholders and other stakeholders including, but not limited to, employees, customers, suppliers and the general public.
The Company Group abides strictly by the governing laws and regulations of the jurisdictions where it operates and observes the applicable guidelines and rules issued by regulatory authorities. It regularly undertakes review of its corporate governance system to ensure it is in line with international and local best practices.
There are twelve (12) Board members consisting of one executive director, two non-executive directors and nine independent non-executive directors. The Board has a coherent framework with clearly defined responsibilities and accountabilities designed to safeguard and enhance long-term shareholder values and provide a robust platform to realise the strategy of the Group. For more information, please view our Annual Report
The Board believes that a key success factor of an effective Board is that it comprises a range and balance of skills, experience, knowledge and independence, with individuals that work as a team. To ensure that diversity in its broadest sense continues to remain as a feature of the Board, we have a Board Diversity Policy. Click here to read it.
In addition, to support the key governance functions and the effectiveness of the Board, there are three Board Committees — the Audit Committee, the Compensation Committee, and the Nomination and Governance Committee.
Board Responsibilities
There is a coherent framework with clearly defined responsibilities and accountabilities for the Board. The Board is responsible for steering the success of the Group by overseeing the overall strategy and directing and supervising its affairs in a responsible and effective manner. The Board also sets the Group’s core values and adopts proper standards to ensure that the Group operates with integrity and complies with the relevant rules and regulations.
There is a formal schedule of matters reserved for the Board and for management. The schedule states what matters must be approved by the Board before the management can make decisions or enter into any commitments on behalf of the Company.
Sustainability is handled at the Board and executive level, supported by the Environmental, Social and Governance (ESG) Executive Oversight Committee led by the Chief Legal and Corporate Responsibility Officer and comprising senior management from across the business and functional units. Regular discussions take place on sustainability policies, initiatives, and performance in Board meetings and management meetings. For more information, click here to view our latest ESG Report.
Shareholders & Other Stakeholders
As well as safeguarding our shareholders’ interests, we believe that effective communication with shareholders and stakeholders is essential, as it helps to provide a better understanding of our business performance and strategies, while improving investor relations (IR).
The IR team helps to encourage open, transparent, efficient, and consistent communications with shareholders, investors, and equity analysts. For the latest IR results, announcements, press releases, and webcasts, click here.
Business Conduct
Our Ethics and Compliance Office promotes the highest ethical standards of business conduct and legal compliance. It also oversees the organization’s ethics and compliance program and works in partnership with the business units across the globe to ensure they operate within legal and ethical obligations.
The Ethics and Compliance Office plays a critical role in providing employees with the guidance, resources, and information they need to make informed and appropriate decisions. It’s also responsible for the Lenovo Code of Conduct (“Code”), which set our clear expectations and guidelines for every employee.
The Code covers many areas of ethical, responsible business practices, such as:
- Anti-Bribery and Corruption, including a policy that reinforces provisions in the Code and provides additional specific guidance regarding bribery and corruption.
- Anti-Competitive Practices and Fair Competition, including why employees cannot enter into an agreement or discussion to set prices, limit the availability of goods or services on the market, or boycott a customer or supplier.
- Intellectual Property, including the company policy for employees to avoid any infringement of copyright or other intellectual property rights of other companies and individuals.
- To ensure that our ethical business standards, policies, and practices are being met, our internal audit team conducts about 40-45 advisory projects each year.
For more information on our Code of Conduct, click here.
Raising Questions or Concerns
Lenovo is committed to fostering a speak up culture, where employees, contractors, and business partners are encouraged to speak up on anything that appears unethical, illegal, or suspicious. Lenovo has established clear processes and various reporting channels to raise questions or report concerns. Lenovo has various reporting mechanisms to raise concerns including, but not limited to:
- Management
- Human Resources
- Lenovo’s Ethics and Compliance Office (“ECO”) (✉ ethics@lenovo.com)
- Internal Audit
- Legal
- In China, Lenovo's Independent Commission Against Corruption ("ICAC") (✉ ICAC@lenovo.com)
- Lenovo’s Hotline – “LenovoLine”
- For Mainland China based individuals: https://lenovo.whispli.com.cn/speakup
- For individuals in other locations: https://lenovo.whispli.com/speakup
LenovoLine is a confidential reporting system that is accessible 24 hours a day, seven days a week that allows reporters to raise concerns or ask questions through a secure website, mobile app (IOS or Android) or by telephone. LenovoLine is operated by an independent, outside company. Information received through the LenovoLine is referred to Lenovo’s ECO. Every report is assessed and taken seriously. The LenovoLine is committed to protecting confidentiality to the extent possible.
Lenovo strongly encourages and expects all employees (including full-time, part-time, temporary and supplemental), as well as business partners, contractors, and consultants who perform work on Lenovo’s behalf, to report concerns on actual or suspected conduct that seem unethical, illegal, suspicious or that may violate Lenovo’s Code of Conduct, policies or procedures, including misconduct, malpractice or improprieties by any employee and/or external parties in any matter relating to Lenovo.
Privacy & Data Protection
Lenovo recognizes the great importance of privacy to individuals everywhere – customers, website visitors, product users, employees, business partners – everyone. The responsible use and protection of personal and other identifiable information under Lenovo’s care is a core value. To ensure adherence to Lenovo privacy policies, principles and processes, Lenovo maintains a global and organization-wide Privacy & Data Protection Program led by the Legal Department and a cross-functional Privacy Working Group comprised of key partners drawn from Information Security, Product Security, Product Development, Marketing, E-Commerce, Service and Repair, Human Resources, and other groups.
Key projects of the Privacy & Data Protection Program include:
- Engagement with Lenovo’s business teams on privacy due diligence and application of key privacy principles
- Development and governance of internal and external privacy and data protection policies
- Hold pre-launch privacy review processes for products, services, software, websites, marketing programs, internal systems, and vendor relationships
- Host privacy awareness and training initiatives for employees and certain contingent workforce
- Data protection support for supplier and customer contracts
- Tracking, analysis, and application of legal requirements and industry best practices
- Program assessment and audit support
- Data Subject Access Rights compliance
- Incident response policies, processes, and remediation
- Assessment of cross-border data transfers
Questions or concerns about Lenovo’s privacy policies and programs can be addressed to ✉ privacy@lenovo.com. For more information, including our website and product privacy statements, click here.
