Back to home

Ethical Code

Dignity of the person, honesty, transparency, innovation, quality and social responsibility are the values in which Proel identifies itself and recognises itself in its own actions. In today's context, Proel operates on complex horizons that are in continuous and constant evolution; this is why, by clearly defining its own values, it firmly reaffirms its identity and its culture on the market. This Code of Ethics is the fundamental instrument for disseminating and understanding the company's principles, together with the responsibility that Proel assumes both externally and internally. Through it, Proel makes explicit the purpose and common aim of the activity of the individuals and groups that collaborate within the organisation and that maintain external relations on its behalf, regulating their conduct.

Introduction

Ethics (What is it?)

Ethics is the philosophical discipline whose object is human action, the values and the norms to which it conforms or should conform. It expresses the set of standards of conduct, both public and private, followed by a person or by a group of people. Used in many contexts, it always denotes a reflection on the rules and principles to be followed in practical life. Ethical behaviour is guided by recognising the other as such, by acting in concert and by beginning to build forms of coexistence worthy of our dignity, where one can be oneself while being together.

Ethics applied to the business context

When the reflection on ethics moves from individual action to a wider organisational and business context, the concept of individual responsibility and awareness is inevitably linked to that of corporate social responsibility. For Proel, corporate social responsibility translates into the ability to integrate its own business activities with respect for and protection of the interests of all partners, all stakeholders and all the individuals with whom it interacts.

Proel adopts socially responsible behaviour, monitoring and responding to the economic, environmental and social expectations of all stakeholders, while also pursuing the objective of gaining a competitive advantage and maximising long-term returns.

Proel's Mission

Proel is deeply tied to the context that made its growth possible and rooted in its territory, yet in just a few years it has developed into a genuinely international enterprise.

Proel's competitive strength is founded on its technological and research capabilities, on design, on quality, on the cohesion and professional skills of the human resources it employs, and on careful financial management. Proel, moreover, gives high priority to the continuous improvement of the quality and of the environmental and social impact of its processes and products.

At the centre of Proel's interests is the creation of a virtuous circle, based on the trust and satisfaction of the customers and users of the products and services offered, present and future, on the sense of belonging of its collaborators, on a continuous presence in the territory and on concrete closeness to the needs of the community, operating with respect for the needs and expectations of stakeholders.

Proel's aim is to finance its constant growth through the creation of adequate value, in the interest of shareholders, customers and collaborators and with respect for the communities in which Proel operates.

The main objective Proel sets itself is to become a worldwide point of reference in the fields of audio, lighting, professional installation and accessories for entertainment. This objective can be achieved thanks also to an ethical orientation that translates into standards of conduct for entrepreneurial and development activities.

Values

Our values

Operating on the market, Proel feels called to engage with it, firmly believing in the ability of market mechanisms to generate efficiency, economic growth and wealth. When Proel sets itself the objective of reaching ambitious goals and realising its mission, it feels an urgent need for these to be achieved with respect for certain fundamental values, which thanks to this Code are made explicit and become part of the relationship it wishes to maintain with all its stakeholders. Recognising the value of the expectations of all those who directly or indirectly have a relationship with Proel is an exercise that is closely bound up with ethics ("business is nothing without ethics"), which acquires meaning in the relationship with the other, to whom rights and dignity are recognised in a context in which the guiding values are clear.

With this Code, Proel makes explicit the values it believes in and to which it wishes to commit. These values are the "lenses" through which to observe and interpret every situation, but they also constitute the criteria for balancing interests and for evaluating conduct.

The values are part of Proel's rich and complex history, from its very beginning. Their realisation, shared and lived, is defined as the objective to strive towards. Awareness of them and their explicit declaration raise the level of consistency to which everyone belonging to the Proel sphere is called, in order to increasingly deserve the trust of all its interlocutors.

Proel's guiding values

Centrality of the person

Proel promotes the value of the person through respect for physical, cultural and moral integrity as well as for the dimension of relations with others. The person guides the way Proel acts, using listening and dialogue as levers for the continuous improvement both of the solutions proposed to customers and of the professionalism and competence of the people who work within it. Furthermore, Proel is aware that people and their talent are the foundation of its own success, and it fosters a working environment free of prejudice that respects the personality and dignity of each individual.

Creation of value

Proel seeks to pursue excellence in serving its customers with the aim of creating value for shareholders and stakeholders, satisfying expectations regarding the remuneration of invested capital and the sustainability of the investment over time.

Honesty, integrity, transparency

Honesty is the fundamental principle for all of Proel's activities, its initiatives, its products, its reports and its communications, and it constitutes an essential element in the management of the company. Relations with stakeholders must be based on criteria and behaviour of fairness, consistency, loyalty and mutual respect. Proel is committed to communicating in a clear, transparent, accurate and timely manner with all its stakeholders. Objectives are pursued with fairness and responsibility, maintaining conduct based on respect for the rules and for professional ethics, ensuring independence of judgement within our system of relations. Moreover, transparency of communication, of contracts and of the criteria underlying conduct is fundamental in order to allow all of Proel's interlocutors to make autonomous and informed choices.

Trust

Trust is another founding value of Proel's activity. It must be sought and increased, both in the relationship with customers — who must be given the certainty of finding, over time, an adequate response to their needs — and in the relationship with collaborators — who are offered a working environment that enhances their professionalism — and in the relationship with society as a whole, for which Proel intends to be a reliable partner for responsible and sustainable growth.

Confidentiality

Information concerning all stakeholders is handled by Proel with full respect for confidentiality. The breach of confidentiality obligations by employees or collaborators seriously undermines the relationship of trust with the company and may lead to the application of disciplinary or contractual sanctions. All those who work in any capacity on Proel's behalf are required to maintain the utmost confidentiality and therefore not to disclose or improperly request information about customer projects, know-how, company operations and, in general, all information learned by reason of their working role. Confidential information also includes all news whose disclosure and use could cause danger or harm to Proel and its customers and/or an undue gain for the collaborator. Confidentiality also means, in its more properly ethical sense, respect for one's colleagues and for their choices. At times, within companies, voice is given to sterile and useless words, to a "hearsay" that can disturb a person, destabilising interpersonal balance and, consequently, that of the company. All those who are part of Proel are called to establish a climate in which everyone is protected from gossip, offences and misunderstandings, whether expressed or not, in order to build and live a company climate of dialogue and understanding, free from any prejudicial presumption.

Professional excellence and intellectual courage

Proel aims at the continuous and constant improvement of quality, technological innovation and design for its products, at the refinement of its services and contact channels; it promotes the personal and professional development of its collaborators and is committed to improving the efficiency of the organisation; it courageously seeks to indicate to the customer the best solution among those possible. Proel is results-oriented and its projects create value thanks to a lasting and tangible impact on the customer, and it likes to bet on competence for the development of winning strategies, interpreting change with determination and confidence.

Dedication to the customer

The collaborators who are part of Proel always seek to create a sincere spirit of partnership with customers, in order to share problems and expectations, so much so that the challenges of change our customers undertake become the challenges of Proel itself; they involve the entire company structure in the development and success of these initiatives, establishing with customers relationships of trust capable of lasting over time.

Protection of labour

Proel guarantees workers' freedom of association and recognises the right to collective bargaining. It undertakes not to make use of forced or compulsory labour, nor of child labour. It rejects every form of discrimination on the basis of age, sex, sexuality, health status, race, nationality, political opinions, trade-union membership and religious beliefs. It repudiates every form of discrimination in recruitment policies and in the management of human resources. It recognises as a fundamental value the diversity of cultures and talents that it wishes to attract in order to develop people with qualities of leadership, passion for the products, intellectual curiosity and critical spirit. Proel undertakes to prevent every form of mobbing and exploitation of labour, and to recognise merit, work performance and professional potential as the determining criteria for pay and career progression.

Belonging

This value represents the pride of working with Proel, sharing the same objectives and having the same spirit of sincere dedication towards the internal and external customer. Belonging is an indicator of the company climate and of the "Proel style". It is the generation of solutions for customers through collaboration, mutual listening and the enhancement of the contribution of each member of the team, systematically sharing the experience gained and the know-how generated.

Social responsibility

Proel believes that its entrepreneurial activity, in order to qualify as ethically responsible, must pursue models of production that respect and safeguard human rights, the regenerative capacities of the Earth and the wellbeing of communities, promoting human development in a fair and sustainable way. In its growth strategy it intends to pursue solid and sustainable value from an economic and financial, social and environmental point of view, built over a long-term horizon on the trust of customers, on the motivation of collaborators and on a responsible and constructive relationship with the country's system.

Compliance with laws, codes and regulations in force

Proel regards compliance with national and international regulations as a binding and indispensable condition of its own conduct. Its commitment is to carry out careful preventive work against the commission of unlawful acts, and to respect such regulations as well as generally recognised practices.

Technological innovation

Proel stimulates and encourages adaptation to the most modern technological standards and to innovative techniques — from the IT field to the engineering one, from logistics to transport and so on — that allow improvements in terms of efficiency and effectiveness. To this end, the investments Proel guarantees, in terms of financial and human resources, are constant, thanks also to continuous monitoring and updating of the improvements available.

Multi-sector mindset, flexibility, long-term vision

In the current economic and social context, it is impossible to be present in terms of leadership without respecting the criteria of flexibility, both in the sense of the ability to adapt promptly and actively to different problems and situations, and in the sense of having a vision that is as open-minded as possible and a multi-skilled approach when facing daily difficulties and continuous challenges. Proel therefore seeks and stimulates in its collaborators virtuous behaviour in which the principles of acting flexibly are stably applied, through the development and implementation — starting from its own peculiarities and competences — of a mindset capable of multi-sector visions, always keeping as a point of reference, in addition to short- and medium-term needs, the achievement of long-term objectives, with a strategic vision.

Bond with the territory and multiculturalism

Proel considers itself the fruit of its territory, of its sound and positive resources, of the effort of many people devoted to building an important heritage in terms of material and intangible resources. In the same way, in the current economic and social context, it sees in multiculturalism an indispensable way of growing while looking to the world and to the future, in the perspective of continuous enrichment arising from constructive dialogue.

Rules and standards of conduct

Principles of conduct in relations with stakeholders

Relations with stakeholders, at all levels, must be based on standards of conduct of absolute and total fairness, collaboration, loyalty and mutual respect. Proel considers as its stakeholders: financiers, directors, statutory auditors, employees, external collaborators, customers, suppliers, competitors, the Public Administration, users of the products, local communities, the mass media, associations and institutions.

Marketing and Communication

Proel ensures the conditions necessary for its products to help spread passion and enthusiasm for music and for the world surrounding it, in the continuous and relentless pursuit of improved technological applications. All marketing activities will be aimed at promoting Proel's divisions and products.

Proel therefore regards all purchasers of its products as genuine interlocutors; protagonists of a dialogue in which they have the right to receive all the information necessary to make an informed choice at the moment of purchase, and not to be regarded merely as simple "consumers" of products.

There is therefore a duty to guarantee everyone a relationship based on trust, loyalty and impartiality, taking into account all the cognitive, informational and emotional needs they have, in constant attention to the needs of the other. This is why Proel's communication, towards the internal and external customer, will always respect the centrality of the person with their whole articulated system of physical, psychological, cultural and emotional needs. Moreover, market logic must never hinder full transparency of information regarding the content and correct use of the products. Any vulgar, contradictory, uncertain or ambiguous messages that damage the dialogue with stakeholders and deny the values in which Proel believes will always be rejected.

Information and internal controls

All information and dialogue activities with stakeholders must have the characteristics of clarity, transparency, timeliness, completeness and consistency, with respect for the right to information.

Every employee is required to collaborate so that management events are represented correctly and promptly in the accounts on the basis of truthful, accurate, complete and verifiable information. Every transaction and operation is correctly recorded, authorised, verified, lawful, consistent and appropriate. It is the task of every employee to ensure that the supporting documentation is easily traceable and ordered according to logical criteria. No false or artificial accounting entry has ever been, or ever will be, entered in Proel's accounting records for any reason. No employee may engage in activities that give rise to such an unlawful act, even at the request of a superior.

Proel, moreover, attaches the utmost importance to internal control, understood as a process aimed at facilitating the achievement of company objectives, safeguarding resources, ensuring compliance with applicable laws and regulations, and preparing reliable, truthful and correct financial statements and economic-financial data. Given the central importance of control, Proel has created and developed over time a set of instruments, procedures and mechanisms suitable for managing the functioning and monitoring of the organisation. Aware that the internal control system is an element that characterises good management, we commit ourselves every day to working so that the sensitivity of human resources to the need for control can be increased at all organisational levels. Furthermore, directors, statutory auditors, employees and collaborators are called to the responsibility of updating and managing an effective internal control system. This is why management cannot limit its participation in the control system to its own areas of competence alone, but undertakes to share values and instruments with each collaborator or colleague.

Everyone is responsible for safeguarding Proel's assets, whether tangible or intangible, and for their correct use. It is forbidden to use improperly or to damage Proel's assets and resources, or to allow others to do so. Proel, moreover, implements and will always implement all the measures necessary to prevent and avoid phenomena of corruption and extortion. The payment of sums of money and the exercise of other forms of corruption for the purpose of procuring direct or indirect advantages for Proel itself are not permitted. It is forbidden to accept gifts or favours from third parties that go beyond the normal rules of hospitality and courtesy.

Conflict of interest

In order to guarantee maximum transparency, Proel undertakes not to find itself in situations of conflict of interest with employees and their family members. Each collaborator who believes they are in a situation of conflict between their own personal interest, on their own behalf or on behalf of third parties, and the interests of Proel, must communicate this immediately, as appropriate, to their superior, to the Board of Directors, or to the Body responsible for monitoring and applying this Code, the specific rules laid down by the Civil Code remaining valid. Furthermore, directors, statutory auditors, employees and other persons or entities with an objective ability to influence Proel's choices must absolutely avoid using, even only implicitly, their position to influence decisions in their own favour or in favour of relatives, friends and acquaintances for purely personal purposes of whatever nature.

Gifts, donations and other forms of benefit

Moreover, all directors, statutory auditors, managers, middle managers and every other employee must not accept, even on the occasion of festivities, gifts or other benefits connected to their professional activities and that are not of modest value (as a reference value: 50.00 euro). Anyone who receives, directly or indirectly, requests or offers of gifts or benefits exceeding the reference amount must be authorised by the department manager or by their direct superior, if an employee, and must report it to the Body responsible for monitoring the application of this Code of Ethics. Directors, statutory auditors and employees do not request, for themselves or for others, nor accept, gifts or other benefits from a subordinate or from their relatives. An employee does not offer gifts or other benefits to a superior or to their relatives or cohabitants, except customary ones of modest value.

In any case, all those who work with Proel abstain from practices not permitted by law, by commercial usage or by any codes of the companies or entities with which relations are held.

Implementation and monitoring of the Code of Ethics

Scope of application of the Code of Ethics

The recipients of the Code of Ethics are all those who, directly or indirectly, permanently or temporarily, establish relationships or relations with Proel and work to pursue its objectives. Directors, statutory auditors, employees, external collaborators, consultants, suppliers and customers are invited to comply with this Code of Ethics. It is also recommended that the main suppliers and partners adopt conduct in line with the general principles of this Code, considering this aspect to be of fundamental importance in pursuing an ethically responsible model of production.

All those who work with and for Proel have the obligation to know the rules, to abstain from conduct contrary to them, to turn to their superior or to the Body responsible for monitoring and implementing the Code of Ethics for clarifications or reports, to collaborate with the structures appointed to verify violations, and not to conceal from counterparties the existence of a Code. In business relations, counterparties must be informed of the existence of standards of conduct and must respect them.

An effort will also be made to expand and update the Code of Ethics in order to adapt it to the evolution of civil sensibility and of the regulations relevant to the Code of Ethics itself. Those within Proel who hold positions of responsibility are invited to set an example for their employees, to guide them towards observance of the Code and to promote respect for the rules. They must also report to the appointed Body all useful information regarding any deficiencies in controls, suspicious conduct and so on, and modify the control systems of their own function on the instructions of the Body itself.

Supervisory Body

Proel undertakes to enforce the rules through the establishment of a Supervisory Body, to which the tasks of supervision and monitoring regarding the implementation of the Code of Ethics are delegated. The Body will deal in particular with:

  • Constantly monitoring the application of the Code of Ethics by the parties concerned, also through the receipt of any reports and suggestions;
  • Reporting any violations of the Code of significant relevance;
  • Expressing binding opinions regarding any revision of the Code of Ethics or of the most relevant company policies and procedures, in order to ensure their consistency with the Code itself.

The Supervisory Body also has the task of reporting, to the company parties appointed to impose sanctions, the violations committed by both internal and external collaborators of the company to the relevant managers, proposing the adoption of appropriate disciplinary measures. It is likewise its task to report to the governing body and to the Board of Statutory Auditors the violations committed by the company's collaborators.

Reporting violations of the Code of Ethics

Proel provides for the establishment of adequate communication channels through which interested parties may address their reports regarding the application or the violations of the Code. The Body appointed to supervise the implementation of the Code:

The Code of Ethics, and any future update, is approved by Proel's Board of Directors. Responsibility for updating the Code is assigned to the Supervisory Body.

Communication and dissemination of the Code of Ethics

Proel undertakes to foster and guarantee adequate knowledge of the Code of Ethics by disseminating it among interested parties through appropriate and adequate communication activities. So that anyone may align their conduct with that described here, Proel will ensure continuous awareness-raising of the values and ethical rules contained in the Code, aimed at creating shared understanding of its contents.

The Code of Ethics is published on the website www.proel.com, accessible to customers and interested parties.

All internal communication channels are committed to clearly disseminating the values of the Code of Ethics with the aim of widespread awareness-raising.

Reports of any breaches of this Code should be addressed to the email address [email protected]. Proel guarantees those who make reports in good faith protection from any form of retaliation, discrimination or penalisation, ensuring them the utmost confidentiality, without prejudice to legal obligations.

  • Carries out an analysis of the report, possibly hearing the author and the person responsible for the alleged violation;
  • Acts so as to protect whistleblowers against any type of retaliation, understood as an act that may give rise even to the mere suspicion of being a form of discrimination or penalisation;
  • Ensures the confidentiality of the whistleblower's identity, without prejudice to legal obligations;
  • In the event of an established violation of the Code of Ethics, the Body reports the matter and any suggestions deemed necessary to company management or to the functions concerned, according to the seriousness of the violations;
  • These define the measures to be adopted in accordance with the regulations in force and with the disciplinary system adopted by Proel; they oversee their application and report the outcome to the Body responsible for monitoring the Code of Ethics.