Innovator with heart and soul and missionary for good discussion culture
How quickly it can happen that while walking and looking at your mobile phone at the same time, you collide with a lamppost or even end up on the road. Our interviewee, Dr Thomas Stockmeier, headed up research projects at ams-Osram AG that aim to better synchronise precisely such processes, for example by means of “smart glasses” that bring all kinds of information conveniently and safely “right in front of our eyes”. Stockmeier was a member of the Management Board and Chief Technology Officer of ams-Osram AG until his retirement. “Developing disruptive innovations is one of my favourite tasks in research,” he says. Accordingly, some of the Austrian company’s 15,000 registered patents can be traced back to him. And his inventive spirit never rests. “I always have ideas about technological innovations in my head, which I think about and make notes on,” he says. Wherever the materials scientist with a doctorate is involved, an innovative spirit must be part of day-to-day business.
1. what was your motivation to become certified as a qualified supervisory board member?
When we took over the long-established German company OSRAM a few years ago, I became a member of the Supervisory Board of OSRAM Licht AG and the Supervisory Board of Osram GmbH. The training to become a certified Supervisory Board member in 2020 was just the right thing to do. Shortly afterwards, I took over the chairmanship of both boards. With the support of Gabriele Bornemann and the positive pressure of the exam, I have built up a very good and helpful foundation, a training programme that I can only recommend to supervisory board members. With such excellent training, I can very well imagine taking on further supervisory or advisory board mandates in technology-driven companies.
2. what do you think are currently the biggest challenges in supervisory board work?
As a Supervisory Board member, you have to master a balancing act: between the shareholders’ mandate and the plethora of legal requirements. Not getting lost in formalities and keeping an eye on the Executive Board’s course is a real challenge. The duality of supervision and partnership-based consulting is tricky. This is only possible with trust in the Management Board and Supervisory Board.
As a Supervisory Board member, I have to ask myself whether everything presented in the strategy is credible. There are clear guidelines for “normal” issues. But when it comes to technological and strategic issues in particular, when it gets deeper into the product and processes, many supervisory boards start to flounder. That’s why it’s so important that all competences are present on a supervisory board and that the board is diverse. In my working life, I have always looked for people who challenge me and bring in different, new ideas and perspectives. As Chairman of the Supervisory Board, I attach great importance to diversity because it gives us the opportunity to make better decisions. At our headquarters in Premstätten near Graz, for example, we bring together 40 nations. I see this international flair and diversity of experience as a great enrichment – for our company and for me personally.
3. when does a Supervisory Board member do a good job?
Success is measured from quarter to quarter – firstly, of course, by the figures, which have to be right. For me, another measure of success is whether the basis for sustainable growth is in place, which can be derived quite clearly from market analyses. Is my boat seaworthy so that it can survive in rough seas? These are the questions we supervisory board members have to ask. However, we have to be careful not to see ourselves as the better board. That’s the trick: holding back and yet not letting up when it counts.
4. what do you want to achieve and change as a Supervisory Board?
I want to support the innovative capacity of companies with my work on the Supervisory Board. From more than three decades in business, I know how difficult it is to bring the disruptive innovations that call everything into question into the company. Because breaking completely new ground is uncomfortable, involves risks and scares people. But: the risk is worth it, indeed it is often decisive for the long-term success and continued existence of a company. The Supervisory Board has the cool head to demand precisely such processes or, to put it literally, does not have its nose as close to the grindstone as the Management Board. For investors and analysts, the innovative strength of a company is also an important indicator of a company in a good economic position. And for employees! Young people today simply ask much more about the meaning of their work, whether they can make a lasting difference. This means that innovative strength quickly becomes a personnel issue, a criterion for recruiting skilled labour.
Essentially, the question is: how can I get an open discussion going on the Supervisory Board? I can show real missionary zeal for this. A good culture of debate is exhausting, doesn’t happen overnight and requires communication techniques – but it pays off in the end. Because lively meetings simply ensure good results in supervisory board work.