“Sarrazin's book is like the jumble of latent xenophobia found at a corner pub”

The head of German industrial group Siemens, Peter Löscher, told the Financial Times Deutschland on Wednesday his company’s managers are too German, white and male.

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"The management board are all white males," the Austrian-born Siemens chief executive told the newspaper in an interview. “We’re too one-dimensional.”

Löscher said his priority this year would be to improve the group's "global diversity," after spending his first year trying to help it recover from a scandal sparked by widespread corruption. Failing to bring onboard top directors from countries like China and India would make Siemens less competitive.

"It’s not a question of quotas. But I would like to see a more diverse management board,” he told the FTD. “I’d like to see a really good Chinese running the China business and a really good Indian responsible for India."

Löscher said such diversity was crucial to Germany’s economic future: “It’s absolutely decisive. It’s what’s most important. If you don’t reflect your global customer base you can’t develop your complete potential. If you do it then you have a huge advantage.”

afp/ftd

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1. Prosecutors drop investigation of 'Germany's stupidest bankers' »
2. Sky needs years to become 'sustainable'  »
3. Bank association warns capital regulations could throttle lending »
4. Industry orders post sharp decline »
5. Galloping exports continue to drive growth »

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