Archive post: »Danfoss under ethical fire« · 2022-11-07

• Jacob Dahl Rendtorff — Mentioned in the current archived text
• Jørgen Mads Clausen — Mentioned in the current archived text
• Peter Hansen — Mentioned in the current archived text

Source title: Danfoss i etisk blæst

Text version dated 8 Sep 2023

Danfoss i etisk blæst Gennem flere artikler har vi på denne side dokumenteret, at Danfoss-ejer Jørgen Mads Clausen har udvist både dårlig dømmekraft og tvivlsom etik og moral. Eksempelvis i forbindelse med Whistleblower-sagen, de falske anklager og pressionen mod ejerens arbejdsgivere - hvilket i øvrigt foregik i et uskønt parløb med den tidligere Venstrepolitiker, nuværende bestyrelsesformand i JydskeVestkysten og særdeles erfarne konkursrytter Peter Hansen. Jørgen Mads Clausen sad også stadig i formandsstolen i Danfoss, da de omdiskuterede mulige brud på handelsembargoen mod Putins russiske krigsmaskine fandt sted.

Mens Erhvervsstyrelsen stadig undersøger anklagerne mod Danfoss, har virksomheden travlt med at fralægge sig ansvar. Blandt andet gennem 3 redegørelser, der er sendt fra Danfoss til Erhvervsstyrelsen. Se artiklen fra Børsen, hvor Jacob Dahl Rendtorff, der er professor i ledelse og virksomhedsetik ved RUC, blandt andet udtaler: ”Danfoss virker temmelig optaget af at tørre ansvaret for salget til russisk militær af på selskabets russiske datterselskab.

Det er altså meget sært, at man ejer et selskab 100 pct., som man så ved så lidt om og tager så lidt ansvar for.” “Når man læser de her dokumenter, er det tydeligt, at det er den juridiske afdeling, som er afsender. Alt handler om compliance og regelefterlevelse, meget lidt handler om etik.” Som en fodnote kan tilføjes, at hverken Peter Hansen (som ellers kritiserer ECCO, Rockwool m.fl for deres engagement i Rusland) eller JydskeVestkysten har udvist nævneværdig interesse for netop denne sag. Det ser ud til, at den sønderjyske magtelite rent lokalt kan feje alle anklager ind under gulvtæppet, men spørgsmålet er, om den strategi også holder nationalt og globalt? (Opslaget har tidligere været bragt på vores Facebook side)

This is an automatic reading translation. The source’s allegations and assessments have not been independently confirmed through translation. Check wording, qualifications and meaning against the preserved Danish original. Some retained numbers may use Danish separators: a dot for thousands and a comma for decimals. Check amounts against the Danish original.

Danfoss under ethical fire

Through several articles on this page, we have documented that Danfoss owner Jørgen Mads Clausen has shown both poor judgment and questionable ethics and morality. Examples include the whistleblower case, false accusations and pressure on the owner’s employers, incidentally in an unseemly partnership with former Venstre politician, current JydskeVestkysten board chair and highly experienced serial-bankruptcy entrepreneur Peter Hansen.

Jørgen Mads Clausen was also still chair of Danfoss when the disputed possible breaches of the trade embargo against Putin’s Russian war machine occurred. While Erhvervsstyrelsen continues investigating the allegations against Danfoss, the company is busy disclaiming responsibility, including through 3 statements sent by Danfoss to Erhvervsstyrelsen. See the Børsen article here, in which Jacob Dahl Rendtorff, professor of management and business ethics at RUC, says, among other things:
“Danfoss seems rather preoccupied with shifting responsibility for sales to the Russian military onto its Russian subsidiary.

It is very strange to own a company 100 percent, yet know so little about it and take so little responsibility for it.”
“Reading these documents, it is clear they come from the legal department. Everything concerns compliance and following rules; very little concerns ethics.”

As a footnote, it can be added that neither Peter Hansen (who otherwise criticises ECCO, Rockwool and others for their involvement in Russia) nor JydskeVestkysten has shown significant interest in this particular case. It appears that the southern Jutland power elite can sweep all accusations under the carpet locally, but the question is whether that strategy also holds up nationally and globally?

Read the Børsen article here