The SMA Management Board Members Günther Cramer, Reiner Wettlaufer and Pierre-Pascal Urbon receive the Deutscher Fairness Preis (German Fairness Prize) 2008.

The SMA Solar Technology AG Management Board has been awarded the 2008 Deutscher Fairness Preis (German Fairness Prize)

The German Fairness Prize has been awarded this year to the Management Board of the SMA Solar Technology AG. With this award, the Fairness-Stiftung (the Fairness Foundation) recognizes the commitment of the four members of this board to a fair and cooperative form of business management.

The trustees were of the conviction that the Management Board leads the firm with a profound sense in equal measure for fairness, cooperation and employee participation; for social, ethical and ecological values; and for business success and social responsibility. This type of management speaks to the hearts and minds of the employees and wins them over for creative, involved and independent work. The management's commitment shows, in an exemplary way, that economic success and a fair, cooperative business structure can not only be joined, but that they are actually the key to innovative entrepreneurship and an engaged working force.

The Fairness Prize was awarded as part of a ceremony taking place on October 25, 2008, in the plenary hall at the IHK Frankfurt to Günther Cramer, Peter Drews, Pierre-Pascal Urbon and Reiner Wettlaufer, members of the Management Board at SMA. In his laudation, Dr. Norbert Kluge, expert on corporate governance and employee participation and the European Labor Union Institute in Brussels, recognized the commitment of the Managing Board: "Being fair means to show respectful and appropriate behavior, as well as a just and honest attitude toward other people. This leads to mutual trust.", said Kluge. In the case of SMA this is not only a moral pretense. It is reality. The founders of SMA can be very proud of this."
"The Fairness Prize is a confirmation to us all that we have taken the right path. Not only is cooperative business management a lived experience of fairness; it also makes possible to have joy at work and business success, and this in highly dynamic markets as well.", explains Günther Cramer, CEO of SMA Solar Technology AG. "Such a business structure can be only advocated, not prescribed. More than that, it needs critical and active employees who deliver their contributions to such a structure. In this way, this award is also a distinction for all our co-workers."

About the Fairness Foundation
The Fairness Foundation is committed to an increase in the consciousness of fairness in the economy and society, and it procures competency in fairness in enterprises and organizations. One cannot apply for the German Fairness Prize, which the Foundation awards each year. Instead, the award is based on formal recommendations and research by the Foundation and decided by the Foundation Trust.