APC 1998 Annual Report Download - page 10

Interview
with the Chairman
> Your appointment as Chairman
and CEO of the Board coincides
with Groupe Schneider’s name change
to Schneider Electric. Does this signal
a change in strategic direction?
Quite the opposite. Our new name and logo
mark the completion of a vital process:
Schneider’s strategic refocusing on electricity.
T his task was achieved under the leadership of
Didier Pineau-Valencienne with an admirable
clarity of vision and skill. I wholeheartedly
endorse my predecessor’s strategy of expansion
and profitable growth. Indeed, that strategy is
proving its worth every day through our results,
and I fully intend to pursue it. This doesn’t
mean, of course, that we can’t do better.
T he changes I’m planning will not concern what
we’re doing, but rather how we do it.
I’m convinced that some progressive moves--and,
where needed, a few breaks with the past--will
strengthen our strategy’s long-term viability,
not weaken it.
> What are the broad outlines
of these changes?
Our goal is to build on our existing achievements
in order to go much farther--and much faster.
Today, we are the leaders in our two comple-
mentary core businesses: electrical distribution
and industrial control and automation. We’ve
greatly reduced their exposure to business cycle
ups and downs by achieving a balanced geographic
and market spread and by maintaining comparable,
consistent profitability ratios.
Now we need to change the way we work in
order to speed our growth, respond faster, cut
costs, and improve profitability.We have the
financial resources to do this, as well as the
human potential thanks to our outstandingly
diverse, skilled, and professional workforce.
“ Our goals are
faster growth,
greater responsiveness,
and higher profitability”