Siemens 2013 Annual Report Download - page 83

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What strategy is Siemens
pursuing to reach its goals?
We’re gearing our efforts to what we call
our three strategic directions: focus on inno -
vation-driven growth markets; get closer to
our customers; and use the power of
Siemens. Each of these directions is broken
down into three focus areas that have tre-
mendous potential for achieving a sustain-
able increase in Siemens’ value. For exam-
ple, we’re expanding our service business
and encouraging lifelong learning and de-
velopment among our employees.
Is Siemens following a separate
sustainability strategy?
Sustainability and business success are two
sides of the same coin for us, as we’ve al-
ready showcased in numerous examples in
this Report. Siemens is sustainably man-
aged. That’s why we’ve consciously de-
cided not to formulate a separate sustain-
ability strategy, since our Company strategy
is already geared to making long-term
progress in terms of profitability, the envi-
ronment and society. The fact that this
Annual Report is for the first time a com-
bined Annual and Sustainability Report is
further proof of our
overarching under-
standing of sustainability.
How does the strategy address
changes in markets?
To continuously occupy leading market and
technology positions, unrelenting efforts
and perseverance are required. Pioneering
topics in research and development, for ex-
ample, often bear fruit only after years. At
the same time, changes are taking place in
ever-shorter cycles. That’s why we continu-
ally monitor and evaluate the impact on our
business of new developments in the econ-
omy, technology and society. New opportu-
nities are currently arising, such as the en-
ergy transition in Germany, the new natural
gas extraction boom in the U.S. and the
rapidly growing demand for affordable
healthcare in the emerging markets. Be-
ginning in fiscal , our Company-wide
Siemens  program has been support-
ing our One Siemens framework – thus
empowering us to recapture a leading
competitive position.
How is the strategy put
into practice at Siemens?
Our report on the modernization of the
Kirishi power plant ON PAGES - illus-
trates how we’re implementing our strat-
egy. Siemens is a pioneer in the market for
combined-cycle power plants – a market
that is thriving thanks to the development
of advanced technologies – and has been
continuously boosting the efficiency of gas-
based power generation for years. The
plant’s upgraded Unit  combusts natural
gas with record efficiency while producing
less environmentally harmful carbon diox-
ide than its predecessors. That’s typical of
the products in our Environmental Portfolio.
And the twelve-year service contract we
landed for Kirishi is an exemplary success
story in the strategic focus area that aims at
expanding our service business.
How does Siemens measure
the success of its strategy?
We measure our success primarily in terms
of the development of the key financial fig-
ures for revenue growth, capital efficiency
and profitability as well as for capital struc-
ture. For further information, please see
C. FINANCIAL PERFORMANCE SYSTEM on
pages - of this Annual Report.