Siemens 2013 Annual Report Download - page 98

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We’ll leave many things as they are while taking decisive action on other fronts.
What was not so successful will have to be adjusted and improved – not through
lots of talk, but through decisive action and hard work. We’ll work together to
make this happen. The entire Managing Board and Siemens’ global management
team are in the front rank here.
I’m aware that you, our shareholders, have high expectations of us – and rightly
so. We’ll work hard to meet your expectations. In doing so, we’ll act judiciously,
decisively and rigorously while maintaining an unwavering focus on the sustain-
ability of our measures. Our actions are geared not to turning a quick profit but
to ensuring the long-term success of our Company. And I know I have a team
behind me that’s unmatched and highly esteemed around the world. That’s why
I’d like to extend my special thanks to all our employees for their dedication and
achievements.
What we achieve as a team, the Siemens team, is the basis for our success. My
personal conviction and my message to everyone at the Company is: Siemens will
again take top priority at Siemens. This will be the guiding principle for each and
every one
of us – from Managing Board member to trainee, across all Sectors,
Divisions and
Regions as well as at the Company ’s headquarters. We’ll again focus
more intensively on living Siemens’ virtues and values with renewed vigor every
day: reliability and continuity, fairness and integrity, diligence and dedication,
quality and innovation.
We don’t have to reinvent Siemens. Siemens is a company with a setup that spans
the electrification value chain. The growing impact of digitization and the expanding
use of automation are shaping our markets, changing our businesses and opening
up opportunities for innovation. We’ll profit more strongly than others from the
three pillars of electrification, digitization and automation. Many new competitors
from other industries and technology fields are trying to penetrate our territory.
We’re aware of this development and prepared to meet it. Many who see our busi-
ness fields as attractive and want to establish a foothold in them will soon realize
that we’re already on the scene. Nevertheless, we’re taking changes in technologies
and customer behavior seriously. We’re closely following and preparing ourselves
for paradigm shifts in our markets, businesses and environment, whether these
shifts
are driven by social media, data analytics – that is, the processing of enor-
mous amounts of data – or biotechnology.
To leverage these changes for the benefit of our Company, we need unparalleled
expertise in innovative technologies and unfailingly high productivity. And we
must be willing to change in order to prevail against our competitors in hotly
contested markets and maintain the upper hand. The best driver for any company
is growth – controlled, focused, value-creating and, above all, sustainable growth.
It’s essential that we set the right priorities for achieving growth. We must make
wise investments, and this applies to everything from R&D expenditures to acqui-
sitions and the systematic tapping of attractive markets.