Verizon Wireless 2006 Annual Report Download - page 14

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ated฀Verizon฀Services฀Operations฀to฀help฀us฀drive฀a฀competitive฀cost฀structure฀and฀
take฀advantage฀of฀our฀scale฀efciencies.฀
In฀addition,฀as฀we฀build฀out฀our฀ber฀network,฀the฀new฀businesses฀enabled฀by฀
this฀investment฀are฀growing฀both฀in฀revenue฀contribution฀and฀operating฀efciency,฀
which฀means฀our฀earnings฀and฀investment฀returns฀will฀improve฀over฀the฀long฀term,฀
as฀well.
How we work.
Verizon฀ is฀ a฀network฀company,฀ in฀ human฀as฀ well฀ as฀technological฀ terms.฀In฀ fact,฀
with฀our฀direct฀relationships฀with฀millions฀of฀customers,฀we’re฀different฀from฀other฀
companies฀in฀the฀Internet฀economy.
Our฀relationship฀to฀customers฀isn’t฀just฀virtual,฀it’s฀real.฀Our฀customers฀don’t฀
relate฀to฀us฀just฀through฀the฀click฀of฀a฀mouse.฀They฀come฀into฀our฀stores.฀They฀see฀
our฀ trucks.฀ They฀ talk฀ to฀ our฀ service฀ reps.฀ They฀ invite฀ our฀ technicians฀ into฀ their฀
homes.฀They฀know฀that฀–฀with฀more฀than฀240,000฀employees฀in฀communities฀all฀
over฀the฀country฀and฀the฀world฀–฀we฀have฀a฀vested฀interest฀in฀good฀schools,฀safe฀
neighborhoods฀and฀strong฀local฀economies.฀
That’s฀why฀the฀human฀dimension฀of฀business฀–฀customer฀service,฀ethics,฀values,฀
reputation฀and฀community฀investment฀–฀is฀so฀deeply฀embedded฀in฀our฀culture฀and฀
so฀profoundly฀important฀to฀our฀success.฀Our฀people฀have฀a฀strong฀record฀of฀giving฀
back฀to฀communities฀through฀matching฀gifts,฀volunteer฀hours฀and฀other฀activities,฀
and฀our฀commitment฀to฀corporate฀social฀responsibility฀is฀visible฀in฀all฀our฀opera-
tions.฀We฀publish฀an฀annual฀report฀on฀our฀corporate฀responsibility฀initiatives,฀which฀
is฀available฀on฀our฀website.฀(For฀more,฀see฀page฀13.)
Building฀trust฀with฀our฀stakeholders฀is฀not฀only฀the฀right฀thing฀to฀do,฀it’s฀vital฀
to฀the฀relationships฀we฀have฀with฀our฀partners฀and฀customers.
That฀human฀dimension฀also฀shapes฀the฀way฀we฀lead฀and฀manage฀our฀people.
Our฀strategy฀is฀only฀as฀good฀as฀the฀people฀who฀carry฀it฀out,฀our฀reputation฀only฀
as฀strong฀as฀the฀employees฀who฀embody฀it฀for฀customers.฀We฀have฀taken฀a฀num-
ber฀of฀steps฀to฀raise฀standards,฀increase฀our฀competitive฀focus฀and฀put฀more฀tools฀
for฀decision-making฀in฀the฀hands฀of฀our฀employees.฀For฀example,฀we฀devoted฀more฀
than฀8฀million฀hours฀of฀training฀and฀$110฀million฀in฀tuition฀assistance฀in฀2006฀to฀
equip฀our฀employees฀to฀deploy฀new฀technologies฀and฀address฀the฀needs฀of฀sophisti-
cated฀clients.฀We฀also฀have฀a฀rigorous฀and฀comprehensive฀Code฀of฀Business฀Conduct฀
that฀applies฀to฀all฀employees฀worldwide.฀We฀train฀and฀certify฀all฀employees฀in฀the฀
The Verizon Foundation
at a glance:
$69,400,000
Total funds given by the Verizon
Foundation in 2006
11,280
Number of nonprofit organizations
that received time/money from
Verizon Volunteers last year
600,000
Hours of community service by
Verizon Volunteers in 2006
3,300
Nonprofit organizations that
received grants directly from the
Verizon Foundation
Verizon Thinkfinity
at a glance:
47,000
Free online educational plans
and other resources available to
educators
90,200
Schools using Verizon Thinkfinity
resources
2,700,000
User sessions on Thinkfinity web site
each month in 2006
Verizon Wireless HopeLine
at a glance:
$1,300,000
Verizon Wireless HopeLine grants
in 2006
910,000
Phones collected in 2006 by
HopeLine to support domestic
violence prevention programs
300
Domestic violence prevention
organizations funded in 2006