Xerox 2011 Annual Report Download - page 9

Xerox 2011 Annual Report 7
For example, we’re using data from traffic and parking patterns to
help the City of Los Angeles turn parking into a smart, analytics-
based business. Electronic street signs and smartphone apps direct
drivers to available spaces in real time. Fees for parking vary by
demand as a way of directing more people to mass transit during
peak rush hours. It’s a smart way to use information that results in
a simpler way for people to get around. And, it’s Xerox innovation –
much of which was developed at our research centers in France and
Palo Alto – at its very best.
•InnovationisinourDNA.Byapplyingthebreakthroughsthat
emerge from our five global research labs into our products and
services, we continue to differentiate ourselves with clients and
competitors. The Xerox group, which includes our partnership with
Fuji Xerox, garnered 1,618 U.S. patents last year, placing us eighth
on the IFI patent intelligence list worldwide – and assuring our
customers that we will continue to bring them a steady stream
of innovation and value.
Enabling Customers to Be Their Best
No, we don’t make the sexiest new product on the market or run
a hospital that saves lives or get you to work safely and on time or
manufacture the most luxurious and safest aircraft on the planet or
design a spacecraft that will explore the stars. But we do something
every bit as important. We’re behind the scenes, managing the
“must-do work” that enables every one of those things to happen.
It’s a noble mission. To take some very complex business processes
and make them simple for those who need them.
We’ve become a critical enabler for business and government. When
you speak with leaders in the public and private sector, they don’t
tell you that they pay their Medicare clients in a cost-effective way
or that their marketing brochures are personalized and printed with
the highest quality. They tell you that they provide a safety net for
people who need healthcare or that they have the best smartphones
in the world.
We allow all these great people to do what they do really well.
And, that’s a great place to be. Now I must tell you that it tries my
patience. Every place I look, I see a process we should be improving.
If I see an accounting operation or a document technology center or
an IT hub or a call center, I want to grab someone and tell them they
shouldn’t be worried about it. You should make your cars or provide a
service to your clients and let us worry about this “stuff” for you.
As I hope you can tell, this work excites me. We create value on so
many levels. We are just hitting our stride. And, I’m confident a world
of opportunity is ours for the taking.
And the last question that is on the minds of business leaders – but,
interestingly is never directly asked – is this: “Is this a company I want
to do business with?” There are a lot of important questions behind
that basic one. Customers want to know you’ll be fair and honest,
that you’re reliable and won’t let them down, that you’ll continue
to innovate and bring them best practices, that the values of the
company speak to things that are important to them.
In other words, they want partners like Xerox. Customers have
choices on who gets their business. Trusting some of your most
critical operational processes to a business partner is a high-stakes
game. We’re staffing call centers on behalf of our customers.
Paying bills and transacting payments on their behalf. Managing
IT infrastructures on their behalf. Creating sophisticated electronic
medical records on their behalf. Processing insurance claims on their
behalf. Creating and distributing client communication on their
behalf. Considering these responsibilities, I’m proud to look our
customers in the eye and tell them that we’re as close to a “sure bet”
as they will ever find. And if there is a problem, we will work with them
for as long as it takes to make it right. There are a lot of proof points
that we’re the company that a customer wants:
•Ourbrandisknownandrespectedaroundtheworld.Itsmulti-
billion-dollar value is the sum total of millions upon millions of
decisions made, actions taken and values lived by our people for
several decades.
•Weoperateourbusinessthroughavaluesystemthatwas
espoused by our founders over 60 years ago. These values include
a deep commitment to corporate citizenship that is a point of
pride for our business and for our people. And it’s rewarding to be
recognized for our actions: last year the Dow Jones Sustainability
Index named Xerox a leader in environmental stewardship and
social responsibility.
“Electronic street signs and smartphone
apps direct drivers to available spaces
in real time.”
“We allow all these great people to do
what they do really well. And, that’s a great
place to be.”