Emerson 2013 Annual Report Download - page 4

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DAVID N. FARR
Chairman and
Chief Executive Officer
To Our Shareholders
As we conclude another year, I am excited about how
much we continue to learn about our businesses,
customers and the ever changing global environment
in which we operate, and our ongoing development
as an organization. In my years with Emerson, I’ve
seen clearly how we’re confronted every day with
new challenges and tremendous opportunities. It is
in how we understand, design, plan and execute in a
dynamic world that makes the difference, drives
growth and delivers success for our shareholders,
customers and employees.
More than ever before, our customers rely on us as a
trusted partner to provide the solutions and services
that enable them to respond to and excel in this
changing world. As global leaders in our industries,
our businesses must anticipate these developments
and ensure that we always deliver on our promises.
To that end, we are constantly seeking ways to evolve
and improve, to better respond to the dynamic markets
we serve and to help our customers do the same.
This focus on evolving and improving matured this
year into something we call Perfect Execution. Perfect
Execution is more than a program. It’s a challenge to
everyone in the company to better understand our
customers and then work and think in different ways
and at new levels on their behalf. In many ways, it is
a cultural transformation that reduces complexity,
breaks down silos and strengthens collaboration
across our organization. Perfect Execution is
structured around not just satisfying, but radically
exceeding our customers’ expectations as we grow
and develop winning solutions together.
Advancing this initiative was a significant milestone
for Emerson in 2013 amid what continues to be a
challenging business climate. Global economic
growth remained more limited than we had
anticipated, as weaker business investment reflected
a lack of confidence and heightened uncertainty
about the operating environment. Despite these
conditions, Emerson achieved many successes in the
past year, delivering continued sales and earnings
2 Emerson > 2013 Annual Report