Graco 2011 Annual Report Download - page 22

2011 Financial Statements and Related Information
20 NEWELL RUBBERMAID 2011 Annual Report
MANAGEMENT’S DISCUSSION AND ANALYSIS OF FINANCIAL
CONDITION AND RESULTS OF OPERATIONS
The following discussion and analysis provides information which management believes is relevant to an assessment and understanding
of the Company’s consolidated results of operations and financial condition. The discussion should be read in conjunction with the
accompanying Consolidated Financial Statements and Notes thereto.
BUSINESS OVERVIEW
Newell Rubbermaid is a global marketer of consumer and commercial products that touch the lives of people where they work, live
and play. The Company’s products are marketed under a strong portfolio of brands, including Rubbermaid®, Graco®, Aprica®, Levolor®,
Calphalon®, Goody®, Sharpie®, Paper Mate®, Dymo®, Parker®, Waterman®, Irwin® and Lenox®. The Company’s multi-product offering
consists of well-known, name-brand consumer and commercial products in three business segments: Home & Family; Office Products;
and Tools, Hardware & Commercial Products.
Business Strategy
Newell Rubbermaid’s vision is to be a global company of Brands That Matter™ and great people, known for best-in-class results. The
Company is committed to building consumer-meaningful brands through understanding the needs of consumers and using those insights
to create innovative, highly differentiated product solutions that offer performance and value. The Company’s strategy is to build Brands
That Matter™ to drive demand, fuel growth through margin expansion and scale synergies, and leverage the portfolio for faster growth.
•฀฀฀Building฀Brands฀That฀Matter™฀to฀drive฀demand฀involves฀continued฀focus฀on฀insight-driven฀innovation,฀developing฀best-in-class฀
marketing and branding capabilities across the organization, and investing in strategic brand-building activities, including
investments in research and development to better understand target consumers and their needs.
•฀฀฀Fueling฀growth฀through฀margin฀expansion฀and฀scale฀synergies฀entails฀continued฀focus฀on฀achieving฀best฀cost฀and฀improving฀
productivity through the adoption of best-in-class practices, including leveraging scale, optimizing the supply chain to improve
capacity utilization and to deliver productivity savings, reducing costs in nonmarket-facing activities, designing products to
optimize input costs and utilizing strategic sourcing partners when it is cost effective. Achieving best cost allows the Company to
improve its competitive position, generate funds for increased investment in strategic brand-building initiatives and preserve cash
and liquidity.
•฀฀฀Leveraging฀the฀portfolio฀includes฀more฀complete฀deployment฀of฀the฀Company’s฀brands฀in฀existing฀customers฀and฀geographies,฀
accelerating expansion outside North America, targeting investment in higher growth businesses and categories, and acquiring
businesses that facilitate geographic and category expansion, thus enhancing the potential for growth and improved profitability.
In implementing the three tenets of its strategy, the Company is focused on Everyday Great Execution, or “EDGE”, to capitalize on
and maximize the benefits of investment and growth opportunities and to optimize the cost structure of the business.
The Company’s core organizing concept is the global business unit (“GBU”). The Company is organized into 13 GBUs, and each
GBU supports one or more of the Company’s key brands worldwide, with a focus on developing and marketing differentiated products
designed to meet consumers’ needs. The GBU structure positions the business units to leverage research and development, branding,
marketing and innovation on a global basis and facilitates the Company’s objective of optimizing working capital and shared resources.