Our Vision is to be The Premier Steel Company and to be acknowledged as the best. We will work toward this Vision by achieving the following objectives.
Our First Objective is to serve our customers. We recognize that they have choices of materials and steel suppliers and that we will be their first choice only by routinely and reliably providing what they need, when they need it. Our emphasis will be on quality, service, and fair and competitive prices. Our success depends on their success. Our greatest opportunities will be realized through relationships built on mutual trust, cooperation and an understanding of each other's product and business requirements. Our efforts to increase customer satisfaction and reduce their inflation-adjusted costs must be unrelenting. Our own suppliers of goods and services will share this commitment with us. Customers will want Bethlehem as their supplier of choice.
We can be successful only through the efforts of our employees working together as a team with a sense of common purpose and shared goals. Therefore, our Second Objective is to promote a partnership among employees in which each individual is treated with dignity and respect, understands his or her own role in contributing to Bethlehem's success, and is responsible for improving our processes, operations, and relationships. Essential characteristics of this partnership are trust, open and honest communication, ongoing education and training, and an acceptance of individual accountability and responsibility. Workplace safety and a concern for each other's well being are fundamental corporate values. Employees will consider Bethlehem their employer of choice.
Our Third Objective is to be a good citizen, complying with the laws applicable to our business, protecting the environment, working to improve governmental accountability and economic vitality, and enhancing the quality of life. We will provide leadership in civic and charitable organizations and encourage participation by all employees. Communities will want Bethlehem as their local employer of choice.
We believe that success with customers, among employees, and as good corporate citizens, along with having competitive costs and maximizing the utilization of our assets, will enable us to achieve our Overall Objective of increasing stockholder value. This will require sustained profitability with rates of return on the capital employed in our businesses that exceed our weighted average cost of capital. We are committed to sound financial management that will enable us to be profitable even in downturns. Stockholders will consider Bethlehem as their investment of choice.
Bethlehem's Strategy for achieving this Vision is to concentrate on steel, to rebuild our financial strength, and to emphasize and reward continuous improvement in all of our activities.
Our concentration on steel will be focused primarily on enhancing the competitiveness of our Burns Harbor, Sparrows Point and Pennsylvania Steel Technologies Divisions. We will also seek new business opportunities that complement our technology or market strengths, offer growth potential, and offer returns in excess of our average weighted cost of capital.
Within steel we will be a broad line supplier of principally flat rolled products to a variety of markets and industries, with particular emphasis on the construction, transportation (including automotive), machinery, and container markets. We intend to be more than just a supplier of steel material, providing target customers with a "total solution" and differentiating ourselves from competitors through superior customer service and support.
We will focus on products and applications that have demanding requirements where we can best leverage our facility, quality, and technology strengths. Our primary products will include hot rolled, cold rolled, and coated sheets, tin mill products, plates, rail and specialty semifinished steels. We will strengthen our leadership position in plates and will continue to emphasize coated sheets for construction and automotive applications.
We will pursue innovative approaches to reduce the capital intensity of our basic steel business, embrace new production technologies as they fit our particular facilities, and reduce costs. Labor relations activities will focus on the Partnership and target productivity gains through more flexible and efficient utilization of our workforce.
In rebuilding our financial strength, we will place a high priority on reducing our liabilities, strengthening our balance sheet, and achieving an investment grade credit rating. We will focus on operating actions to improve and maintain an adequate level of liquidity.
We will improve continuously with emphasis on employee safety and the widespread application of total quality principles. We will modify our organizational structure to accommodate changing business needs. We will be a streamlined company with decentralized Business Units and an appropriately sized Corporate/Services staff.
Bethlehem's Core Values will be understood, practiced and regarded as sacrosanct:
- Integrity, Safety and Personal Accountability
- Continuous Learning
- Total Quality
- Customer Satisfaction
- Maximizing Stockholder Value
Integrity in each and every thing we do is viewed by all as the essential element of our success, and our employees and Bethlehem are known for their integrity.
Safety is every employees responsibility, and employees actively care about themselves and their fellow employees.
Personal Accountability for achieving business objectives, improving processes and systems, and protecting and enhancing our assets is essential in making Bethlehem the Premier Steel Company.
Continuous Learning is a lifetime opportunity and responsibility, and Bethlehem has the best educated work force in our industry.
Total Quality is practiced by all Bethlehem employees in order to improve productivity, to achieve personal growth and development, and to pursue excellence in every aspect of our business.
Customer Satisfaction is required for Bethlehem to be successful because our success will be measured by the satisfaction and success of our customers.
Maximizing Stockholder Value requires that all employees view the interests of customers, employees, citizenship and stockholders as being essential and interdependent.
