Vision and strategy: a message from Alain Dutheil

At STMicroelectronics, we never had any doubt about the importance of shared values in achieving superior performance. More than 15 years ago we laid down our Guiding Principles as a common basis for our company culture and our Total Quality Management (TQM) approach to business, that has since spread throughout the whole organization.

This culture and these values are permanently enriched by the diversity of our company. We are present in more than 100 countries across the world, and we value highly what each culture brings to ST. This cultural wealth is key to our performance.

Equally, being present in many countries, and especially in emerging countries, we contribute to local development in many ways:

• We provide employment, which means revenue for several thousand families in each major manufacturing site
• Given the nature of our activity, we provide highly technical jobs, which allow local engineers and technicians to find appropriate jobs in their home country
• We contribute to the development of local suppliers and services
• We develop local expertise and know-how through partnerships, including with schools and universities
• We contribute to local communities in specific ways, for instance with education helping bridge the digital divide, or through the taxes we pay locally.

These interactions between ST and local communities throughout the world are an integral part of our corporate culture, and a key element of corporate responsibility. We believe we are accountable not only to our primary stakeholders, customers, employees, and shareholders, but also to the communities in which we operate, and society at large. TQM started with a strong commitment to quality, a fundamental responsibility to our customers. Ten years ago, this commitment was enlarged to embrace the environment and, more recently, we have extended our vision to the wider scope of corporate responsibility. The world is moving in that direction, and we strongly support this move; but for us this is just the continuation of our traditional culture, which has always valued the sense of responsibility and the corresponding accountability. Understanding our impact on stakeholders and building long-term and mutually beneficial relationships with them is, for us, the path to Sustainable Excellence.

Alain Dutheil
Chief Operating Officer and Vice Chairman of the Corporate Executive Committee