Ford Chairman Stresses Shareholder Value, Social Responsibility
30 March 1999
Ford Chairman Stresses Shareholder Value, Social Responsibility in Letter to Shareholders
DEARBORN, Mich., March 29 -- The following is the text of
Ford Motor Company Chairman William Clay Ford, Jr.'s letter to
shareholders from the company's 1998 Annual Report. The report will be mailed
to shareholders of record on March 29. It can also be read on Ford's
worldwide website, http://www.ford.com.
Ford's annual meeting of shareholders will be held on May 13, 1999,
10 a.m., at the Detroit Opera House. Notice of the Annual Meeting, a Proxy
Statement and voting card will be mailed to shareholders in advance of the
meeting.
No company has had a greater impact on the lives of people around the
world in the 20th century than Ford.
We put the world on wheels with the moving assembly line and the first
affordable car for the masses. And we made the world a better place with
five-dollar-a-day wages and pioneering efforts to reduce, recycle and reuse.
Going forward we intend to honor the past, but not live in it. We want to
find better ideas for a new century. For consumers, for shareholders and for
the world.
As we move into the 21st century, we know that great products alone aren't
going to be enough. We are leaving behind the industrial age and entering the
information age -- the age of the consumer. The company is expanding its
definition of customer satisfaction -- beyond products, and even beyond the
sales and service experience.
Our vision is to be the world's leading consumer company for automotive
products and services. We want to find ingenious new ways to delight
consumers, provide superior returns to shareholders and improve the
communities we live in and the world we share.
We see no conflict between business goals and social and environmental
needs. I believe the distinction between a good company and a great one is
this: A good company delivers excellent products and services, a great one
delivers excellent products and services and strives to make the world a
better place.
Great companies understand that to fully meet the expectations of
consumers, they must address the concerns of society. That is the only way to
ensure sustainable development and growth. It also is the best way to richly
reward shareholders.
How does social responsibility support shareholder value?
At Ford plants around the world, we are lowering emissions and reducing
waste, and in the process saving money. Last year Ford became the first and
only automotive company to certify its plans around the world under ISO 14001,
the international environmental management standard. By meeting ISO 14001
standards, we will continue to improve our environmental performance and also
reduce our costs by hundreds of millions of dollars over a five-year period.
That helps consumers, investors and the community. We will create more
overall value like this for all our stakeholders in the future by sharpening
our consumer focus and transforming and growing our company. This report
explains what we mean.
I've worked for Ford Motor Company for 20 years, and served on its Board
of Directors for 10 years. It's more than a job to me -- it's my heritage,
and my way of life. I view the company and its employees as an extended
family.
The outpouring of concern and support for those affected by the tragedy at
the Rouge complex confirmed this belief. We were all terribly saddened by
this horrible event. But a sense of family sustained us in this difficult
period. I know it will continue to be a source of strength for us in the
future. Ford is a great company because of the caring people who work here,
and I am proud to be part of this great company.
My predecessors at Ford, going all the way back to my great-grandfather
Henry Ford, have given our company a strong foundation, and a history of
innovation and caring. It will be my privilege to be Ford's chairman as we
build on that foundation. And we will take the company to new heights in the
21st century.