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Speech
Dr. Gunter Wilhelm
Member of the Managing Board of Siemens at the 150th anniversary celebration
Oct 27, 1997
(Excerpt)
Excellencies,
Valued partners,
Ladies and Gentlemen,
It is an honor for me to welcome you today to a very special occasion, the celebration of Siemens’ 150th anniversary. 150 years old, what does this mean? After all, we are in China, a country with an incredibly rich culture, dating back to more than 5,000 years. Isn’t this talk about a mere 150 years just a bit overdone? The answer, of course, is NO.
Company histories are measured on a different scale than cultures, countries, and cities. Did you know that companies usually last less than 20 years, that big companies usually only survive 20 to 30 years longer? We’re talking about 50 years with luck. 50 years! The fact is companies rarely outlive their own founders. We have been, and are, one of the world’s oldest industrial companies. Not only that, but we have remained an industry leader, all these many years.
How did we achieve this when so many competitors have come and gone? What core values have made Siemens so strong? First, Siemens was international from the very beginning. Werner von Siemens could have built a major business in Germany alone. He didn’t. He chose to move out into the world, taking huge risks, because he saw potential others didn’t even look. He built an international business, generations before people even talked about globalization.
Second, he built his business on innovation. Werner had faith in the ability of technology to benefit mankind. Whether linking the world through telecommunications, or bringing electricity to all the continents, Siemens was always in the forefront.
Third, Werner von Siemens left far more than a thriving company. He created a corporate identity that stands for innovation, quality, dependability and durability. This reputation has survived generations and has spread throughout the world. The name Siemens is one of our greatest assets.
And fourth, Werner von Siemens founded a family enterprise. In Asia, strong family bonds are a special asset, a source of enormous strength, flexibility, stability and dependability. Werner sent his brother Wilhelm to England, where he built up a highly successful branch. His brother Karl opened an office in Saint Petersburg, Russia in 1855 and ran it until his death in 1906. Together the three men were, as we say “unbeatable”. And this great family tradition has endured to this very day.
For generations, our company has continued to focus on creating and producing technologies that shape our modern world, from telephone systems to power plants, from electro-medical systems to automated factories, from components to rapid transit systems. Today, Siemens is one of the strongest international companies operating in China. We are busy building power plants, power transmission lines, metro lines, telephone systems, and other key projects throughout the country. We are building computers, providing advanced medical imaging systems, automating industries. In short, we are a part of the national economy, helping to build a great China.
Ladies and gentlemen, working here in China means learning here. We learn from local markets and customers, and use this input to make our company stronger, so that we can serve our markets even better. A solution for the Shanghai Metro, for example, may end up improving our project processes in Berlin or Bangkok. Ideas that come from our telephone experts here might raise productivity in operations on the other side of the world.
China is not only redefining competition and innovation for us, but leading us to take new approaches to the way we do business. The challenges we face here are keeping us fit in a fiercely competitive globalized world.
For 150 years, Siemens has led the industry and maintained a fine reputation, built on trust, quality and reliability. And for all those years, we have relied on strong partnerships with our customers. Ultimately, you, our customers and business partners, are the ones who determine whether we succeed or not. And you are the ones who keep us innovating, and at a cutting edge of the industry. And you in turn, are the ones who must benefit from what we do together.
Good partnerships rely on trust, on knowing one another, on knowing each other’s requirements. We have excellent partners here in China, and a strong basis for growing in future. Above all, I see a new spirit emerging in this country. I see the excitement building as good things happen, and people see a new world taking shape before their eyes.
Together we will help shape this future!
