2010 Sustainability Report - Cummins.com
2010 Sustainability Report - Cummins.com
2010 Sustainability Report - Cummins.com
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Challenges ahead: Governance and Risk Management<br />
Here are three areas in Governance and Risk Management that <strong>Cummins</strong><br />
will be working to improve in <strong>2010</strong>:<br />
Ethics investigations: The average closure<br />
of ethics cases at <strong>Cummins</strong> was under the<br />
Company’s goal of 24 days in 2009 but a Six<br />
Sigma project being implemented in <strong>2010</strong> seeks<br />
to lower the goal to 15 days.<br />
Economic forecasts: <strong>Cummins</strong> wants to develop<br />
a better way to predict when economic downturns<br />
will end so the Company can be more precise in<br />
planning for production increases. Some<br />
manufacturing plants saw significant swings<br />
in demand from quarter to quarter in 2009 and<br />
early <strong>2010</strong>.<br />
Business Continuity Plans: <strong>Cummins</strong> wants to<br />
continue implementing Business Continuity Plans at<br />
our most critical sites, working with site leadership,<br />
which will assume responsibility for updating them.<br />
Supplier Code of Conduct<br />
<strong>Cummins</strong> wants to do business with <strong>com</strong>panies that<br />
share its values. The Company’s Supplier Code of<br />
Conduct includes provisions banning child or forced<br />
labor, respecting employee rights and providing a safe<br />
workplace for employees.<br />
The Supplier Code was updated in 2009 to align with<br />
<strong>Cummins</strong>’ own internal Code of Conduct, making it<br />
clear that the Company holds suppliers to a higher<br />
standard than just <strong>com</strong>pliance with local laws.<br />
<strong>Cummins</strong>’ purchasing department solicits a<br />
response from suppliers on their conduct codes<br />
and addresses any areas of concern. If the Company<br />
has a contract with a supplier, the Supplier Code of<br />
Conduct is included in the legal agreement.<br />
The code has been translated into more than a dozen<br />
languages. By the end of 2009, <strong>Cummins</strong> had sent it<br />
to more than 6,000 suppliers with 98 percent reporting<br />
that they were in <strong>com</strong>pliance.<br />
Joint venture relationships<br />
In a number of instances around the world, <strong>Cummins</strong><br />
does business through alliances with business partners<br />
and joint venture agreements to increase market<br />
penetration, streamline supply chain management,<br />
expand product lines and/or develop new technologies.<br />
Regardless of whether <strong>Cummins</strong> directly manages<br />
these alliances and joint ventures, the Company takes<br />
appropriate steps to ensure they share <strong>Cummins</strong>’<br />
values. <strong>Cummins</strong> screens potential partners carefully<br />
and only initiates a joint venture with partners whom<br />
Company leaders know and trust. The Company<br />
makes sure <strong>Cummins</strong>’ values are included in a joint<br />
venture by making them a part of the negotiations and<br />
by ensuring <strong>Cummins</strong> employees are included on the<br />
joint venture’s board of directors.<br />
In 2009, all North American joint-venture partners<br />
and distributors adopted <strong>Cummins</strong>’ Code of Business<br />
Conduct or substantially similar codes embodying<br />
the same principles.<br />
Corporate Governance<br />
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