At The Timken Company, we don’t take shortcuts. That’s true of how we design and produce our products and also how we conduct business and treat our customers, colleagues and collaborators. All of our actions – at every level of our company – are guided by our core value of ethics and integrity.

We’re proud that Ethisphere® Institute has named us one of the World’s Most Ethical Companies® for the 10th time. While we’re honored, we’re not surprised. Being a global industrial leader requires us to hold ourselves to the highest ethical standards. It’s engrained in our culture and stressed to new associates as soon as they join our company.

Our approach has proven to be a differentiator as we’ve become more active on the mergers and acquisitions front over the past decade. As you can imagine, integrating one company into another is a complex process. Beyond the obvious operational, financial and technological challenges of joining two entities together, you also face the significant task of merging cultures. For this reason, we’ve tried to be very selective in choosing companies with strong cultures that share our commitment to doing business the right way.

Having a highly ethical culture is a strong asset when it comes to our integration efforts. The companies we acquire can take comfort that we’re going to be respectful, honest, fair and responsible every step of the way. This helps reduce barriers and allays fears. It fosters collaboration, engenders enthusiasm and opens lines of communication. It creates an environment where people feel included and appreciated and it paves the way for successful and efficient integration efforts.

As we’ve advanced our strategy in recent years, we’ve added new people, products and capabilities. We’re serving more end markets and we’ve expanded our geographic presence. Throughout this period of growth, we’ve welcomed new ideas and encouraged diversity of thought. We’ve transformed our company in many ways, but we’ve never compromised our commitment to ethics and integrity. And we never will.

It’s not just about being compliant with laws and following the rules. It’s not about doing just enough to get by. It’s about raising the bar and setting high ethical expectations. It’s about demonstrating our core value of ethics and integrity in all that we do.

Most people want to work for an ethical company, and you can count me among them. It’s reassuring to know that your employer is committed to doing the right thing. It’s also highly motivational. We all understand that meeting this high standard is our shared responsibility. And, together, we take pride in continuing Timken’s legacy as one of the most ethical companies in the world.