Bowker.com

MISSION STATEMENT

Bowker® is the leading provider of global book information and decision-support solutions through services that promote an efficient supply chain to publishers, book sellers and libraries.

VALUES STATEMENT

In order to best serve our customers and remain true to our employees, Bowker embraces the following core values:

Quality: “Anticipate and Honor the Needs of Intending Users and Customers”

Customer Orientation: “Customers Specify What ‘Quality’ Means”

Innovation: “Convert Knowledge and Ideas Into Benefits”

Accountability: “SOS - See it; Own it; Solve it.”

Respect: “Appreciate, Regard and Consider Each Other”

Value Our Employees: “Employees Are Our Single Greatest Asset”

QUALITY: “Anticipate and Honor the Needs of Intending Users and Customers”

Quality should be measured with a view outward to the customer, inward to employees, and cross functionally within the organization. It should denote a commitment to excellence and superior outcomes. It should refer to our products, services, employees and business practices, and imply precision, dependability, accuracy, and speed in everything we do.

CUSTOMER ORIENTATION: “Customers Specify What ‘Quality’ Means”

Customer Orientation is about assessing and refocusing every aspect of our business around the needs of our customers. It signifies a front-line mind-set and organizational culture that aims to amaze customers at every turn by exceeding their expectations, in terms of both performance and product excellence. It means developing specific customer satisfaction standards and actively monitoring them. It implies taking steps to meet expectations that are both expressed and unexpressed. At lower levels, customer orientation involves courteous and timely responsiveness to the requests of customers, while at higher levels, it involves developing a relationship of partner and trusted advisor.

INNOVATION: “Convert Knowledge and Ideas Into Benefits”

Innovation is all about converting knowledge and ideas into benefits. From an external perspective, Innovation’s aim is to satisfy the future needs of customers. As such, it requires that the pace of change inside the company keep step with the pace of change outside the company. It is not just about “thinking outside the box;” but rather about making connections between boxes -- people, processes and ideas -- so that the values and needs of the customer are most absolutely understood and incorporated into the business design.

Innovation involves a continuous collaborative process of problem solving, and is not, by necessity, always an outcome. It may occur in-house through the continuous development of enhancements or by taking ideas from elsewhere and successfully emulating them. It implies doing things differently, progressively, creativity, and with an entrepreneurial spirit. Like other business imperatives, it must be both fostered and measured. Finally, Innovation is not a random act, but rather one that emerges when there is a structure to inspire it.

ACCOUNTABILITY: “SOS - See it; Own it; Solve it.”

Accountability is all about seeing, owning, and solving a set of circumstances. Accountability reflects a person’s personal choice to rise above a situational circumstance -- be it problem or opportunity -- and demonstrate the ownership necessary for achieving a desired result. It involves a mindset of continuously asking, “What else can I do to overcome my situation and achieve the outcomes needed?”

Accountability infers in all of us the acceptance of responsibility and consequences. It is the act of taking ownership, even while embracing common goals, teamwork and collaborative decision making. From a management perspective, it obligates making the right decisions that will ensure a viable enterprise wherein employees are granted an equitable opportunity to be successful. It means associating compensation with precise goals for growing the business and setting clear expectations for how to achieve those goals. Also, it means embracing today’s efforts to manage results rather than dwelling on historical explanations. Finally, it necessitates finding the right talent for each job and trusting in every employee to make the right decisions that pertain to their area of expertise.

RESPECT: “Appreciate, Regard and Consider Each Other”

Respect is about giving proper attention, trust and appreciation to one another, valuing one another’s opinions and contributions, and giving full consideration to those views with an open and non-judgmental mind. In interactions with each other, it is about treating others the way you would like to be treated. It is about being courteous and polite, and listening to what other people have to say. At a macro level, it implies bringing fairness, honesty and transparent communications to the workplace. It means listening and regarding the opinions of our customers, employees, partners and other stakeholders, while fostering a culture of empowerment. Most importantly, it is about recognizing every stakeholder as a unique and distinguished contributor.

VALUE OUR EMPLOYEES: “Employees Are Our Single Greatest Asset”

Valuing our Employees is about committing to attracting, developing, retaining and engaging the best people. It is about making a commitment to help employees succeed at work. And it is a pledge to provide a workplace where employees feel valued, inspired and confident; where employees can achieve their professional goals; and where they can be recognized and respected for their unique contributions.

Helping our employees perform at consistently high levels is vital to our continued success. Putting Employees First is about promoting timely employee assessments, training in valued skill sets and recognizing outstanding contributions. It is about promoting career advancement, mentoring and development opportunities for those willing to grow with the organization.