| Objective | What we have achieved |
|---|---|
| 1. Meet financial targets | The Group performed well and delivered its financial plan for the year and a strong five-year business plan was presented to and agreed by the Board. |
| 2. Ensure application of mandated business processes | The Group continued to embed the principles of good governance, values, policies and processes that guide our work and behaviour, with a clear system of delegated authority across the Group. |
| 3. Further increase management focus on programme execution | Programme execution is central to the Group and a key determinant of customer satisfaction. Both schedule and cost performance improved in 2007 and will continue to be a focus of management attention, building on the excellent progress in recent years. |
| 4. Grow US businesses | The Group is achieving success growing in the US, with 19% organic growth and the acquisition of Armor Holdings, Inc. in 2007. |
| 5. Continue to implement the UK Defence Industrial Strategy | Progress in implementing the Defence Industrial Strategy in the UK was made, which will deliver combined benefits of more capability and lower cost for the UK customer and acceptable returns for industry through long-term partnering agreements. |
| 6. Progress the business in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia | The business in the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia is moving forward with the established core programme progressing well, in-Kingdom investment is ongoing and significant new business has been achieved. |
| 7. Focus on key export opportunities | The contract award for 72 Typhoons for Saudi Arabia was a notable success. Whilst export markets are very competitive, the Group continues to address a number of opportunities for exports from each of its six home markets. |
| 8. Demonstrate a commitment to partnering | The Group continues to identify and benefit from opportunities to work together and share best practice across the Group’s global businesses. Constraints to technology sharing between the UK and US remain but in June 2007 the US President and UK Prime Minister signed a defence technology treaty. Once ratified by the US Senate, this would mark a significant step forward towards greater technology co-operation. |
| 9. Develop existing and new home markets | The Group is successfully implementing its strategy to develop the six home markets in which it currently operates and is pursuing opportunities to establish additional new home markets for the longer term. |
| 10. Demonstrate leadership at all levels | Underpinning all of the above objectives is an emphasis on leadership throughout the Group to achieve continuous performance improvements and embed a high-performance culture. |
Chief Executive’s review
Performance against top ten objectives for 2007
The Board reviews and updates the Group strategy annually. Our strategy is ‘to deliver sustainable growth in shareholder value by being the premier global defence and aerospace company’. Within this context the Chief Executive and the Executive Committee agree the Group strategic objectives, the business portfolio actions and the top ten objectives for the executive team each year. The following summarises achievements against the 2007 top ten objectives. The top ten objectives for 2008 are set out on the 2008 Executive Committee top ten objectives page.
