Fundamental to our plan to deliver greater value is our initiative to create a lean and flexible cost structure. The successful execution of the complete process redesign called for in our Plan to Win will increase our effectiveness and lower the cost of doing business in every area of the Company.
This redesign includes all general and administrative processes, our global commercial processes, and our product development and lifecycle management process. It also includes developing partners to which we can outsource non-core activities. In addition, we are committed to leading the industry in supply strategy. These actions to dramatically alter our cost structure will make a significant contribution toward our goal of double-digit earnings growth.
This is an ambitious strategy. We recognize that our Plan to Win must be executed flawlessly for Merck to achieve the results we seek and we are putting in place the tools needed to ensure that we execute our plan successfully.
This includes establishing specific measures by which we will be able to continually evaluate our progress and by which our shareholders will be able to hold us accountable. Measuring our progress against clearly defined goals will enable us to determine whether we are succeeding or whether we are falling short. As Dick Clark, Merck's CEO and president, has said repeatedly, "Effort counts, but results count more, and I am counting on results."
We have set a challenging course for Merck's future. If you were to walk the halls at any Merck facility, you would feel the excitement our strategy is generating and the eagerness with which our employees are ready to work to return Merck to where it once was — and can be again. We hope you share that excitement and will be eager to be a part of it, as well.
We have set a challenging course for Merck's future.
"Effort counts, but results count more, and I am counting on results." -Dick Clark, CEO and President
