Smarter Execution: Seven steps to getting results

Chapter 1. Focus first

You have to go to Section 7 of their 2006 annual report, but there it is: Vallourec, a $7.5 billion steelmaker based just outside Paris, reveals that it will team up with Sumitomo ‘to jointly build and operate a seamless pipe mill in Brazil’. But it’s further down the page that you see the word that attracted our immediate attention; the report states that ‘This decision is perfectly in line with Vallourec’s selective growth strategy, which essentially involves strengthening its presence in high added-value products while reinforcing the competitiveness of its production base.’^[1]

In case you missed the word, we should repeat it with emphasis: selective. Vallourec’s CEO, Pierre Verluca, and team realized the company needed ...