Frank H. Brod.

Frank H. Brod

Vice President and Controller The Dow Chemical Company 

Complexity has become a significant operational and financial burden and therefore a true hindrance to sustaining a competitive advantage. As a global company, The Dow Chemical Company has 165 manufacturing sites in 37 countries and $40 billion in sales to customers in 175 countries. As such, Dow recognized early on that "simplification" is the key to success, and reducing complexity became a strategic theme. Simplification is needed to create a real-time, proactive performance culture versus a reactive reporting culture. For example, at Dow we chose to operate four financial global service centers and utilize common processes and procedures. By utilizing a single ERP system, our 404 compliance was completed at a cost significantly lower than our peers, and our 10-K was filed a month early!

[ILLUSTRATION OMITTED]

In addition to the common process and procedures that we use in Finance, Dow utilizes common global work processes in manufacturing design and operation. This allows our company the flexibility to meet demand from anywhere in the world if cost and market trends, and raw materials' pricing and availability fluctuate. Our simplicity and flexibility have also enabled us to better weather some of the external pressures, like the sharp and volatile increases in oil and gas prices, which would devastate many companies. Our systems enable us to monitor, for example, production, sales and costs on a daily basis, so we can drive our business decisions accordingly. Reducing complexity aims to make surprises a thing of the past. Simplification enables faster decision-making and allows our company to maintain our low cost-to-serve position, sustain our best-in-compliance reputation and strive for strategic growth through maximizing resources and technology.

Contact: [e-mail]