At the end of 2004, I participated in our Global Leadership Seminar with other Mattel leaders and experienced a surprising disconnect. While everyone there was highly aware of Mattel's business strategies, not one of us, including myself, could recite the company's values. It was surprising because we all agreed that Mattel's strength is our company culture, which for generations has been focused on creating innovative, safe and high quality toys that inspire children to play, learn and have fun. The disconnect occurred when we realized that our stated values did not reflect our culture-or vision-and therefore were not memorable. This prompted a team of employees to spearhead an effort aimed at defining our values to capture the spirit of Mattel today, and serve to guide the company's future course.
After much discussion and collaboration, the team concluded that "play" is the central theme behind everything we create at Mattel. The team unveiled four value statements that articulate the connection between what we do and how we do it. Very simply, we play fair, play with passion, play to grow and play together. We have organized most of the content of our 2007 Global Citizenship Report into four main chapters, focusing each around one of Mattel's values. The title, Global Citizenship Report, underscores another ideal we share, our commitment to ongoing improvement and excellence by living our four values every day. We strive to be a role model for global citizenship. For instance, in 2004 Mattel became the first-and remains the only-company in the toy industry to release such a report and openly share with our stakeholders what we, as the largest designer, manufacturer and marketer of toys and family products, are doing to help lead the way in both responsible manufacturing practices and sustainability. We also shared some of the challenges we were facing and our plans for continual improvement.
This report, our second, serves as a follow-up to our stakeholders regarding the ongoing efforts to ensure Mattel's products are manufactured under safe, fair and environmentally responsible conditions. Mattel's Global Manufacturing Principles (GMP), which we pioneered in 1997 and have been advancing ever since, mark 10 years in 2007 and are the foundation that defines our expectations of responsible manufacturing practices. Now, a decade since the inception, Mattel continues to evolve as a responsible company by promoting broader efforts, including collaboration within the toy industry to develop a common code of manufacturing principles. These industry-wide principles have been founded on many of the same tenets as our GMP. We have also begun to develop a long-term Global Sustainability Strategic Plan that will help us maximize our energy efficiency, minimize waste and produce Mattel products in a manner that is more environmentally sustainable. In the process of advancing our environmental stewardship initiatives, we have realized cost savings and greater product innovation that will ultimately help to maintain Mattel's leadership position in the industry.
While we take great pride in what Mattel has already accomplished, there is and will always remain much to be done. Like other industry-leading companies, Mattel operates in a highly competitive, dynamic marketplace and global society where circumstances are forever changing. Our job is to stay the course of ethical practices and continually strive to exceed the expectations our stakeholders have for Mattel as a responsible company. Thus, we play to learn-today, tomorrow and well into the future.
Finally, this report together with the 2007 Global Reporting Initiative (GRI) report has been prepared in accordance with the 2002 GRI Guidelines. Collectively they represent a balanced and reasonable presentation of our organization's economic, environmental and social performance. I encourage you to tell us how you think Mattel is doing. We place a high value on stakeholder feedback, and will consider it as we shape Mattel's path forward.
