By Beth Boal

	Gratuities and business courtesies
	During the holiday season, Rockwell Collins' gratuities and business courtesies policy is especially relevant to our employees, customers, suppliers, and vendors.

When Mike Knox joined Rockwell Collins nearly 10 years ago, it didn't take long for him to realize the importance our company places on maintaining an ethical environment in order to protect our bottom line, our viability, and our reputation.

"Our company's commitment to doing the right thing was apparent from day one," said Knox, who was hired in March 1998 as an assembly operator at our facility in Coralville, Iowa. "Our commitment to integrity and maintaining our culture of ethics are messages that come through loud and clear not only in new hire orientation, but in our workplace on a daily basis."

Remaining true to the high ethical standards that are part of our company's heritage is what ultimately provides the foundation for our success. In addition, doing the right things for the right reasons in the right way provides a common bond for nearly 20,000 Rockwell Collins employees located around the world.

Doing what's right — One of the first things Mike Knox noticed when he joined Rockwell Collins was our company's commitment to doing the right thing. Knox is an assembly operator at our facility in Coralville.
Photo by Paul Marlow, Cedar Rapids, Iowa

"Ethics is a big part of our culture and plays an important role in establishing trust among our employees, customers, and other stakeholders," said Gary Chadick, senior vice president, General Counsel and Secretary at Rockwell Collins, and a member of our company's Business Standards Compliance Committee (BSCC). "We have developed a reputation as an ethical company, but it's important to remind ourselves that all it takes is one ethical lapse to ruin that reputation."

For Sarah Taylor-Falcioni, a software engineer at Rockwell Collins Government Systems in Ottawa, Canada, that positive reputation in the marketplace and the expectations outlined in our Standards of Business Conduct helped ease the initial anxiety she experienced when she joined our company via our acquisition of IP Unwired.

Building trust — Sarah Taylor-Falcioni, a software engineer at Rockwell Collins in Ottawa, Canada, appreciates working for a company that values ethics and integrity.
Photo by David Barbour, Ottawa, Canada

"I appreciate working for a company that values ethics and integrity," said Taylor-Falcioni, who had worked at IP Unwired less than two months before the September 2006 acquisition. "Naturally, we don't lie, we don't cheat and we don't steal. What we say we're doing and what we are actually doing line up, and that shows our customers they can trust us to consistently behave in an ethical manner."

Don Beverlin, vice president of Supply Chain Management at Cessna Aircraft Company in Wichita, Kan., has worked with Rockwell Collins throughout the majority of his career. He believes our commitment to ethics begins at the top.

"It is clear the leaders at Rockwell Collins have made ethics a priority for the company," said Beverlin. "The ethical behavior modeled by the leadership cascades throughout the organization and sends a clear message to customers like Cessna."

Earning and keeping trust

As Chadick noted, ethics plays a critical role in earning and keeping the trust of our employees, customers, shareowners and other stakeholders every day. Doing so also helps strengthen our Rockwell Collins brand.

"Ethics is coupled with honesty, and an honest company fosters a level of trust with those involved with our business," said John Duong, a senior engineering manager at our facility in Richardson, Texas. "Trust is what creates strong relationships between our company and our customers, and also what keeps bringing them back for repeat business."

Taylor-Falcioni agrees. "Trusted relationships don't happen overnight," she said. "Building trust requires far more than simply complying with laws; it means that each of our employees must consistently choose to do the right thing to uphold our ethical standards."

Creating relationships — Senior Engineering Manager John Duong believes maintaining high ethical standards helps our company create strong relationships with our customers. Duong works at our facility in Richardson.
Photo by David Lawrence, Richardson, Texas

Knox, who works on the Defense Advanced Global Positioning Systems Receiver (DAGR) assembly team in Coralville, has personal experience with making the right decisions despite pressure to meet goals.

"There have been many times when our team has found itself working toward a deadline to get our product out the door to our customer," said Knox. "We have a solid understanding that it's not only our responsibility to get the job done, it's our responsibility to get the job done right. If that means slowing down, that's what we do."

Beverlin believes the commitment to product integrity that Knox described is what differentiates our company from other avionics suppliers.

"When Rockwell Collins began working with Cessna on the Citation Jet platform years ago, it was a relatively unknown company," said Beverlin. "But it didn't take long for Rockwell Collins to prove its ability to deliver on time without sacrificing product quality."

Since the Cessna Citation Jet platform, Rockwell Collins has seen a large increase in business volume at Cessna on a variety of avionics suites. Beverlin attributes that increase to the trusted relationships we have formed with our customer.

"We enjoy working with Rockwell Collins, because we need a supplier we can count on to get our products to market on time," said Beverlin. "Rockwell Collins employees should be proud of the fact that the company's high ethics standards are reflected in everything they do. Their commitment is visible, and we at Cessna see it every day."