Capabilities
Koch’s long-term success has come from a focus on building Capabilities that enable us to create superior value and to apply them where we can create the most value both for others and for ourselves. Being capability-bound, not industry-bound, allows us to create virtuous cycles of mutual benefit in multiple businesses and industries.
Creating superior value requires many capabilities — especially ones that are complementary and mutually reinforcing. This starts with our overarching capability, Principle Based Management, that guides all the others through its five dimensions: Vision, Virtue and Talents, Knowledge, Comparative Advantage, and Motivation.
Principle Based Management has led our businesses to transform their ability to succeed in a variety of environments by modifying their visions and strategies to fit the conditions they face. Just as important is exiting when a business doesn’t have and can’t add the necessary capabilities.
Building superior capabilities requires employees who create their own virtuous cycles — who self-actualize. We have numerous advantaged facilities and technologies, but these don’t last without contribution-motivated employees who continually transform themselves and Koch. Employees who create knowledge and contribute to our principle-based culture are our ultimate capability.
To succeed in the future, we prioritize improving our capabilities and building and acquiring new ones. This necessitates strengthening our internal capabilities, collaborating with others who have complementary capabilities, and acquiring organizations with superior ones.