Doing Business Fairly
HOW WE WIN
We compete strongly and fairly, outperforming our competitors through superior quality and value.
WHY WE PUT VALUES FIRST
We believe in a free and competitive marketplace. It offers us the best opportunity to differentiate the Johnson Controls brand. By being customer driven and providing best-in-class service, we outperform the competition and build long-term trust in our brand. The laws designed to promote free markets—known as antitrust laws in the United States and fair competition laws in most other countries—are complex; violations can result in severe penalties. We recognize that even the appearance of unfairness or deception in our competitive practices could hurt our reputation and expose us to legal liability.
WHAT WINNING LOOKS LIKE
We win business the right way by:
- Avoiding formal or informal agreements or behavior patterns with competitors to:
- Charge a certain price for a service (price fixing)
- Manipulate a bidding process (bid rigging)
- Divide up markets by geography or customer (market allocation)
- Presenting our value proposition honestly, accurately and without exaggeration
- Never improperly interfering with our customers’ existing business contracts
- Reading and understanding the Global Antitrust and Fair Competition Policy
- Never abusing our market-share position
THINK FIRST
Q:
Waiting for the start of a panel discussion at this year’s MetroExpo, I got into a conversation with a competitor’s sales director. He asked if I’d noticed that the Facilities Procurement officer in a major city we both support is particularly hard to deal with; he speculated about what would happen if companies like ours refused to do business with the city. Talking about a common customer made me uncomfortable so I pretended to take a phone call and then moved to a seat on the other side of the auditorium. How should I have responded?
A:
You were right to bring an end to the conversation. It would also be wise to report your concern to the Law Department as soon as possible. Trade shows and association meetings are important venues for learning and staying current in our industry. However, interactions with competitors at such events can be fraught with the risk of competition law violations. A conversation with a competitor about boycotting a common customer could be considered an attempt to form an illegal agreement to exclude companies from a certain market or to put pressure on a certain customer to “fall in line.”