At the beginning of fiscal 1990, the operating structure and organizational form of Siemens underwent further change. The seven large business units were divided into 15 smaller entities that would be better equipped to operate flexibly and in closer proximity to the market. Within the decentralized structure the operative units were given considerably more responsibility. This created a basis for operating successfully in the marketplace in the age of globalization.

After German reunification, the eastern part of the country had to be built up as quickly as possible: within a few years Siemens took over eleven plants in the new German states and established a number of sales locations. The opening of Central and Eastern Europe created the right conditions for a further push to expand Siemens’ business activities, especially in the infrastructure segments of telecommunications, environmental protection, medical equipment and transportation systems.

From the 1990s on, Siemens changed from a company dealing mainly with public customers in regulated markets to a global competitor increasingly under pressure from the shareholders. To meet these new challenges effectively and efficiently, the company introduced programs that represented a radical change of approach, based on the strategic pillars of productivity, innovation and growth.

Asia-Pacific was recognized at an early stage as a key market: by 1997 the company was represented throughout the region with 45,000 employees, around 70 joint ventures and over 60 plants.

Siemens also continually adjusted its portfolio: 1990 saw the creation of the largest European company in the computer industry, Siemens-Nixdorf Informationssysteme AG (SNI), which in 1999 became part of Fujitsu Siemens Computers AG. Siemens was able to further enhance its standing as a leader on the world market for electrical and electronic products through the acquisition of Plessey in Britain in 1991 and Rolm in the United States in 1992.

In the U.S., Siemens also acquired Westinghouse’s fossil power plant activities in 1998 with the goal of boosting earnings in the power generation sector. With the objective of building a stronger position in the U.S., the world’s largest market for electrical and electronic products, Siemens successfully obtained a listing on the New York stock exchange in 2001.

Since the end of the 1990s, Siemens has been focusing even more on optimization of its business portfolio through divestments, acquisitions, the formation of new companies, and the founding of joint ventures. In addition to the spin-off of the semiconductor sector and the listing of Epcos and Infineon on the stock exchange in 1999, these steps have included the acquisition of a majority stake in Atecs Mannesmann AG, and the merging of Siemens’ nuclear activities with the French company of Framatome, both in 2001, as well as the acquisition of VA Technologie AG in 2005.

To raise the qualification and motivation levels of the workforce through greater involvement in the entire business process, in 1993 Siemens launched a fitness program with the name of top (time optimized process). In 1998, top was upgraded to top⁺ through the addition of specific management instruments. Siemens acknowledged its social responsibility in 2000 with its first Corporate Citizenship Report.

Siemens’ 160-year history reveals how visions can become reality. Since its founder years under Werner von Siemens, a visionary inventor and entrepreneur who made an enormous contribution to technological progress in the 19^th century, the company has grown into a GLOBAL NETWORK OF INNOVATION uniting over 450,000 people in more than 190 of the world’s countries.