Editors’ Note

Before Denise Ramos joined ITT Corporation, she held the positions of Chief Financial Officer at Furniture Brands International, Senior Vice President and Corporate Treasurer for Yum! Brands, Inc., and Chief Financial Officer for KFC Corporation. She began her career at the Atlantic Richfield Company and spent 21 years there in positions of increasing responsibility, ultimately serving as the Corporate Internal Auditor and Assistant Treasurer when British Petroleum acquired the company in 2000. Ramos, who earned her MBA in finance from the University of Chicago, is also a member of ITT’s Strategic Council, where she helps set the company’s strategic direction.

Company Brief

Based in White Plains, New York, ITT Corporation (www.itt.com) is a global engineering and manufacturing company offering a range of engineered products and services. Its approximately 40,000 employees worldwide provide solutions in three business segments: Defense Electronics and Services, which develops, manufactures, and supports electronic and communications systems and applied engineering for worldwide defense and commercial markets; Fluid Technology, a global provider of fluid systems and solutions for the water, wastewater treatment, building trades and industrial and process markets; and Motion and Flow Control, operating in the leisure, marine, transportation, and aerospace market segments.

You have been in the role of CFO for many years. Has the role evolved or changed as reporting and so many other areas have changed? How do you define that role today?

When I think back to when I first went into the business world, the CFO role was about making sure that the financial house was in order, the numbers were right, and the books were right. I view the role differently now. I really believe that I have to be a strategic partner to the CEO and to the Group President. That’s important, because I need to provide strategic input to them and help them think about decisions, capital allocation, and those things that need to be decided from a financial perspective. That financial perspective will enable better decision-making to occur within the company.

Do you think the financial community has a good understanding of the nature of ITT and an awareness of the size, scope, and scale of what you do?

The multi-industry space is an interesting place to be, because every company in that space is structured differently and participates in different industries. Our businesses are different from the other businesses in our multi-industry peer group. For instance, we have a much larger proportion of our business on the defense side than some of the other companies do. What makes that somewhat challenging for the investing community is that the analysts who follow us are not necessarily defense experts. We have an interesting dynamic with our analysts, because many times we have to explain things to them from a defense perspective. In terms of the commercial side of the business, some of the analysts who follow us have been with the company for many years and they know our company extremely well. We have been divesting companies since 1995, and we have recently been acquiring companies, so the portfolio has shifted and changed. But those analysts who have been following us for a long time understand that and keep up to date with us.

Is the opportunity for growth stronger overseas and in some of the emerging markets? How optimistic are you about the growth of the brand?

About 46 or 47 percent of our portfolio is currently defense. That business model is obviously very different from the one on the commercial side. Our defense business is primarily domestic. A small proportion is international, and we look to grow that international component. But that business will always be primarily a U.S.-centric business. On the commercial side of things, our portfolio is less than 50 percent in the U.S. So we are very much a global company. We have sound participation in Europe, and we’re growing stronger every day in emerging markets, such as China. We’ve been in China for a long time, but we’ve recently been building more facilities there in our fluid business and our motion and flow business. We’re looking at doing some things in India. The nice thing about the portfolio is that we have a lot of diversification, which helps when there are cycles that occur not only within an industry but also geographically. So, for instance, if the U.S. is having some challenges with a slowdown in economic growth, your emerging markets can still grow. That’s a nice offset from a portfolio perspective.

When it comes to attracting talent, can you find the people you need?

There is a lot of attraction to the water side of our company. The world has a real need to have clean water and to get water where it needs to go. I think people look for opportunities where they’re challenged, where they feel that they can make a difference, and where they can participate in decision making. We offer that to people. We’re a pretty lean organization, and people who come in here are given accountability and responsibility from day one. I think that attracts a lot of people.

How important is it to have a diverse workforce? Do you find that women are coming into this part of the business?

Yes, women are coming into the business. We have opportunities for all good qualified people. We have internal goals associated with inclusion and diversity, and we look at people who have different experiences, backgrounds, and perspectives. It’s really a benefit to the organization to have people who have different perspectives helping with the decision-making. We very much endorse that.

If some of the people who have worked with you over the years were asked about your style, what would they say? ?

People might mention the way I approach and think about decisions. I collect a lot of information from a lot of people, get different perspectives and viewpoints, and then process all that information. And somebody told me once a couple of years ago that I am a CFO with a personality. I like that.