BellSouth embraces diversity as a strategic initiative, and a requirement to be competitive in today's global marketplace. We have a corporate-wide commitment to build on our legacy of diversity, by further developing diversity at all levels of the company. We believe a diverse workplace enriches our environment and leads to greater creativity, improved leadership effectiveness, a more fulfilling experience for employees, value to our shareholders, and better external relationships. And we firmly believe our business success is directly related to incorporating the many facets of our organizational diversity.
We define diversity as the characteristics that make one individual different from another. At BellSouth, diversity is an approach to business that emphasizes the respect for and full use of all employees' talents.
We value and are committed to maintaining a workforce that reflects the diversity of our customers. We believe that the workplace should enable each individual to contribute to the business, and that our policies and practices should facilitate these contributions. We affirm the commitment to inclusion and affirmative action as strategic imperatives in today's global marketplace. Furthermore, BellSouth believes that diversity within the company helps us achieve a competitive advantage, strong market leadership, and ultimately, better service for our customers.
Our commitment to diversity extends beyond our organization and reaches into the communities we serve. That commitment is reflected in all business activities, including our advertising and marketing, purchasing, deployment of our services, and our philanthropic efforts.
And finally, we realize that while we have made progress in the area of diversity, we have significantly more to accomplish, and are dedicated to building on our legacy of progress and our commitment as a company to diversity.