International Paper

The IP Way: As in the past, International Paper is committed to continuous improvement in everything it does, and the key is the people who make up the company. In 1898, a typical paper mill was run by skilled workers who knew more about pulp production, paper machines and product quality than anyone else in the organization. One hundred years later, International Paper is committed to becoming a High Performance Organization, a company with a greater degree of teamwork and greater decision-making power delegated throughout the organization in order to better satisfy customers and beat the competition. Employees sharing their ideas and experiences to improve the business is part of what has come to be called "the IP way." More formally, "the IP Way" includes a commitment to be a global leader and earn an excellent return. It includes being the company of choice not only for customers, but employees, shareholders and suppliers. International Paper Company (IP) is formed from the merger of 17 pulp and paper mills in the northeastern United States. With IP's power business growing, International Paper & Power Company is formed as a holding company for IP and its power operations. Passage of the Public Utility Holdings Act makes it illegal for an organization to operate both industrial and power businesses, leading to the divestment of IP's power interests. Canadian International Paper subsidiary is sold to help fund a major plant modernization program in the United States. Montvale, New Jersey-based Federal Paper Board Company is acquired for $3.5 billion. International Paper Company (IP) is the world's largest producer of paper, packaging, and forest products. Within specific industry segments, the firm is the world's leading producer of printing and writing papers and of bleached packaging board, as well as the second largest maker of containerboard in the United States. IP owns or manages about 12 million acres of forestlands in the United States, primarily in the South, and owns, manages, or has an interest in nearly 11 million acres in other countries. The company holds majority ownership of Auckland, New Zealand-based Carter Holt Harvey, one of the largest forest-products companies in the Southern Hemisphere. IP also operates a distribution business--operating in North America as xpedx and in Europe as Paperteries de France, Scaldia (Netherlands), and Impap (Poland)--which distributes printing paper, packaging, and graphic arts products to industrial wholesalers and end users. Nearly 80 percent of the products distributed are made by other companies. International Paper began as a major player in its core industry and expanded through mergers, acquisitions, and product development. By the early 21st century, IP had operations in nearly 50 countries and was exporting its products to more than 130 nations. The company's power interests played a dominant role in its early years. As household electricity demand grew in the 1920s, the firm established large hydroelectric plants and power companies. At one time, it produced enough electricity to light all of New England and most of Quebec and Ontario. In 1928 International Paper & Power Company was organized in Massachusetts to acquire International Paper. IP continued to operate as a subsidiary of International Paper & Power. In 1935 the United States passed the Public Utility Holdings Act, making it illegal for an organization to run both an industrial firm and a power company. The law signified the end of International Paper's involvement in the energy and power business. Instead, the company began to focus on key areas such as paper and packaging. The company expanded into the southern United States in the 1920s and 1930s, primarily because trees could be grown more quickly and in greater volume than they could in the North. It also maximized its use of the trees through the kraft process, which involved use of a very strong pulp to manufacture packaging materials. I