Former CEO Charles F. Knight Reveals Insights into Emerson's Acclaimed Management Process

Company's 43 Consecutive Years of Increased Earnings Ranks Among Longest Records in U.S. Business.

ST. LOUIS, October 3, 2005 - A new book by former Emerson Chairman and CEO Charles F. Knight, published by the Harvard Business School Press, offers the first fully detailed insight into the management process that has been fundamental to the company's long-term successful performance.

Performance Without Compromise: How Emerson Consistently Achieves Winning Results is available at major bookstores today. Co-authored by Davis Dyer, the book reveals how Emerson:

• Achieved 43 consecutive years of increased earnings and earnings per share, among the longest records of consistent performance among U.S. businesses. 
• Completed and integrated more than 200 acquisitions with an investment of over $10 billion   and an exceptional degree of success. 
• Transformed the company from a domestic manufacturer to a leading global technology and solutions provider.  
• Restructured to respond to emerging trends in customer behavior and launched and cultivated new strategic growth opportunities.

"Emerson has achieved consistent strong performance through a variety of economic conditions over many years," Knight said. "This book offers the first fully detailed description of the management process that lies behind this performance. It is written to allow a reader to focus on a particular issue, such as growth, acquisitions, or expanding globally, or to provide an overall in-depth perspective on how we operated the company."

Today, the Emerson management process is benchmarked by corporations, management consultants and business schools seeking best-practice models.

Knight, now chairman emeritus, stepped down in 2000 after 27 years as CEO, and retired as chairman in 2004. During his tenure as CEO, Emerson's sales rose more than 16-fold to over $15 billion, and net earnings increased 18-fold to more than $1.4 billion. Co-author Dyer is a founding director of the Winthrop Group, Inc., and author of Rising Tide: Lessons from 165 Years of Brand-Building at P&G (Harvard Business School Press, 2004).

About Emerson
Emerson (NYSE: EMR), based in St. Louis, Missouri (USA), is a global leader in bringing technology and engineering together to create innovative solutions for customers through its network power, process management, industrial automation, climate technologies, and appliance and tools businesses. Sales in fiscal 2004 were $15.6 billion.  For more information, visit www.Emerson.com.

About Harvard Business School Press
Harvard Business School Press is a business unit of Harvard Business School Publishing (HBSP), a not-for-profit, wholly owned subsidiary of Harvard University. Its mission is to improve the practice of management in a changing world.