After having satisfied myself with Skandia's intellectual concepts, I became curious about their effectiveness. One way of judging a firm's performance is to compare its financial record with those of its competitors. This isn't an impressive performance for a firm that boasts about its leadership. I then took a closer look at Skandia's history to see if 1998 stood out as a bad year. Compared with half its peer group, Skandia has consistently underperformed in delivering superior results.
Many firms let their public relations enthusiasm exceed their accomplishments.
But in due course, the shortfalls are recognized and the firms are penalized when their market worth nosedives. There's no substitute for delivering above-average financial results as proof of competitive excellence. Now is the time to speak up and influence these discussions. Many firms don't have fire hoods, flashlights or light sticks as part of their standard emergency kits. Some don't have floor wardens trained in emergency procedures.