Arthur D. Little White Paper Links Employee Relationship Management to Customer Care

Business Wire, Feb 26, 2003

Business Editors

BOSTON--(BUSINESS WIRE)--Feb. 26, 2003

- Leading International Consulting Firm Finds Positive Employer/Employee Relationships Lead to Higher levels of Customer Care and Customer Satisfaction -

Arthur D. Little (ADL), the longest continuously operating independent global management consulting firm, today published a white paper exploring the correlation between employee relationships and customer retention. The report, entitled The Convergence of Human Resource Needs and Brand/Marketing Techniques, discusses new management models that improve the efficacy of Customer Relationship Management (CRM) programs through the development of strong employee relations.

"Relationships with employees were historically left to individual supervisors and managers. Companies focused their training budgets on making better supervisors and managers in the hope they could universally and consistently promote and apply the merits of the company as an employer," said Thomas Manning, director at ADL, and author of the white paper. "That approach has met with a level of success that until now has been the benchmark for best practices. Today, however, there is a powerful new management model that is evolving for supporting the supervisor/employee relationship."

The new management models that Manning explores in the ADL white paper focus on building brand messaging from within the organization, starting with employees. Keeping employees informed of brand values helps them fulfill customer expectations and build business. An effective Employee Relationship Management program will lead to:

-- Lower employee training costs

-- Higher levels of customer care

-- Higher levels of customer satisfaction

-- A positioning of a company as the "employer of choice" in its markets

-- Enhanced synergy between a company's culture and the needs and desires of their employees

"Aligning employer, employee, and customer relationships is crucial to any company's success," said Helen Drinan, former executive vice president of human resources at BankBoston. "In research conducted during my tenure at BankBoston, we found that a 1% improvement in employee commitment to customers could directly increase revenue by about $11 million and reduce hiring and training expenses by about $15-19 million annually in one business line. The ADL white paper discusses several strategies that can help companies achieve this level of financial reward."

To obtain a copy of the Arthur D. Little white paper, The Convergence of Human Resource Needs and Brand/Marketing Techniques, please contact RJ Bardsley or Alysha Crouse at the Miller Consulting Group (617.262.1800).

About Arthur D. Little

Arthur D. Little founded the consulting industry, and is the longest continuously operating independent global management consulting firm. ADL has more than 116 years of experience helping clients develop practical strategies that mobilize businesses to achieve fast and sustainable performance improvement. Today, the firm continues that heritage, uniting strategy and tactical implementation for clients in more than 15 industries, from transportation and automotive, to consumer goods, to pharmaceuticals. With more than 40 offices in 23 countries, the ADL global network provides clients the resources of more than 1,000 consultants worldwide. For more information about ADL, visit their website at www.adl.com

This press release contains forward-looking statements based on current expectations. These forward-looking statements entail various risks and uncertainties that could cause actual results to differ materially from those reflected in these forward-looking statements. Risks and uncertainties about the Company's business are more fully discussed in Management's Discussion and Analysis published in the Company's annual report.