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CHENNAI, Sept. 2

CORPORATES should strive to live by values. If they do, the bottomline will automatically turn healthy, according to management consultant Mr Garry Jacobs, who has advised many Fortune 500 companies in the US.

Addressing the Public Relations Society of India, Mr Jacobs stressed that it was necessary for a company's management to "visibly demonstrate" the practice of the value system. It was equally important for corporate communication professionals to communicate the adherence of values down the line, he said.

Mr Jacobs, whose speech was replete with anecdotes, said US-based courier service Fedex placed great emphasis on "speed". The `speed' did not refer to only the quickness in delivering letters and parcels (though it was important), but also quickness in every activity of its employees.

He also gave the example of an insurance company, whose motto was to be the most beneficial insurance company to the customers, not merely the size of its operations. Once, a customer died of brain tumour and it was discovered that he had stopped making premium payments six months earlier. Though it was established that there was no legal obligation on the part of the company, the insurance company paid. The management accepted the agents' argument that the man could have developed the tumour six months earlier, and therefore was already disabled so much that he could not remember to make the premium payments.

He said companies that focussed on earning the confidence and respect of the public withstood difficult times better than others, and were often financially successful too.

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