Companies need good people, and people want to work for a good company. Talented people are a competitive advantage. Positively developing customer relationships and helping employees to grow are factors that help companies stay ahead.

Value leadership can turn a business opportunity into a business success, but first companies must identify and live out their values in their daily lives.

SKF, for instance, values empowerment, high ethics, openness and teamwork. In its factories, SKF’s zero tolerance of accidents is extremely important.

There is a payoff in being a good place to work: In Fortune’s list of “100 Best Companies to Work for,” companies rated as good places to work also experienced significantly higher levels of financial performance.

According to Amy Lyman, founder and president of the Great Place to Work Institute, companies that value their employees are also likely to be big contributors to their communities. And trust plays a big part in that.

Volvo is known to be an open company that dares to face new challenges; the company has gone to great lengths to develop a car that answers the needs of women drivers. “Your Concept Car” (page 11) was developed by a team of professional women especially for the professional woman. Communicating and networking were hallmarks of the project.

Meanwhile, in southeastern Australia, Sonja Stojanovic has helped set up a program at ANZ Bank called “Breakout and Cultural Transformation.” “People who have strong qualities in emotional areas often do well at work because they can form positive relationships with their colleagues,” says Stojanovic. This value system has transformed her organization into a company that is doing some of the most exciting cultural change work in the world.

From Australia we move to the North Atlantic to take a journey on the world’s biggest and most luxurious cruise ship. The owners of the Queen Mary 2 spared no cost in creating this queen of the seas. With a staff member for every two passengers, this is certainly an enterprise where people’s needs come first.

To find the right SKF solution for your business, please contact your local SKF organization, distributor or dealer. Local contact details can be found on www.skf.com. If you would like to sign up for a free regular electronic newsletter from Evolution, SKF’s business and technology magazine, please subscribe at evolution.skf.com.

I hope you enjoy this issue of Evolution, which celebrates its 10th anniversary in 2004. To finish this editorial I’d like to say how much I value my work with the magazine and with SKF and its partners – and all my wonderful colleagues. SKF is a company that I’m very proud to be associated with.

Don’t miss our next issue, when we focus on operational excellence. Take care and see you soon.