BUSINESS CASE

Business Case

Business Case

Case Study 1 (MetLife)

Like most insurance companies, MetLife also want its employees to be familiar with its history. Basically, the logic behind this is that MetLife want to provide orientation through different materials. It can help company to understand its employees in a better way. Metropolitan Life Insurance Company's tradition of community involvement began at the turn of the century. Since its inception, Metropolitan Life Foundation, founded by the company in 1976 (http://www.metlife.com/), has been building on MetLife's tradition of community service. Today, the Foundation is focused on providing leadership on chronic and emerging issues, launching new initiatives and providing funding to help promising concepts become a reality. Annually, MetLife and the Metropolitan Life Foundation support non-profit organisations nationwide in the form of grants, below-market-rate loans, equity investments, employee volunteers and in-kind contributions.

In recognition of the integral role the arts play in making communities more livable, the arts are a major focus for MetLife and MetLife Foundation's contributions, Each year, the company and foundation support more than 100 museums, theatres, dance companies, art service organisations, opera companies and symphonies, with grants to these organisations totalling over $4 million in 1998. Emphasis is placed on support for projects that: bring the arts to wide and diverse audiences, help promote a greater understanding among different cultures, arid contribute to the development of young people. (MetLife, 2002)

A firm believer that theatre is an effective creative outlet, MetLife supports the National Corporate Theatre Fund, while MetLife Foundation supports a number of theatres, including Arizona's Phoenix Theatre; Repertory Theatre of St. Louis; the Goodman Theatre in Chicago; Trinity Repertory Company in Providence, R.I.; Pan Asian Repertory Theatre and the Public Theatre, both located in New York City. A major area of emphasis for MetLife Foundation's support is the creation of new works. For the past 10 years, funds provided through the Metropolitan Life Foundation/Theatre Communications Group Extended Collaborations program have allowed playwrights to collaborate with directors, dramaturgs and other theatre professionals to explore ideas during the development of a new play. The Metropolitan Life Foundation/Repertorio Espanol Nuestras Voces (New Voices) playwriting competition encourages the development of new plays on the Hispanic experience. Theatre is an effective means to be familiar with MetLife's functions and history. MetLife is pleased to help the field maintain its vitality by supporting the development of new works which can be enjoyed by future generations of theatregoers. MetLife is doing what is needed to protect its history.

Katzenbach and Smith (1998) define culture as "the collective programming of the mind which distinguishes the members of one group or category of people from another" (Katzenbach and Smith, 1998, 5). "Multicultural organisations ......... human differences are valued and seen as a competitive advantage for the organisation" (Bartlett, Preston 2000, 199-209). Competitive Advantage is about being the best, the leader, in the market place at any given time and to beat the competition at their own game. It also means being the first choice for a customer or consumer and that the ...