The USAA group of san Antonio Texas , is
alarge financial- services firm composed of the united services Automobile
Association and several subsidiaries , including a group of mutual funds, alife
– insurance company , an investment firm, and a casualty – insurance company.
Several years ago the president. Robert F.Dermontt , delevired the following
message to member of the association
One of the central question posed for business firms in the
1980s is; What business are we really in ? more and more we
are seening that question addressed in boardrooms. This is particularly true in
financial-services marketplace. Retailers such as Sears Roebuck and J.C Penney
have enteres the field by acquiring or establishing stock brokerage firms,
saving and loan association, insurance companies, and so forth. Stockbrokers,
insurance companies banks and even manufackturing firms have entered, or attempted to enter,
sector of the financial services arena previously inknow to them.
What signifinance does this financial revelution have for a
member owned association such as the USAA Group? Its is timely for us to ask
ourselves, ‘What business are we really in? The fact is that board of directors
and executives of the association have done just that on numerous accasions
during the more than sixty years of our existence. They did so befoce we
decited to enter the propety-insurance fields in the 1930s, before we offered
our first life – insurance products in the 1960s, and before we established our
first mutual funds in the early 1970s.
USAA along ago ceased to be just an Automobile Insurer.’It
has Envoled, in response to member needs, into a provider of a board range of
insurance and financial products. The best test of how well we have fiels in
these efforts lies in the response of our members. To determine this, Let’s
take a look at the scorecard.
In 1960, no USAA member had homeowners policy with the
association . today USAA insures more than 700.000 homes owned by out members
in fact more active – duty military officers insure their homes with USAA than
with all other companies combined similary in 1960 no member had life insurance
of mutual-fund investments with us. Today , more than a quarter of million
members have selected us for these product ove the thousand of orther providers
in the marketplace, and that numbers is climbing steadly . I take a great deal
of pride and so do all four employees , in this record of member acceptance.
Our mission in these
changing times is what it has always been to provide our exclusive group of members with the lowest cost and the
highest quality of services avalaible anywhare . that our commitment. That’s
the busuness we are really in.
- Identity the strategy statements made by Mc.Dermott
- Based on the information presented in the statement,what evidence can you present that USAA Group is a well-planned organization ?
-
What the policy statement di Mc.Dermontt make that would guide the behavior of company employees
-
Specify two objectives implied in Mc.Dermott’s statements about his firm .
