Global cooperation agreement signed by Sifo Group and Ericsson

Global cooperation agreement signed by Sifo Group and Ericsson Sifo Group's Sifo Research & Consulting division has signed a contract with Ericsson, the Swedish telecommunications equipment manufacturer, to measure the human capital of all Ericsson Group employees around the world. Over 60,000 Ericsson employees will take part annually. The cooperation strengthens Sifo Research & Consulting's international focus and makes Ericsson one of the division's largest clients. During the past year nine Ericsson companies in Sweden, Italy, the UK, Russia, Mexico and Vietnam have participated in a development project for human capital measurements together with Sifo Research & Consulting. The project resulted in a tool called "Dialog", specially designed for Ericsson's needs. Dialog focuses on aspects that create profitability and value for the client, identify the organization's improvement needs from the employees' perspective, and support strategic and operative decisions. Dialog measures, among other things, an individual's motivation, sense of responsibility and competence - issues that have a direct bearing on profitability and value for the client. By valuing the human capital of all its employees, Ericsson's management and management groups have a basis for business development work and change processes. Dialog also gives the Ericsson Group supporting data for its Balanced Scorecard and for external benchmarking, allowing it to measure itself against other leading IT and telecom companies in the world. Human capital describes the ability of employees to create value for clients and efficiency for the company. Surveys show, among other things, the effectiveness of the company's leadership and commitment to the organization. Factors directly affecting the bottom line, such as skills, responsibilities and organizational efficiency, can also be measured. The surveys are used to create a human capital index, which serves as a basis for improvements and changes. The large part of Sifo Research & Consulting's operations consist of creating information and control systems for core values that impact profitability. Facts about Sifo Group Sifo Group, which is listed on the OM Stockholm Exchange's O-list, has three divisions: Observer Media Intelligence, which works with media monitoring and market intelligence; Sifo Research & Consulting, which conducts surveys and related consulting operations, and SMG Consulting, which is active in management and strategic consulting. On a moving 12- month basis Sifo Group has revenue of approximately SEK 1,350 million and employs around 1,700 people. Operations are carried out in Sweden, Norway, Denmark, Finland, the Baltic states, Germany and the UK. The Sifo Research & Consulting division, with 350 employees, is the market leader in Sweden and a major player in Scandinavia in the area of surveys and consulting services. Sifo Research & Consulting conducts its operations through the business areas Management of Intangible Assets, Brand Management, RISC Nordic, Media, and Opinions & Society. For further information, please contact: Robert Kessiakoff, Division President, Sifo Research & Consulting, phone +46-8-701 69 90, e-mail robert.kessiakoff@sifo.se Berth Jönsson, Senior Consultant, Sifo Research & Consulting, phone +46-8-701 69 62, e-mail berth.jonsson@sifo.se Magnus Ask, Corporate Human Resources, LM Ericsson, phone +46-8-719 74 81, e-mail magnus.ask@lme.ericsson.se Gunilla Keller Sandring, Information Officer, Sifo Research & Consulting, phone +46-70-631 70 74, e-mail gunilla.sandring@sifo.se This press release is also accessible online at www.sifogroup.com ------------------------------------------------------------ Please visit http://www.bit.se for further information The following files are available for download: http://www.bit.se/bitonline/1999/12/21/19991221BIT00480/bit0001.doc http://www.bit.se/bitonline/1999/12/21/19991221BIT00480/bit0002.pdf