Schering-Plough "best global firm;" Insead

US drugmaker Schering-Plough was ranked as the "best global firm" in areport by Insead of France, which judged companies on the following 12 factors: mission and vision, customer orientation, organization and systems, human resources, innovation, corporate culture, planning and intelligence, technical resources, innovation, market strategy, marketing operations, international activities and performance.

A total of 290 firms participated in the 2000 survey, 10% of which were in the pharmaceutical and health care sector. The average overall market effectiveness capability for the drug sector was 63. The report also shows that three additional firms, Pfizer, Johnson & Johnson and Novartis, are outperforming the sector averages on all 12 capabilities, while Pfizer has the strongest score on marketing operations and Eli Lilly on human resources. The top 12 companies in the pharmaceutical and health sector were as follows: *t Rank Firm Score ------------------------------------------------ 1 Schering-Plough 79 2 Pfizer 74 3 Johnson & Johnson 73 4 Novartis 73 5 Warner-Lambert 72 6 Fresenius 70 7 Eli Lilly 69 8 Novo Nordisk 69 9 Glaxo Wellcome 68 10 Bristol-Myers Squibb 67 11 SmithKline Beecham 67 12 Pharmacia 65 ------------------------------------------------ Source: Insead, France $t

Further details of the report, Competitive Fitness of Global Firms 2000 (ISBN 0273 64470 X), can be obtained from Jean-Claude Larreche at Insead, 77305 Fontainbleau, France. Phone: +33 1 60 72 41 51; fax: +33 1 60 74 55 00, or visit the firm's web site at: www.business-minds.com/compfit/.