American Express 2003 Annual Report Download - page 24

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reach a certain high level. That is why we were particularly pleased with this year’s strong results. Employees
rated the company higher on all but one of the survey categories measured, and that one remained flat. We
equaled or surpassed our aggressive targets in 10 of the 12 survey dimensions. We continued to have no satis-
faction gaps companywide between men and women or by race. Our results also compared very favorably with
external benchmarks.
Our commitment to maintaining and improving the quality of our workplace continues to be recognized exter-
nally. American Express was included in 25 listings of best places to work worldwide this year, up from 17 last
year. We were recognized as a top employer on new lists, such as Working Mother magazine’s “Best Places to Work
for Women of Color.” We also maintained or improved our high rankings in several key listings. For example,
we ranked 36th on Fortune magazine’s “100 Best Companies” listing in 2003, which is the same as 2002 and up
from 91st in 2001.
Board of Directors
On behalf of our shareholders and employees, I would like to express our gratitude to our board of directors. We
continue to benefit from their diligence as they carry out their duties to the company, as well as their valuable
insight, judgment and counsel. I am delighted to welcome Edward D. Miller, former president and chief executive
officer of AXA Financial, Inc., and Ursula M. Burns, senior corporate vice president and president of Business
Group Operations at Xerox Corporation, to our board. In addition, I would like to thank Edwin L. Artzt, who retired
from the board in April, for the many contributions he made to the company during his nine years of service.
Summary
We saw the benefits of our actions to strengthen our business really take hold in 2003. As I said at the start of
this letter, 2003 was an outstanding year for American Express. We reaped the benefits of the fundamental
changes we made to our business model over the past three years, and we generated stronger and broader
momentum as the year progressed. We demonstrated that we have built a business model that does deliver
strong financial results, even without robust economic conditions — and one that can capitalize quickly on mar-
ketplace opportunities.
In 2003, we delivered value to shareholders in a number of noteworthy areas, including:
•our continued generation of above-average shareholder return;
•the financial community’s increased confidence in our potential, reflected by a price-to-earnings ratio that
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