State Farm: What's Happening to the Good Neighbor?

State Farm: What's Happening to the Good Neighbor?

If there's a common theme in State Farm's big court losses, it's that judges and juries think the company has taken cost-cutting too far. Sullivan blames this parsimony, in part, on its ''unique and powerful culture.'' Employees ''really do believe they shouldn't pay inappropriate claims with the policyholders' money. They're passionate about that--and sometimes that passion goes over the top,'' he says. Additionally, the inbred culture makes it ''hard for them to say, 'God, we made a mistake,''' says Sullivan.