National Westminster Bank
1. Introduction
The purpose of this report is to analyse the case “National
Westminster Bank” (David Woodgate and Nigel Slack, 1992), in order to
identify any existing and potential problems, then after careful
consideration recommend possible courses of action to rectify them.
During the review of the organisation described in the case, the key
issues will be identified and then related to relevant theory.
Analysis will then be made of all relevant factors and recommendations
will be made after consideration of all factors.
Overview of the Case
The case study to be analysed focuses on the St James’s Square branch
of the National Westminster Bank in London’s West End. The case gives
a clear and concise representation of the bank’s structure giving
detailed descriptions of the all the employees roles and functions and
an organisation chart. The focus is then applied to the Records
Section and account opening procedure, which is where the problems are
found and complaints have been registered.
The results of a survey are summarised in the case to show the
apparent level of customer dissatisfaction with the account opening
procedure, the importance of such factors are then highlighted with a
brief description of the level of competition within the banking
industry. The views of are also considered and suggest areas where
current systems may be failing the organisation.
2. Problem
Key Issues
The location of the bank in St James’s square is both a blessing and a
burden to the organisation. The sophisticated clientele resulted in
the bank being the most profitable in its region, yet they also
expected an extremely high level of customer service. This high level
of expectation from the customers resulted in any lapses in service
being highly scrutinised.
The key issues to be addressed within this branch occur in or around
the process of opening accounts which is the responsibility of the
Records Section, they are as follows:
· Customers joining the wrong queue and requiring redirection because
the enquiries desk was “neither well positioned or signposted”.
· Competition is “tough” within the banking industry, particularly in
this branch’s immediate vicinity.
· 36 per cent of customers felt formalities were not properly
explained.
· 76 per cent had not received the sta...
... middle of paper ...
...nt a new system in the
Records Section. After consideration of alternatives it is apparent
that it would be possible and practical for the organisation to do
this without major disruption to the organisational structure.
5. Recommendations
The main recommendation from the findings in this report is for the St
James's Square branch to implement a cell layout in order for the
Records Section to handle its workload.
This would enable them to carry out all their tasks much more
efficiently and fulfil its duties while maintaining customer
satisfaction. To implement such a system the bank will need to employ
a process of windows in which customers are able to come in and open
accounts or to arrange appointments on the phone.
Possible drawbacks with such a service would be that customers would
not be able to open accounts at their convenience and may become
dissatisfied with this process but the quality of product they would
receive is likely to be much improved.
---------------------------------------------------------------------
[1] Statistics derived from a survey the branch carried out in 1989 on
customer's views of their account opening procedures.
Debenhams starts its history in 1778 when William Clark opened a store, selling expensive fabrics, bonnets and parasols. In 1813 renamed to Clark and Debenhams because William Debenhams invest in the business, and in the following years the firm was profitable from the Victoria fashion. In 1851 Clement Freebody invested in the business and renamed to Debenhams and Freebody. A wholesale business was born, selling cloth to dressmakers and other large retails. In 1905 Debenhams Limited was incorporated, and in 1919, the business joined with Marshall and Snellgrove. In 1928 Debenhams became a public company.
the next time you go in to buy something you will have money off your
Two individual employees wanted to complete their assignment for their company. But, did their strategy go about accuracy? Karel Svoboda works for Rogue Bank. Svoboda is a credit officer who needed Alena Robles, independent accountant, assists to evaluate and approved his employer’s extensions of credit to clients. In order to complete the task, Svoboda needed to access the nonpublic information about the clients’ personal information related to the company such as their profits and performances. Instead of appropriately following the company policy, Svoboda and Robles created a plan to utilize this data to exchange securities. According to their plan, Robles exchanged the securities of more than twenty unique organizations and benefitted by
...ip, and moved it against the quays. It heaved up the port side, and you could feel the decks-the compartments-being penetrated…You began to get afraid. I don’t know about other people, but I though “Geez I might get killed”.” (Remembering Pearl Harbor page 16). The attack by Japan was a smart tactical move on the United States. It was a two-fold plan, first If they attacked the US, they would draw attention from what was happening in Europe and all sources would be directed to the west half of the US. Second since the attack was so quick and unexpected the US was caught off guard. Since Japan attacked the largest base in the Pacific, Japan believed they would be able to cripple the US defenses for a while. “The Japanese did not realize that the attack on Dec. 7, 1941 would be a rallying cry for the Americans that had not enlisted to enlist in troops.” (Hampton)
Pearl Harbor was one of the most motivational events in American history. From the very beginning Japan and America had their own social views and stereotypes about each other that a feud was bound to occur. On December 7, 1941 the nation of Japan sent out a fleet of their Imperial navy to attack the American held base on the island of Oahu. Leading this attack was Japanese admiral Isoroku Yamamoto who was a militarily strategic genius.” Yamamoto was planning on sinking the entire American Pacific fleet so the U.S navy could be put out of the war for the time being and the Japanese navy could continue their expansion in the Southwest Pacific.”(book)(Gordon Prange 136-138)
No one expected japan to attack Pearl Harbor because of the 4,000 mile gap between the two islands. Since Americans were convinced that they would attack an outpost in Europe they left Pearl Harbor virtually undefended. They had the entire pacific naval fleet moored around Ford Island in the harbor and the aircraft were all squeezed onto small adjacent airfields, which made it ideal for the Japanese to make a surprise attack. But even with all these ideal conditions japan wanted to ensure they would achieve surprise. In an effort to do this, during their preparation and training the Japanese were ...
Did you know that plans for the surprise attack against the United States began as early as January 1941? Did you know Japan also chose specifically to attack on a Sunday because they believed the Americans would be less alert? By December of 1941, the Japanese Army consisted of 2,400,000 trained ground troops and an air force of 7,500 planes in December 1941. The U.S., however, was obligated to produce a large portion of war equipment for Europe. Therefore, the U.S. only had 1,500,000 ground troops, 1,157 combat aircraft, and 347 war ships. Only 500,000 of the ground troops were combat ready. The U.S. Pacific Fleet was fairly large and Japan believed it posed a threat. A surprise air attack would be just what Japan needed to nullify the fleet.
Prior to this attack, Japan had issues with the United States and other large government countries starting in 1915. Japan put its “Twenty One Demands” on China, giving Japan a bigger status in parts of the country. When the United States enforced the Open Door Policy, Japan’s demands were no longer enforced. Later, the Great Depression in the U.S. made Japan’s economic problems worse; they were dependent on international trade since their island country had only few natural resources. To add to their list of problems, Japan was overpopulated and many countries, mainly the United States, had denied entry of Japanese immigrants. Japan’s military leaders thought the only way to solve the country’s issues was to invade China. After several aggressions against parts of China, the United States had issued a policy to limit economic sanctions against Japan, refuse the recognition of Japanese military conquests, and equal military and economic assistance for China. Japan blamed foreign interference for China’s refusal to give in to Japan’s terms. The Japanese then wanted to find a way to block foreign assistance from getting to China, so they could then take over the country. In 1940, Japan saw Germany as a strong and reliable country to team up with because of their lightning victories. At the time, there were territories in Southeast Asia and the South Pacific that were controlled by large power European countries, such as France, the Netherlands and Britain. It was bel...
The early decades of the nineteenth century saw the establishment of banks in the Caribbean largely as a convenience for the local governments. Throughout much of the nineteenth century, most Caribbean banks operated as an oligopoly with limited government influence – this directly translated into higher profits. However, over time, the banking environment could best be described as complex and dynamic. Competition increased, resulting into greater need for improved customer service, product innovation and cost reduction strategies. In order to achieve this, the banking sector was undergoing major structural reforms characterized by mergers and acquisitions. On July 23, 2001 Barclays and CIBC announced that they were in advanced discussions which were intended to lead to the combination of their retail, corporate and offshore banking operations in the Caribbean.
In the late 1800s' economy there were many Americans who considered themselves to be business affiliated, but really didn't understand the full meaning of a business or knowing any financial obligations within a business. However, there was one peculiar man John Pierpont Morgan also know as J.P. Morgan who stood out to be a triumphant entrepreneur of many Americans in the late 1800s U.S. Economy.
John Pierpont Morgan is considered one of the founding fathers of the modern United States economy. He was an industrial genius that is accredited with the founding of many companies including General Electric and AT&T. However, Pierpont is looked upon as a saint and demon the same. He received a honorary degree from Harvard university that read: "Public citizen, patron of literature and art, prince among merchants, who by his skill, wisdom and courage, has twice in times of stress repelled a national danger of financial panic." But Robert LaFollette, the Wisconsin progressive, saw him as "a beefy, red-faced thick-necked financial bully, drunk with wealth and power." Despite conflicting opinion on his persona, his influence and character shaped the business world more so than any other person at the turn of the century. Morgan was a banker, railroad czar, industrialist, financier, philanthropist, yachtsman, and ladies' man. He was king to a handful of millionaire barons who controlled the country's wealth in an era of little government regulation.
Barclay’s group practices integrated global banking that which serves their clients and customers and also optimizing risk adjusted for their shareholder returns. In this case, it moves, protects and invests money for over 38 million customers and clients globally. This group is the third largest in the world in assets and in terms of financial provider provision all over the world with a core tier one ratio of 11 per cent (Barclays PLC SWOT Analysis, 2013). In the UK, it is the third largest on the market capitalization, with its headquarters at Churchill in London, England.
The invention of money was a major improvement in peoples’ lives. In the past, people usually had to travel all day to find the person who is willing to exchange their goods. In addition, the goods people want to exchange did not have the standard value of measurement. This led to unequal exchanges. Furthermore, it is not convenient to carry heavy goods from one place to another for an exchange. To solve these issues, money will be the only solution. Later, people tend to develop money from cowry shells to credit cards for the convenience and to improve their society.
Never have I ever climbed a mountain peak. As a child, I imagined myself conducting expeditions in deep-frozen pathways, leading amateur explorers to the top of the world, and instructing rookies in surviving harsh blizzards. Even though slightly altered, my childhood dream has been achieved. I led a team of fellow classmates, in my Strategic Management course, to the success summit of a financial competition. Over the course of a semester, I and my teammates were supposed to create and manage a company of the IT industry, in a computer-simulated environment, along with other four rival teams. I dealt with strategy and financial matters of our virtual enterprise, while my colleagues were working on marketing and manufacturing. During the four months of the exercise, I have experienced finance from various aspects: capital budgeting, through selecting favorable investment for upcoming quarters; debt management, by assessing the necessary amount and efficiency of loans; profitability analysis and dividend policy, which had been used to compile the company’s general performance index. Working in a multinational team, which included an American, a Norwegian and a Moldovan, strengthen my negotiations skills, as well as flexibility and cooperation. But above all, this experience intensified my passion for finance. Of course, a pleasant bonus was the fact that, in the end, our company’s financial performance was six times the performance of second-best team.
This is followed in section 5 by an analysis of the recent changes in the banking industry. With the development of the financial system, declining entry barriers and the deregulation of the banking industry make banks no longer the monopoly suppliers of banking services and reduce their comparative advantages which they usually hold in the past. Whether the reasons give rise to the existence of banks are still powerful will be examined here, while section 6 offers a way of considering whether banks are declining by looking at the value added by the banks. When the value added by banks is examined, banks are not a financial intermediation, which not only conduct the traditional services but also provide more diversified