DEVELOPING STRATEGIES AND...
-( international ")-
What's News Issue 3 June/July 1995
Not too long ago, the annual general managers' conference
was a relatively small affair.This year, over 30 GMs gathered at
head office for a meeting of minds with CBS colleagues, both
Utrecht-based and international, to examine the bank's
progress and hammer out plans for the future.
the international division, 'because other-
wise we couldn't have got through the
work-load.'
Three basic programs on branches, rep.
offices/trade finance and private banking
meant everyone worked on a systematic
examination of a wide variety of subjects
such as risk management, value at risk,
trade policy, marketing, information
systems and communication with and
within the international division. These in
tensive sessions were then discussed at
length by all participants. The working-
group structure was supported by detailed
presentations on a number of recent de-
velopments, such as Dublin's role in the
network and the PIBA take-over ex-
perience.
Says international chief Rik van Slinge-
landt: 'But besides the exchange of infor
mation and know-how, we also looked at
the strategie issues confronting the div
ision, now and in the future. There are five
elements involved - markets, investments,
people, risks and results. And none of
these factors can be seen in isolation. I
know I always say it, but we're talking
synergy again here, and we'll keep on
talking about it until we really get it
right.'
RABOBANK VEROVERT
DE WERELD
In vijf tot tien jaar is de Rabobank een
begrip geworden in de internationale
agribusiness. Het internationale netwerk,
aangestuurd door het directoraat Inter
nationaal van het Centrale Bankbed rijf, telt
nu 64 kantoren, met in totaal ruim 1.300
medewerkers. Zo'n 15 procent van het ba
lanstotaal wordt inmiddels in het buiten
land gegenereerd. Vooral de groeimarkten
in Zuid-Amerika en het Verre Oosten zijn
interessant voor de Rabobank. Achter deze
schijnbaar ongebreidelde expansie steekt
een zorgvuldig uitgestippelde stategie.
Uiteindelijk doel: vóór het eind van deze
eeuw uitgroeien tot de grootste agribank
ter wereld.
When the international division was set up
in the late 1970s, its brief was based on
the concept of 'foreign offices serve the
home base'. In other words, Rabobank
followed its clients to locations where they
were active. Gradually, a strategy for in
ternational expansion was developed, in
Mexico, Milan, Shanghai, Taiwaï
hardly a month goes by without
ation. In the past five years, the
There are now 64 offices emplo
around 15 percent of the balan
rapidly increasing network? De
through the bank's thinking an
The basic strategy behind Rabobank's in
creasing international focus is its declared
goal of becoming the world's premier fooi^^
and agribusiness bank, preferably sooner
than later. By the end of the century, Rabo
bank plans to have made a real impact
on this core business area and to have
started branching out into a number of
other (semi-related) areas, such as phar-
maceuticals and health-care. In the space
of 15 years, the bank has made a real
mark on the global food and agribusiness
sector - in the US it already ranks as the
third F&A bank, while the acquisition of
PIBA in Australia last year gave it a strong
foothold in a market ideally placed to piek
up real economie growth in the Far East.
However, the international division in not
in the business of sintply pinning flags on
maps. 'Our expansion is always carefully
researched and potential markets are ex-
amined thoroughly before we go in,' says
Riedlin. 'We always start small, often witf^^
only one representative. But once there,
they can grow as much as they can earn."
Of the recent and imminent spate of open-
ings, Riedlin says: 'Let's be frank about
this, these are actually symbolic because
which food and agri-lending played a domi
nant role. This led to the establishment
of offices in the world's major ports, such
as New York and Singapore. But also to
presences in dominant financial centres,
like London and Hong Kong. Over time,
the division's strategy was expanded and
fine-tuned to include other products, such
as trade and corporate finance, treasury
and, most recently, private banking. Some
offices focus exclusively on one particular
area - a good example here is Guernsey
which is solely a private banking oper-
ation.
The broad range of activities in the net
work and the ever-growing numbers of
general managers working very different
markets means the structure of their
annual meeting has had to be adapted to
meet changing needs. In 1995, sessions in-
volving all participants were limited to
two days of the five-day conference. 'We
were forced to create a working-group
structure,' says organizer Cees van Rest of
