Time for
Taiwan
Rabobank
What's NewS
Monthly internal newsletter for the Central Banking Sector issue4.August 1995
Around 20 years ago, Taiwan was the model for the
kind of rapidly growing, export-driven economy
many countries in South-East Asia have since
introduced with similar success. Industrial growth is
still high here, but as the 21 million Taiwanese now
expect an equally high Standard of living, traditional
labour intensive manufacturing is increasingly trans-
ferred to low-wage countries elsewhere in the region.
Today, Taiwan's focus is meeting rising domestic con-
sumer demand, improving its infrastructure and social
security, and furthering its position in capital-inten-
sive, technological sectors. Rabobank opened its latest
foreign office there in July and brand-new general
manager Paul Cheng talks us through what the bank
will be doing there. (see page 3)
in brief
RABOBANK'S
IMAGE - ROOM FOR
IMPROVEMENT
A survey on image among
medium sized companies
shows a lot of work still has to
be done before Rabobank
fchieves its positioning goals.
Over 150 medium-sized com
panies were asked a variety of
questions designed to discover
how Rabobank is perceived.
We score much higher than
competitors (ABN Amro and
ING) in relationship banking,
but lag well behind in percep-
tions of innovation, interna
tional activity and as bank for
large corporates. ABN Amro is
still seen as the most important
banking partner by 57 percent
of respondents, with ING in
second place (14 percent).
Rabobank scored only 5 per
cent. Despite our triple A
rating ABN AMRO scored
higher on 'one of the strongest
Banks in the world': 68 percent
against 41 percent for Rabo
bank. Our score on 'interna-
tionally active' was also
disappointing - only 27
percent of primary clients and
24 percent of secondary clients
saw this as a real part of our
image. While this particular
segment is more the province
of the local member banks
rather than CBS, the con-
clusion must be that there is
more than enough room for
improvement.
ALL IN THE GAME
A five-person Rabo team,
known as the 'CashCows'
is currently playing the
international management
competition against 149
other companies, banks, in-
stitutions and universities from
all over the world. The Game
uses simulations to create the
market conditions players have
to handle and the ultimate
goal is to generate the highest
possible profit and market-
share while maintaining con-
tinuity and satisfying share-
holders. 'Over the nine-month
course of the Game, you're
confronted with just about
every conceivable situation,'
says Jelle Piersma. 'It is a
fascinatmg process that gives
you real insight into how com
panies in the marketplace
reach decisions.' But the team
also believes it is teaching
them how to make group
decisions more efficiently and
effectively. 'We opted for a
truly diverse team,' says
Piersma. 'Chris van der
Oord is from Financial Mar
kets, Tm an account manager,
Jos Schreurs is from struc-
tured finance, Tim Berger is
from bank guarantees and
Edwin Prevoo works with
marketing services. Each
member has his own perspec-
tive based on expertise in his
own discipline, so what you
have to learn is to put all of
those elements together to
come up with the right
group decision.' The Cash
Cows seem to have learnt that
lesson pretty well. At the half-
way stage, they rank 32nd
overall, but have emerged as
the top scoring bank.
contents
WHAT'S IN WHAT'S
NEWS
New markets - Paul Cheng on
the Taiwanese challenge 3
Summer sales - a cluster of
deals from around the world 4
Policy plans - international
corporate finance on track 7
Phone performance - clients
lay it on theline8
Client input - big companies
prove a big help 10
Talking heads - Wouter Kolff
on the Beatles and Bellini 12