The implementation
OF THE CLIENT
FOCUS STRATEGY
WHAT'S NewS Issue 11 November 1996
ri organization
7
up Utrecht Branch, remarked recently: 'Fm
expecting to see our relationship managers
and our corporate finance and other
experts working together continually on an
ongoing basis - not only when the
relationship manager thinks we can sell
something. These working groups will have
to be proactive, anticipating the potential
needs of clients and how we can supply
those needs.'
Readers of the Task Force Update will have noted the focus on 'all
our people are in the offices', in other words: our head office is a
small organization comprising only essential functions for the
sound management of Rabobank International. What's NewS
provides an overview of head office functions and looks at the new
structure of the branches.
FLEXIBLE STRUCTURE
'The one thing we are trying to avoid is a
top-heavy head office organizational
structure that is seen as a burden, rather
than a support by our network,' says
Arthur Arnold. For this reason, head
office functions have been pared down to
a minimum of essential activities and,
according to Arnold, 'the current staff of
around 100 will remain constant.' The
aim to create a lean and mean flexible
organization structure has resulted in the
organigram illustrated here. Each member
of the five-person Rabobank International
managing board has his own areas of
focus, but they are jointly responsible for
Rabobank International's progress, well
being and the results bottom line.
Hans Megens: ...'Working together
continually on an ongoing basis.
If you look at the
organigram, you will see
that the term 'group'
comes up rather
frequently. Investment
banking group, corporate
finance group, but also
the 'cliënt management'
prefix in front of a
specific industry or sector,
such as health care. Both
these designations are
direct results of the Task
Forces meeting held last
month in the
Netherlands. Although
shown here on a senior
management organigram,
they have implications for
how we organize Arthur Arnold:
ourselves right down the head office.
line to implement the
client-focus strategy. Our activities fall into
cliënt management functions and product
management functions - some people may
use the terms content organizers and
content providers. Put more simply, the
former are in fact the commercial people
and the latter the people who structure
products for the clients.
INTENSE COOPERATION
You may now be thinking: Well, haven't we
always worked like that? That was
certainly the idea. But the old structure
tended to throw up too many obstacles
between people from various disciplines.
We did not always make best possible use
of the know-how and expertise available to
us. Breaking with that structure, the new
organization provides for a more intense
cooperation between the content organizers
and providers. As Hans Megenswho heads
DIFFERENT NEEDS
Again, although the group approach is
shown for RI senior management, it
applies all down the line. While no one
expects a new office with only, say, three
people, to divide themselves into 'groups',
this cooperative structure should be
embedded in culture from the very start. It
should become second nature to think in
terms of: who can provide me with the
know-how I need
for this particular
cliënt. However,
the structure also
has built in
flexibility. Different
activities have
different needs in
terms of how they
should be
coordinated or
managed. So,
depending on the
kind of activity,
different models
will be applied.
The Task Forces
came to this
conclusion and
indicated that in
some cases a policy
'Avoid a top heavy committee
approach would be
more appropriate,
for example in F&A. This choice has
everything to do with the nature of the
activity. In contrast, it was decided that
our enhanced push into investment
banking required management team
handling. But the bottom line here is that
whichever model is chosen, the aim is to
stimulate the bringing together of the
knowledge that exists within our
organization to better serve the cliënt.
TASK FORCE PROPOSALS
A deadline has been set for proposals on
the composition of both policy committees
and management teams. The Task Forces,
which are still hard at work, will be
putting in their recommendations to the
managing board by the end of November.
They will also be advising on how these
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