Miracles and magic
O
14
special
What's NewS Issue 11 December 1997
focus orientation on
efficiënt, high-quality
cliënt execution using
the best systems and
research. This area is
perhaps the most
immediately interesting
for the rest of the
Group, and member
banks are already
looking to Grubb and
his people to create
products and
opportunities for their
customers and needs.
IEB has defined a
number of key
interactions on which
they will be working,
including:
Marcus Grubb
GED for trading, risk
management, selling
and research
F&A network for
origination and
research
Health care and other
sectors for origination
coordinating merging
market fixed income
Rabo Securities for
selling, research and
back office support
money markets for
funding and custody.
This is just a very brief
summary of the
presentations given by
the five GPMs.
FINAL CONCLUSIONS
We finish here as we started.
We finish with Arthur Arnold
listing a number of key areas to
work on. They are different
from last year, more refined if
you like, more subtle.
Summing up, Arnold
concluded that what we all
need now is: genuine
F&A equity researchers
are being recruited to
improve interactivity
between the relationship
managers and product
specialists.
communication, clarity in
communication, trust,
commitment to building
Rabobank into a professional
i bank in all our niche
C
1 specialized disciplines. Last
but certainly not least: 'We've
done all the talking, and
maybe even too much,' he
said. 'What do you say? Let's
just do it.' Nobody actually
cheered, because the setting
wasn't fit for that, but it feit
like that.
administration
You could be forgiven for thinking you'd got the
wrong conference report, but no, this was the title of
Henk van der Stelt's presentation on global
administration. For his people around the world, he
noted, either they are providing miracles and magic
every day, or their colleagues throughout the rest of
the bank are expecting them yesterday.
High on Administration's
priority list at present is,
unsurprisingly, the millenium.
This problem will not go away
and people are working flat out
to ensure our whole operations
and IT organization makes a
smooth transition. Although a
one-off problem in company
with numerous others as the
bank shifts into gear of
heightened investment
banking activity.Van der Stelt
explained that it was devouring
highly skilied people,
preventing them working on
solutions to other needs that, of
course, everyone wants
yesterday. Another problem that
is on an immovable deadline is
the Euro. 'Both these projects are
still underestimated in terms of
human resources and focus,'he
says.'We're behind in our
planning and already in the red
danger zone.'
CHALLENGING
ENVIRONMENT
While these are clearly defined
projects, global administration is
facing another challenge which is
rather more abstract. Ongoing
advances in IT is changing
dramatically the environment in
which we operate. 'We have to
Henk van der Stelt
develop a thorough
understanding of that new
environment and the
implications of the new
parameters in which we work.'
Administration is working on the
basis of a business driven
planning process. Although
there is still much to be done,
progress has certainly been
made as our global IT update
(see page 18) shows. As the
January issue of What's NewS
will provide extensive cover on
the Administration strategy
paper, we'll give you the full
picture then.