management
•R ICO - programmed for progress
Indonesia update
What'sNewS Issueó'June 1998 ~J
Assimilated tradition
Up and running
Learning quickly
The 1998 RICO has been designated as the management
meeting where we get to grips with the many
implementation aspects of the customer focus strategy.
This is where we will work out how to integrate all the
numerous investments of the past few years into a
stronghold of customer intimacy, product innovation
and operationai excellence. Rik van Slingelandt will be
chairing the meeting as part of his task. We asked him
for a brief preview.
9 T f I look at where we are today and
-Lwhere we need to be,' he says, 'then I
see a picture with an inner and an outer
^vircle. The outer circle is the world
around Rabobank, lt is moving at an even
greater speed than most of us ever
anticipated. What we have on the inside,
within the organization, are two different
things. There are differences in, let's call it
culture, and there are differences in the
speed with which we develop ourselves.
But this doesn't mean we can't manage it.'
The notion that Rabobank cannot assimi-
late and integrate the differences that were
bound to arise as a result of building a
bank that could deliver on the customer
focus strategy is preposterous, he believes.
'Throughout 100 years of history, this
bank has done nothing else. We started
with rural farming communities and their
specific culture. We then moved into
urban areas and assimilated that business.
The biggest challenge was merging the
two cooperative movements back in the
1970s because there the differences were
religious. Then we took an exclusively
domestic bank into the international
playing field, and successfully, too.'
In the international division alone, he
argues we have already digested a number
of influxes, without much difficulty. 'In a
bank of what is sometimes called the "old
Rabo", there were suddenly people in pin-
stripped suits - I know, 1 was one of them.
We managed that. Now, we have the guys
in braces. And we'11 manage that as well.
Then there is difference in speed. A lot of
things appear to be out of kilter. If you
look at the IB people, some are up and
running and others are still busy building
themselves up. In some cases, the back
and front offices cannot yet communicate
because the systems are still under
construction. We're doing something new
and there are many things that are not
quite right yet. But many are. Let me give
you just one example of what I mean
when I say we can manage this.'
His example is Rabo Securities. 'Three
years ago, we didn't really know how to
get the best out of this team. In the
meanwhile, we have learnt and we have
learnt very quickly. Now, Rabo Securities
is doing very well indeed, providing real
services to our customers.' This is, he
believes, typical of the way Rabobank as
an organization functions. 'It takes a little
time to get used to new approaches, new
practices. But when we do, we can take
on the best. Be entrepreneurial - that's
what the whole customer focus strategy is
all about, maybe people should read it
again. It gives you all the scope you need
to focus.'
The message he'11 be sending at RICO
appears to be: we have a great strategy in
customer focus, we have great people,
all we need now is to remember that, and
get down to bringing back some of the
cooperative cooperation that is very much
our style.
See our July issue for a full report
on RICO 1998.
As What's NewS goes to press, the situation in Jakarta is fairly calm. Life is getting back to a semblance of
^^iormality after civil unrest shattered the long reign of former President Suharto. In spite of riots and
looting, with the exception of a one-day dosure on May 20, international Rabobankers have managed to keep
business moving. A brief update on what's been happening and what the future holds.
The huge demonstration planned for
Wednesday 20 May, the day when
Indonesians celebrate the demise of the
Dutch as colonial power, looked like a
perfect scenario for a full-scale riot, with
the loss of property, but especially of life
that usually accompanies violent out-
bursts. 'For days before,' says Paul
Beiboer, 'we'd told people to stay home.
There wasn't much going on at the time
and we could have managed with a skele-
ton staff. But people still came in. I think
perhaps some of them feit safer here.'
n contrast to most other foreign organi-
IBLzations, the Rabobank team all stayed
put. The families of expats were flown out
because the bank was not willing to risk
their safety. 'We didn't want to go,' says
Beiboer, 'and there were also concerns for
some of our Indonesian colleagues.' The
ethnic Chinese community had come in
for some of the worst depredations. But,
says Beiboer, we didn't want to make the
mistake made by some foreign companies
in only offering senior people an escape
route. That didn't seem quite right and
those companies are now being heavily
criticized for doing so. Instead, we offered
people hotel accommodation which meant
they were away from their home areas for
a while. Ir really was quite unsafe to be
outside, whatever your ethnic back
ground. Many took that option.'
The expats weren't quite so lucky. 'On
May 19, we came under increasing
pressure from the Dutch embassy and
from head office to leave the country,'
says Beiboer. 'There was a real anxiety
that Dutch holdings and companies could
become the target of violence if the next
day's demonstration got out of hand.'
Reluctantly, Paul, Chris Mol and Jeroen
Nijssen flew out on that Tuesday evening.
The huge demonstration never happened
as organizers called it off because of
growing fears that the army would open
fire on protestors. May 21 was a public
holiday so the bank was closed anyway.
'Jeroen flew back in that day and we
opened for business as usual on Friday -
we even did some clearing.'
Today, things look almost normal. But
the mood remains pessimistic. 'The
situation will continue to be volatile,'
Beiboer says. 'We need elections quickly
because even though tension has reduced
significantly, it could flare up if things
don't start happening. The people who
brought about the change in government
are not really happy with the interim
regime. And as long as the political side
remains uncertain, the economy can't even
begin to recover. Employment is rising
rapidly and we believe there is bad news
still to come. But for the time being, it's
business as usual here at the bank.'
