strategie development
Mandate highlights
millennium update
Banking on
business as usual
Full advantage Reinier Mesritz
Following the strategie review team s first offsite meeting, a mandate was
crafted defining the exact scope of the team's activities during its three month
operation period.The mandate focuses on long-term objectives and direction for
the business, but also seeks to effect 'quick wins'.
4 What'sNewS Issue 5- May 1999
Financial institutions are no different.' As
already noted, he is also a great believer in
consistent communication. 'Once
you've taken a decision, you have
to be very clear in how you
inform people on what action has
to be taken.' It means everyone
has to have the same under-
standing of what is communi-
cated - no room for misinter-
pretation or misunderstanding.
With only a couple of weeks in
what he describes as 'the most
entrepreneurial banking job in the
Netherlands', Maarten Hulshoff is still
exercising his open mind and high
tolerance for input. His experience is
broad and he obviously has his own ideas
on best practice, but again he is not
rushing into expounding these until he has
the big and the more detailed picture of RI
corporate culture. He has a
clear appetite for information
and comes across as a listener.
He's also a systematic note
taker, filling books with his
rather sprawling handwritten
memoranda. It would seern
that little escapes his open
mind - let's take full advan
tage of this high tolerance and
ensure he has all the informa
tion he needs to take the
decisions needed for our survival in an
inevitably brutal world. For your
informationMaarten Hulsboff's personal
assistant is equally new. Ineke Klein
comes to us from De Lage Landen. Her
contact numbers are telephone: +31 30
2164482, fax: +31 30 2166997.
strategy will be developed.
At the end of the day, the
mandate is about defining
what type of institution
Rabobank should be in the
Year 2005.
The Y2K bug has brought with it a
host of new buzz words and
phrases - business continuity planning
(BCP) is one of them. BCP's impor-
tance within the bank was endorsed
by managing board's Alain Younes
earlier this year, earmarking BCP as
top priority within RI's millennium
project. But what exactly is BCP? In
short, BCP ensures that we can
continue providing products and
services in the event of a millennium-
related incident. BCP applies to a
variety of contingencies, Y2K being
just one, albeit timely example.
How are we creating BCP in our
offices? According to Johan van
Waveren, sub-project manager for the
global BCP, 'a uniform, practical
approach to the concept was deve
loped. Core-business priorities,
together with their respective depen-
dencies and resources, were mapped
against possible Y2K events such as
telephone or power failure, or system
corruption. The BCP model was fine-
tuned at our Frankfurt office. Our
team then incorporated the findings
into the more operational phase - a
PC-tool which provides a step-by-step
guide to accelerating BCP's creation
and implementation.'
With the finalization of model and
toolkit, the roll-out to offices has
started. 'Our entphasis is initially on
regional, high-impact offices,' says Van
Waveren, 'including, at this stage,
Hong Kong, Utrecht, Amsterdam's
Rabo Securities, Sydney, Singapore,
London and New York. Task force
members will visit each of these offices
to facilitate the preparation of a BCP
framework.' In a broader sense, the
project's responsibilities will include
coordinating all BCP activities, defining
best practice, allocating resources, and
sharing knowledge and experiences. To
speed up the process, several teams are
available. The Dutch Central Bank's
deadline for all Y2K-related BCP drafts
is 1 July 1999. For furtker information
or other millennium related issues,
contact the millennium program team
tel. +31 30 216 6888 or e-mail:
fm.global.millennium servicedesk.
Strategie review team's first offsite meeting, held on a Saturday.
Back row from left to right:J. Van Praagh, R. Mesritz,
M. Wiemeyer, J. Krens. Middle: E. Kuudsen, G. Yan, A. Laflamme,
J. Correa. Front: R. Wolthuis, V. Boas
Considering the competitive
environment in which Rabobank
International is operating and the position
we hold today, the team's mission is to
develop a sustainable business proposition
to propel RI forward. It will evaluate the
long term viability of the customer focus
strategy and the suitability of existing
structures, re-sources, cultural values, and
operating principles to effect strategie
goals. On the basis of this analysis,
suggestions for a successful differentiation
Given the current weak
performance of the group,
the strategie review team
cannot ignore a number of
short-term goals that must
be reached as well. The need
for quick results has to be
balanced with prudent
investment in a long-term
strategie platform. The team
will therefore make recom-
mendations for 'quick wins'
if, during its evaluation and analysis
phase, it finds areas of obvious dupli-
cation or waste. It will also contribute to
a number of short-term initiatives
regarding meeting the 1999 budget
including reassessing our strategy for
achieving 10 percent ROS. The initial
focus will be on 'Mini-Euroland' (head
office, Utrecht branch and London
branch) where the biggest chunk of the
business is generated but also where most
costs are incurred.
