DGRI - moving forward
european finanaalgroup/DGRI merger
Decision points
It's now two months since RI's senior management requested time out on the
DGRI joint venture in order to get the whole process onto a practical and realistic
track. At the end of June, a huge gathering of senior Rl and DG managers took
place to restart the revised integration process. We look at what happened, what
will happen, and when.
«p
Enthusiastic reception
10 What's NewS Issue 4 - June/ July 2000
In a very frank presenta-
tion to head office and
Netherlands branch staff
011 May 23, Ton Toebosch
put an end to speculation
on a number of issues re-
lating to the merger with
DG announced last Octo-
ber as part of a proposed
partnership with Euro
pean cooperative financial
institutions. The process,
which had envisaged joining RI with a
number of related DG activities, may have
been flagging, but, Toebosch emphasized,
Addressing criticaI issues
'on hold' does not
mean written off. 'In
the Europe of the fu
ture, but also in today's
environment,' he said,
'we must have access to
A the rest of this region.
Buying that presence or
building it is not an op-
tion. In spite of the dif-
ficulties, the multi-do-
mestic concept with
other cooperative institutions still offers
the best way forward. Make no mistake
here, the merger will come. All we have
done is propose an adjusted way of mak
ing it happen.'
The result of th is period of reflection is a
revised timeline integration plan (see com-
panion piece). It was debated at the mass
meeting held in the Dutch town of Noord-
wijk at the end of June and hosted by
Smits, Thientann, Flach and Toebosch. It
also gave managers some meat to get their
organizational teeth into as a number of
structural charts were presented (illus-
trated here). Senior management further
stressed the importance of the multi-do-
mestic strategy in insuring our future
competitiveness in global financial mar
kets. 'The establishment of a European
cooperative financial group offers a
unique combination of operational effi
ciency and seamless customer service,' ar-
gued Smits. As evidence of the early suc-
cess of the strategy, management pointed
to the recent signing of the letter of intent
r~J-,he following five principlcs governing the building of DGRI were decided at the Noordwijk meeting:
1. Three distinct processes for creating DGRI (separation, contractual, integration);
2. Separate decision-making structures for each process within each parent organization;
3. One central project organization for the creation of DGRI with joint teams;
4. One shared decision-making committee with supporting infrastructure for planning, information exchange and
monitoring of progress; and
5. Clear principlcs of project management for each project (accountability, deliverables, milestones, information,
control). Customer communication will be prepared by and coordinated with the project office.
In addition, some major changes have been made in the overall project organization. The new structure will be responsible for
the overall contractual, separation and business integration process. Within this project organization three separate steering
committees have been established (see organigram):
1. The DG-Rabo Steering Committee will be responsible for the ultimate decision making within the multi-domestic
concept.
2. Within the Rabo Steering Committee, both RI and Rabobank members will decide on the contractual and separa
tion process. The contractual process will look after Rabobank's interest; the group working on separation will be
responsible for RI's separation front Rabobank Nederland. Ton Toebosch will chair this committee.
3. DG's Steering Committee will primarily focus on the contractual and separation process relating to DGRI and DG
Neu.
The DGRI Integration Management will effectively establish the merger in 2002. Both Uwe Flach and Ton Toebosch will chair
this committee. The Central Project Office will facilitate and coordinatc the overall processes. These will be defined in upcom-
ing newSventures.
