Arysta LifeScience, North America
Cross-border cooperation in action
COVER STORY RABOBANK'S WAY OF WORKING
A global network
>these issues. How many Dutch companies, for example,
have some dependency - physical or otherwise - on
what's happening in other parts of the world? A huge
number. We see that there is a global marketplace and
we see an international network that is expanding very
quickly and by connecting the dots we can create an
organisation with an identical value system wherever
we operate."
What does it take to be a leading cooperative bank in
today's global marketplace? Answering that question is
no simple matter. But what's clear is that global cliënt
involvement and a strong cooperative culture play a
significant part. And for Dick Hak, meaningful cliënt
engagement is also vital. 'The way we engage with our
clients is the way we engage with each other and to say
we have engaged with our clients is not enough - we
have to live the motto 'together we can do more', both
internally and externaliy," he says. "And we need to go
beyond just recognising that clients are active globally
- what needs to be triggered is fruitful dialogue. This is a
conversation that's quite distinctive for us, and one that
we are having in many locations right now. However,
we need to be much more aware of our clients and we
need to be where the action is. Spending time in other
locations - getting to know our operations elsewhere -
leads to much stronger cliënt engagement."
One way to show the seeds of the bank's cooperative
values overseas is for employees to work in different
business units or locations around the world. Pruijs
explains that Rural Retail have developed one method
to engage talent from across the Group. "Within Rural
Retail we have a talent development week, where
we bring employees from around the world to the
Netherlands and introducé them to what it means to
work with Rabobank and the particular characteristics
of the cooperative. During the course of their stay,
employees get to visit clients around the country
and learn about how the cliënt model works in the
Netherlands. This, along with an increasing number of
Cross-border cooperation is a critical element
in becoming the world's leading F&A bank.
Rabobank recently leveraged the strength of
its global product teams to provide a flexible
financial solution for Arysta LifeScience North
America, a division of the global agrochemical
leader. Collaborating closely, Rabobank teams
around the world - Global Client Solutions and
Acquisition Finance in New York, Acquisition
Finance/Global Client Solutions in Hong Kong,
relationship managers in Hong Kong and
Chicago, and De Lage Landen USA - executed a
facility to purchase and manage certain account
receivables in Arysta's receivables portfolio.
This global Rabobank effort provides Arysta
with the desired corporate finance solution
and diversifies itsfunding sources.
Rabobank's relationship with Arysta began in
2008 through Acquisition Finance-Hong Kong,
and has grown to include fïnancing in Brazil,
Chile and Paraguay. This latest facility, says Rajiv
Singh, Head of Professional Products and Global
Client Solutions for North America, showcases
Rabobank's strong cross-regional and cross-
business capabilities for clients.
1 8 ISSUE 29 H RI WORLD
