Commonwealth Bank Of Australia Case Study On Organizational Structure

Question

Task:
Introduction (100 words)
Introduce the topic, state the purpose of the essay and the key points (scope) to be covered.

Case company synopsis (100 words)
Briefly provide some background information which you deem essential and highly relevant to your analysis. [Avoid direct ‘cut’ and ‘paste’ from company websites, paraphrase using your own words and put company website as an in-text reference as per APA style]

Body paragraphs (1300 words)
You decide how to allocate words per question listed below, I would suggest that questions (a) and (b) are descriptive in nature, answers are expected to be concise and straightforward. Remember to incorporate definitions of key concepts in your answer. (See criteria 2 in Marking Rubric). Questions (a) to (d) require critical thinking and analysis based on your research, hence allocate more words accordingly. In-text citation is very important in this part of the essay, as it corresponds to evaluation criteria 2 and 3 (which combined account 20% of your score for this assignment) and criteria 6.

1. How are the business and governance structures of your chosen companies different/similar, and why might this be the case?
2. What are the environmental factors that influence your chosen companies’ performance and/or decision-making?
3. What are the top three risks your chosen companies face and how might this influence their decision making?
4. Make 3 suggestions regarding how the companies might improve their business practices.

Conclusion (100 words)
Once again, be concise. Provide a summary of your key points in the essay (avoid using same sentences). Avoid introducing new topics (e.g., recently, the company is involved in a scandal etc.), but do highlight implications on the management of the company in the future on the basis of your analysis.

Answer

The purpose of the essay is to prepare Commonwealth bank of Australia case study. The organizational structure of the bank will be discussed to investigate functional process and efficiency. The external and internal environmental factors would be analyzed using the PESTLE analysis, McKinsey 7-s framework, five forces industry model, SWOT analysis, and TOWS matrix. The organization has also faced many risks as discussed in the following sections of Commonwealth bank of Australia case study. The risks are assessed by a risk assessment matrix to study the impact level of risk. Suggestions are also given in the Commonwealth bank of Australia case study to improve the business practices of the organization.

Commonwealth Bank of Australia is one of the multinational financial organizations of Australia that deals with providing financial services to individuals. It also has its wings in the United Kingdom, Asia, the United States, and New Zealand (commbank, 2020). Commonwealth bank was found in 1911 to conduct business on banking services. It was formed under the act of the Commonwealth Bank act. Currently, the Commonwealth Bank has obtained a great height in the banking sector and providing financial services to almost every individual in Australia (commbank, 2020). The annual turnover of the Commonwealth Bank is $8,492m as per the report of 2019. The bank is engaged in providing financial services to its customers. The employee strength of the Commonwealth bank has reached 52,000 and still increasing. More than 8000 shareholders are working with the Commonwealth Bank of Australia (commbank, 2020).

The organizational structure of the Commonwealth Bank of Australia follows a complex enterprise structure. It also has its branch on other countries like New Zealand, United States and United Kingdom. It is a complex structure of the business that mainly comprises of shareholders and board of directors (commbank, 2020). The shareholders are the functional component of the company and supervise the financial and functional management system. The role of the board of directors is to provide strategic leadership fundamentals for the organisational excellence. They also supervise the detailed process of the company. The structure of the Commonwealth Bank is also referred to as a matrix-project environmental structure. It is a combination of functional and divisional structure (commbank, 2020).

The CEO is headed by Ralph Norris and the technology functions are headed by Russell Scrimshaw. In this structure of Commonwealth bank of Australia case study, the CEO, COO, and CFO are the central controller of all the operations. The company also consists of international operations teams whose role is to report the CEO about the operations on other branches (commbank, 2020).

The governance structure controls the product development and service delivery of the organization. Corporate governance of every organization is mainly a mechanism to control all the operations of the organization. Based on product services, Commonwealth Bank has made four divisions of the business (Bagnall, Lines, Bostrom, Large, & Keogh, 2017). Firstly, banking Services in retail comprises of small financial needs by the customers. Secondly, providing the premium standard of financial services to customers who need multiple services on financial solutions. Thirdly, Institutional banking services includes customers who use the “relationship management” approach (Lim, Radzol, Cheah, & Wong, 2017). Lastly, Insurance services and making fund investment includes customers who invest sustainably on the organization for their benefits.

The PESTLE analysis illustrated in the Commonwealth bank of Australia case study has been done to analyse the macro-environmental factors. Six factors of PESTLE have been analysed that has a great influence on decision making system and performance as well. Political Factors- Being a multinational institution, the political scenario of Australia, UK, middle East need to be considered for future decision making and performance analysis (Corley & Gioia, 2011). The political condition of the Australia is sustainable that is contributing to growth policy of the Bank. Economic Factors- the economic scenario of Australia, UK and Middle East is under uncertainty due to current state of pandemic in global perspective (Nasir, Majeed, & Aleem, 2018). Social Factors- The socio-cultural aspect of Australia and other countries are not similar which needs regional specific decision-making style and performance parameter. Technological Factors- Commonwealth Bank implementing new CRM and technologies to incorporate automation and higher computing capacity. Legal Factors-Regional statutory and legal parameters need to be considered for formulating decision making and performance parameter.

McKinsey 7-S Model has been discussed in the context of Commonwealth bank of Australia case study to analyse the environmental factors. The soft S has been discussed in the essay. Shared values- The initial stage of the model is discussed through these values. Skill- Commonwealth bank has a high strength of skilful employees to use the software for useful purposes. Style- It includes the style of leadership followed by the Commonwealth Bank of Australia. Staff- The employees is fully capable of using the employee management platforms for tagging the official documents (Ramarajan, 2014). Commonwealth Bank has a high strength of employees to execute the process of the organization.

Porter’s Five Forces have been discussed in the context of Commonwealth bank of Australia case study to analyse the micro environmental factors. The five factors of Porter's five forces have been critically analysed. The "Threat of New Entrants" will be low as the economic, legal and statutory scenario is not in line with foreign direct investment. Commonwealth Bank has used the diverged technic to strengthen its position among the competitors (Whittington, 2010). The financial sector of Australia has a high competition market, and thus, using technological applications is an excellent option to survive in the competitive market. The “rivalry among Existing Competitors” will be low. The “bargaining power of suppliers” will be low because the resources are quite available in the market. The “bargaining power of buyers” will be low as the standard of financial services is high and better than the other financial institutions. The “threat of substitute products” will be low as the product of the organization is unique and trendy from other organizations.

SWOT analysis has been discussed in this segment of Commonwealth bank of Australia case study to analyse the macro-environmental factor. The strength, weaknesses, opportunities, and threats are analysed concerning Commonwealth bank of Australia.

Strength- Standardised financial services of the Commonwealth Bank is the strength of the organization. It helps the organization to attract a more significant number of customers.

Weakness- The presence of excessive shareholder in the organization results in instability of the organization (Zaheer, Gözübüyük, & Milanov, 2010). Sometimes, the organization fails to make sustainable decisions due to the lack of unity in shareholders.

Opportunities- Commonwealth bank has many opportunities to extend its sector (Bagnall, Lines, Bostrom, Large, & Keogh, 2017). As the scope and area of the financial sector are broad, the organization can quickly spread its wings to other related sectors of finance.

Threats- Commonwealth bank faces many threats while adopting the new process in the organization. The employees need time to get accustomed to the new model or software (Maiti & Kayal, 2017).

TOWS analysis has been discussed in the context of Commonwealth bank of Australia case study to extract the relationship between four factors of SWOT analysis.

Strength-Opportunities (SO)- Commonwealth Bank can extend its opportunities by analysing its strength on the market.

Weaknesses-Opportunities (WO)- Commonwealth banks can overcome their weakness by evaluating their opportunities in the financial sector.

Strength-Threats (ST)- Commonwealth Bank can overcome its threats concerning the organization by analysing its strength value.

Weakness- Threats (WT)- Weakness and Threats are related to each other as both are concerning the negative aspect of an organization. Both can be overcome by implementing a sustainable process in the organization.

As noted in the Commonwealth bank of Australia case study, the bank has been affected by the specific risk factors that occur in the financial market of Australia. The three significant risks of the Commonwealth Bank have been discussed in the essay to assess the risk factors (Rabie, 2020).

Fall of Australian Dollar- The sudden fall of the Australian Dollar has affected the condition of the Commonwealth bank drastically. It will result in shareholder turnover in the finance market (commbank, 2020). The foreign shareholder has withdrawn its investments from the market. Commonwealth Bank can overcome this risk by adopting effective methods on the organization. The organization can prevent its shareholder turnover as well as the employee turnover from the company.

Disrupting price of Iron ore- Disruption in the iron ore price has reduced the GDP value of Australia. A fall in GDP value will affect the bank indirectly (commbank, 2020). The foreign investor will not get attracted that much to invest in the market as the growth of the country is entirely dependent on the GDP value of the country. A financial organization like Commonwealth bank loses some investors in this tumble. This risk can be overcome by adopting effective schemes to attract investors towards the organization.

Fall in Housing Market- The housing market of Australia has inflated in recent years. It is one of the significant risks that is faced by the banking sector of Australia (commbank, 2020). The shares of Commonwealth Bank have fallen heavily with high mortgage lending schemes. It has now become a significant headwind for banks like Commonwealth Bank. This risk mentioned in the Commonwealth bank of Australia case study has profoundly affected the shares of banks. It can be overcome by adopting strict schemes on money lending and providing limited loans to authentic customers. It will help to drive the bank's profit in the financial market.

As per the research on Commonwealth bank of Australia case study, the banks must do business practices to increase employee performance and product performance in the organization. The employee performance is mainly based on three aspects, namely- Cognitive aspect, behavioural aspect, and emotional aspect (Bandara, Meredith, Techatassanasoontorn, Mathiesen, & O'Neill, 2019).

Cognitive Aspect- It concerns about the beliefs of employees on the organization. The beliefs of leaders are also the main factor of the cognitive aspect (Whittington, 2010). The cognitive aspect includes the engagement of employees in the workflow of the organization and its roles (Mulasi & Raju, 2017). Commonwealth bank must respect the beliefs of employees on leaders and the organization. The organization should practice such methods to form an integrated cognitive aspect.

Behavioural Aspect- The behavioural aspect mainly includes the discretionary effort that engages the employees. The brainpower of employees is also analysed in this aspect. Commonwealth bank must practice methods on the behavioural aspect to analyse the engaging power of employees to meet the work pressure (Ramarajan, 2014). The bank should also set targets so that employees can give their full engagement on the work.

Emotional Aspect- The emotional aspect mainly includes the attitudes of employees on both the leaders and the organization. The positive and negative factors of the organization can be evaluated by analysing the behaviour of employees (Corley & Gioia, 2011). Commonwealth Bank must analyse employees’ attitudes so that the positive and negatives factors can be evaluated.

The Commonwealth bank of Australia case study focuses on detailed analysis of the factors that influences decision making and performance parameter. Micro/macro environmental analysis and competitor’s analysis helps Commonwealth Bank to decide future direction in line with company objective and goal. In the current economic scenario as explored in the present Commonwealth bank of Australia case study, the Bank need to restrain overseas business growth policy in order to sustain current crisis and to redesign future development goals.

Bibliography
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