CEEMEA Sales & Trading Analysis - Case Study Example

EXECUTIVE SUMMARY: CEEMEA is a branch of Citigroup.Citi is a multinational banking with a presence in over 160 countries. The company manages and controls 200 million accounts, and this makes it one of the largest banking institutions all over the world. The group offers consultancy services in finance, and it targets large institutions, like government organizations, and companies.It offers services in consumer and Credit banking, and is structured in a way that all the departments within the organization report to the head of the group (Instituional Businesses. 2012).In 2009, the organization restructured its operations in to two divisions, namely Citicorp and Citi Holdings. Citicorp consists of important business operations of Citigroup, and a framework on the growth, and opportunities of the organization. Citi holdings comprises of asset that are not core to the operations of the business, but are important. The main objective of the Citicorp division is to provide high quality services to the clients of the organization, therefore increasing the efficiency of the company, and fulfilling its objectives. CEEMEA is part of Citicorp, since it is a core division of the company. INTRODUCTION: The merger of Citicorp and Travelers group formed a company by the name of Citigroup. This is an example of a strategic alliance in a financial company. Citigroup came into existence in the year 1998, October 8th. During that year, the company was valued at approximately $ 140 billion, and had an asset base of approximately $ 700 billion (Rose and Sesia, 2009).The alliance was meant to make Travelers inclusive to have an access to Citicorp retail customers. They were to market their insurance products, and mutual funds to these retail customers (Stone and Brewster, 2002). Citicorp was to benefit from the wide pool of investors that travelers had, and customer seeking insurance services. Two years after the merger, the company appointed Suneel Bakhshi as the head of CEEMEA sales and trading business (Stone and Brewster, 2002).Mr. Bakhshi managed to increase the revenue of Citigroup by 100%, through the application information technology, and initiating new communication procedures. Currently, Mr. Bakhshi is the head of Citigroup incl, Japan. He took his role in the year 2012, 1st April. DipakRastogi is the head of the emerging Markets. Before his appointment to the position, Mr. Dipak was incharge of CEEMEA.CEEMEA trades on financial instruments such as, fixed income instruments, money markets and forex. CEEMEA targets government and corporate institutions for trade (Rose and Sesia, 2009).It has a variety of financial products for these institutions, and services. In the financial sector, its areas of operation are in the banking and credit sector.Corporate organizations benefit from the various corporate banking packages initiated by the company. They also benefit from investment banking, and in this sector, the company provides consultancy services on the most profitable ventures to engage in.CEEMEA provides services in insurance and stock brokerage to governmental agencies, and institutions (Rose and Sesia, 2009).The company also provides consultancy services to governmental agencies, in relation to their financial conditions, and strategic plans. The board of directors hired Suneel Bakhshi as Head of CEEMEA sales and trading for purposes of initiating change, and therefore increasing the profitability of the business organization. Mr. Bakhshi created a plan that would use emergent information systems as a tool of trade.The director knew of the importance of information in building a profitable company, and he therefore developed an information technology system that would improve the operations of the business. His main aim of introducing real time information systems at CEEMEA was to create a culture of customer focus, while conducting the operations of the business. This would lead to efficiency in the production of their services and products to high end customers, and individuals (Instituional Businesses. 2012).At the introduction of the system, information dissemination was fast.However, the imperfect market conditions of the emerging markets, presented a challenge to Mr. Bakhshi concepts of real time information. On this note, this report highlights whether Mr. Bakhshi was successful in using real time information system to improve the profitability of his diverse organization. It also seeks to highlight whether he was successful to create customer satisfaction by using real time information system, and integrating people within his organization, with the Information technology system.CEEMEA was established in 1998, when Citicorp and Traveler’s merged, and therefore it is a new unit within the company. INFORCENTRIC APPROACH AT CEEMEA: Leadership: During the periods 2000 to 2003, CEEMEA trading and sales unit was under the management of Suneel Bakhshi.Mr. Bakhshi introduced the real time information systems into the management of CEEMEA, and the results were an increase into the efficiency of the trading unit. This resulted to an increase in the profitability of the organization, and efficiency in the production of its services. This is because the company changed its culture, from competitive centered, to customer centered. The main aim of the organization under Mr. Bakhshi was to focus its attention to the requirements and needs of the customers, as well as integrating the information systems technology in the management of the affairs of the company.Professor Y. S. Yong is the executive vice president and head of the emerging markets and sales units (Rose and Sesia, 2009). The professor was integral in identifying new markets for the organization. The professor was able to denote that the market conditions of CEEMEA were different from the conditions in the Americas. Professor Donald Marchand, and Michael Page, developed and implemented the Information System tools. Mr. Umesh Jagtiani, oversee the actualization of the process at CEEMEA. Mr. Umesh was the head of e commerce, sales and ticketing. Mr. Rajesh Joshi was promoted to head the business technology unit at CEEMEA, while Mr. occupied the position of a regional director. This group made a decision to develop a business model which was more centralized, and depicted a strong relationship between countries (Ivey, 2012). To achieve this, Mr. Bakhshi introduced Information Technology into their system. The leaders also came to a conclusion that the company was fragmented, and information was not efficiently used, and therefore the business was not productive (Instituional Businesses. 2012). It was necessary to correct this situation by introducing risk management measures, and overhauling the communication system of the company. The purpose of this was to introduce an effective communication system. . Information Technology: One area where CEEMEA introduced information technology for the purposes of transacting their businesses is on the aspect of pre-paid services.The company uses the cloud computing technology to conduct its operations. In addition to that, the organization uses other internet related services such as video-teleconferencing, and voice over the internet to make sales, outsource, and streamline the operations of its businesses (Citigroup Private Bank Case Study, 2005). The company has the capacity to develop an electronic payment solution. CEEMEA uses its new technology and also its own technology. Mr. Bakhshi while heading the sales and trading unit, used the diagnostic information technology tools to measure the information capacity of the company. It is the e-commerce team, headed by Mr. Umesh that was responsible for developing new technological tools (Farhoomand, 2007).The group has prime servers to disseminate information in their offices. The main aim of the servers is to make it possible for clients to access information that facilitates the growth of their business. The company has adopted the use of information technology on all its departments, be it departments dealing with reporting of its business operations, or departments that execute the objectives of the organization. Enterprise Applications: The group was the first banking organization to offer financial services by integrating information technology in Asia, and specifically Hong Kong.The bank achieved great success by taking this approach, and it used its online and mobile trading platform to initiate the policy.The organization embraces the concepts of the client’s first philosophy, in its operations. This has led to the culture of innovation at the company, therefore developing new information systems that have the capability of increasing the profitability of the organization (Citigroup Private Bank Case Study, 2005). In 2010, the organization launched its enterprise global payment unit. The main aim of the unit is to develop an effective payment solution between institution to customer, and customer to institution. This unit targets large companies, and governmental organizations. The unit presents a growth to the operations of the company, enhancing its profitability, and maintaining its market share. Market and Financial Application: There are various financial and market applications at CEEMEA sales and trading unit. An example is the use of Credit cards, issued to their customers, and employees. The company has a series of credit cards such as the diamond preferred card, the visa signature card, and the preferred card (Citigroup Private Bank Case Study, 2005). These cards have various financial benefits, and they serve the needs of their clients. CEEMEA provides personal loans to its clients. Through its integrated IT system, the organization runs a loan program termed as One Main financial personal loan.The program targets individuals who are faced with unexpected debts, expenses and who want to improve their homes (Rose and Sesia, 2009).The processes of applying for the loans are simple, and secure (Farhoomand, 2007). The organization has no hidden costs, in relation to the interest an individual has to pay, and their rates are fixed. In all this applications, the organization uses information technology. FINAL ANALYSIS: Results: Due to the use of Information technology in conducting its operations, the organization has managed to open close to 200 million accounts. This is because the process of opening the accounts is simple, and it is possible to open them via the internet.Information technology has made the organization to fully satisfy the needs of their clients, and an example is the Khadira case study. The organization was able to build for the company an online payment solution, via the credit cards. As a result, Khadira managed to save costs emanating from its paper transactions. The online communication system of CEEMEA manages to disseminate information in a quicker manner (Farhoomand, 2007). The successes of this initiative are seen by the numerous awards Citi group won. For instance, the company won an award in Hong Kong as the best entrepreneurial group. This is because of its introduction of the online banking system in Hong Kong. In 1998, after Mr. Bakhshi took over, the profitability of the business organization rose by 100%. This is because of the introduction of the information technology systems, in the operations of the business organization. In the 2003 financial forecast for CEEMEA (Citigroup Private Bank Case Study, 2005), the institution recorder a growth of 57% in terms of revenue, and 5% in terms of a reduction in the expenses of the company. This is attributed to the use of Information Technology. The Future: It is important for any organization to implement the elements of information technology, if it wishes to prosper. Technology changes with time, and at the current century, there is the emergence of the social media. The company has managed to use social websites such as Facebook and twitter to advertise its products. This gives it an edge over other related companies that do not use these social sites for their operations (Rose and Sesia, 2009). There is an emergence of new markets in Africa, Asia and Europe, and for the company to successfully make a presence in such countries, it must engage itself with strategic alliances with organizations sharing a similar objective and offering services related to its line of operation. The future prospects of the company are bright, and because of its enormous capital base, the company has the capability of coming up with new information technological innovations that will assist in the application of its operations. Application to other Units: It is wise to learn from the organization, and apply its information technology techniques, in relation to the provision of services by other related enterprises or units.This is because the company achieved great success in its operation by implementing the concepts of information technology.Companies should integrate their communication department with new information technological concepts (Farhoomand, 2007). This will increase efficiency in information dissemination, and this is an essential element for a business organization to succeed. Due to the application of Information Technology concepts, and heavily investing in it, the company the company performed better than its competitors. In 2000, the company was 39% way ahead of its competitors (Rose and Sesia, 2009). This percentage increased over the years, with 50% in 2001, and 88% in 2012. Based on its successes, I would recommend that organizations use it methodologies for their operations. References: Citigroup Private Bank Case Study: Effective Customer Servicing in Wealth Management. (2005). Indiana: Datamonitor Plc. Farhoomand, A. F. (2007). Does IT payoff?: strategies of two banking giants. Hong Kong: Asia Case Research Centre, University of Hong Kong. Instituional Businesses.(n.d.).Securities and Banking. Retrieved November 25, 2012, from http://citigroup.com Ivey, R. (n.d.). Member, Biography.Richard Ivey School of Business - HBA, MSc, MBA, EMBA, Exec Dev, PhD .... Retrieved November 25, 2012, from http://www.ivey.uwo.ca/advisory_board/bios/European_Board/Rastogi_06.htm Rose, C., &Sesia, A. (2009).What happened at Citigroup? (Rev. ed.). Boston, Mass.: Harvard Business School. Stone, A., & Brewster, M. (2002).King of capital Sandy Weill and the making of Citigroup. New York: Wiley. Top of Form Bottom of Form Read More