HSBC Management Process - Essay Example

The Management, Information Systems and Organizations: HSBC – An Analysis in Perspectives Word Count: 1550 Introduction Our world today is beset with financial crisis of insurmountable coverage. A multitude of corporations on a global scale declare bankruptcy and render thousands of employees jobless. The inevitable nature of factors which interplay and caused this financial turmoil on a global scale affect other facets of the organization’s operations, including management and information systems, among other aspects. Several financial institutions are most affected by the crisis, of which HSBC Bank is one. The strategies employed by the organization, especially in the area of planning and strategies and an examination of its external environment, assist in its survival. The objective of this essay is to proffer how HSBC implements planning and strategies and an assessment of its external environment, both relating to management processes or organizational issues covered in the module. Brief Description of HSBC HSBC Bank has been operating in England and Wales at the registered office located at 8 Canada Square, London E14 5HQ. It offers a diverse portfolio of financial instruments including savings and current accounts, investment accounts, credit cards, loans, mortgages, insurance and international services. It supports a wide range of education projects and initiatives throughout the communities where they do business. In addition, “HSBC supports a wide range of projects and initiatives that underline their commitment to UK businesses.” (HSBC, 2010, 1) The management of HSBC promotes diversity and equality of opportunities through programs where they establish partnerships with other business organizations. Accordingly, “representatives of HSBC Bank plc can provide advice on investment and pension products from selected providers, including companies within the HSBC Group, and on life insurance products from HSBC Life (UK) Limited.” (HSBC, 2010, 1) Planning and Strategies As Lynch & Williamson (1976) averred, “strategic planning is long range in perspective and should be comprehensive in breadth of scope.” Strategic planning encompasses gathering diverse and relevant information affecting HSBC’s operations such as marketing trends, government support, consumer demand and preferences and other data affected by changes in the environment as well as their influence to the achievement of the organizational goals. Strategies and planning usually encompass initially the following steps, to wit: (1) external environment analysis, (2) strategic issues and opportunities, (3) core values, (4) mission, and (5) goals and objectives. HSBC continues to pursue its vision of being the world’s leading financial services company. Accordingly, by leading, they mean: “preferred, admired and dynamic and being recognized for giving the customer a fair deal”. (ibid) This vision is aimed to be achieved by emphasizing corporate values such as “long term ethical client relationships; high productivity through teamwork; a confident and ambitious sense of excellence; being international in outlook and character; prudence; creativity and customer focused marketing”. (ibid) With the extent of drastic effects that the financial crisis have wrought, HSBC Bank remains strong in the market due to its strengths, as presented: (1) diversity of financial portfolio; (2) a strong customer relations skills; (3) a competent and professional management; (4) extensive global reach; (5) substantial resources. The multitude and variety of products and services enable HSBC to tap a wider range of clientele base from children to retirees. Their strong customer relations skills make their management and staff adept and competent to address customer relations issues and impending threats in the environment. An extensive global reach is a plus factor to tap potentials in diverse markets where HSBC currently holds corporate banking offices. Finally, the substantial resources (money, man, and materials) equip HSBC in employing the necessary marketing strategies to meet competitive pressures and to innovate in the market. HSBC boasts of offering a variety of products and services to cater to the diverse and unique needs of its clientele. From among the host of products and services, the following stand out: Savings Accounts in this contemporary globally competitive world should be diverse and enticing to capture the interest of the customers. The savings accounts are designed to cater to the needs of their wide range of clientele from children to retirees. The accounts entice the customers by giving incentives (tax free, bonus when not making withdrawals, various options in rates and accessibility. HSBC also offers personal loan, mortgages and several insurance alternatives (car, home, travel, life, student, business and even pet insurance). The bank provides international services for clients leaving the country and requiring a variety of international services (travel and holiday, currency transactions, offshore banking and investment). HSBC have several corporate banking offices scattered all over UK (HSBC, 2010, 1). The locations are chosen strategically depending on the demographic factors, population of the area, business locations, among others. With the technological advantage offered by the internet, most promotional activities are implemented through social networking through the internet. In addition, HSBC employs a uniform corporate branding strategy. According to Roll (2004, par. 8), “HSBC employs the same common expression throughout the globe with a simple advertising strategy based on the slogan “The world’s local bank.” This creative platform enables the corporation to bridge between many cultural differences, and to portray many faces of the same strategy.” By being aware of their strengths, HSBC can utilize these to sustain market share and to convince the public that they have not resorted to sub prime mortgages which were the ultimate cause of the financial breakdown. By acknowledging that HSBC still emphasize the utilization of prime mortgages and employ the necessary steps to ensure that their customers were appropriately assessed to ensure regular payments, the company would assure the public that they adhere to the vision, values and corporate responsibility in their banking practices. Since HSBC has a wide global reach and enormous financial resources, the public would be assured that their products and services were least affected by the financial turmoil. External Environment The determination of a suitable strategy for a company begins in identifying the opportunities and risks in its environment. The environment of an organization is the pattern of all the external conditions and influences that affect its life and development. The environmental influences relevant to strategic decision operate in HSBC’s industry, the total business community, its city, its country, and the world. They are technological, economic, social, and political in kind. HSBC has over 125 million customers all over the world with 25 million registering for internet banking (Subramanian). It employed about 55,000 staff in the United Kingdom. One of the strategies implemented by HSBC is “Managing for Growth”, building on the company’s strengths and addresses areas where improvement have been identified as desirable and attainable (HSBC, 2010, 1). As manifested in the diversity of products and services that HSBC offers, the profile of HSBC is of a wide age range encompassing children and retirees. Their savings for children and savings for retirement attest to the fact that HSBC captures a wide market base. The proliferation of social networking made it inevitable for HSBC to address issues of safeguarding the accessibility of their Personal Internet Banking service with the installation of a security device. (HSBC Security Device, 2010, 1) According to Oladimeji, Supakkul & Chung, “a security threat is simply a potential violation of the security of a system - an event that may have some negative impact.” Their study delved into the importance of “designing security into software applications rather than retrofitting it as an afterthought”. (Oladimeji, Supakkul & Chung, n.d.) HSBC invests on managing their risks readily anticipates and identifies the threats in their system and devises a comprehensive plan of action to ensure that day-to-day operations are not compromised. In addition, a study conducted by the QM Group (2007, 1), revealed that the “leading global bank HSBC recognized there was a chance to improve the way it managed non-transactional enquiries within its UK branch network and turned to queue management specialist Qm Group to help it drive innovation, reduce waiting times and improve customer service.” Further, to improve customer service and satisfaction, “HSBC is also investing heavily in the latest banking technology, installing 600 next generation ‘smart’ deposit devices, as well as 1,200 ‘Express Banking’ kiosks, which allow customers to pay bills, transfer funds and obtain statements, and a further 500 new fee-free Automatic Teller Machines.” (QM Group, 2007, 3) Conclusion In the midst of the effects of this crisis, global enterprises are all struggling to regain their market shares. For financial institutions, greater challenges are faced in regaining public confidence. These could be difficult given the circumstances but not futile. A creative manager who knows all about his company could devise strategies to ensure that it would continue to pursue its mission and vision regardless of the seemingly insurmountable tasks which lie ahead. The strategies employed by HSBC in evaluating and examining the management and information systems that need to be improved and developed to survive in the increasingly competitive global market are instrumental in its survival and success. The management tools focused on strategic planning and examining its external environment to benefit its wide range of clientele. Its management strategy must recognize the multidimensional aspect of global strategy to ensure its successful implementation. Clear and concise performance goals must be explicitly stated by the organization before the formulation of a corporate strategy. Global organizations, like HSBC, must be vigilant in monitoring changes in the external environments to appropriately adjust organizational strategies. Only then would global organizations be ensured that performance goals are indeed achieved. Reference List HSBC Bank plc, 2010. About HSBC. Viewed 22 March 2010. Lynch, R.M. & Williamson, R.W. (1976). Accounting for Management. McGraw Hill, Inc. New York Oladimeji, E.A., Supakkul, S. & Chung, L. (n.d). Security Threat Modeling and Analysis: A Goal-Oriented Approach. Viewed 22 March 2010. Roll, M., 2004, Understanding the Purpose of a Corporate Branding Strategy. Viewed 22 March 2010. < http://www.brandchannel.com/brand_speak.asp?bs_id=81> Subramanian, C. HSBC Software. Viewed 22 March 2010. Read More