Work Experience Report: Reflections on experiences at Invesco - Essay Example

? Work Experience Report: Reflections on experiences at Invesco HERE YOUR SCHOOL INFO HERE HERE PLACE YOUR ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS HERE EXECUTIVE SUMMARY This report highlights work placement experience at Invesco, an investment management company offering a diverse product portfolio of money markets, ETFs and a variety of other financial instruments for wealth growth and management. Work experience included data entry into the Customer Relationship Management software system. Inclusive in the experience was attendance of sales and marketing meetings, conference call attendance, and meetings with an Index Fund Advisor. CRM information is critical to the Invesco business model as it builds new and innovative approaches to gaining market attention with diverse domestic and international customers. The integrity of this data was important in the student’s responsibilities during placement since this information is critical for gaining competitive advantage. Team working capabilities and understanding of knowledge management and knowledge transfer represented two important skills gleaned through the experience. Employability is marked by having business knowledge awareness and being able to conduct analyses of economics and the external market environment. The experience changed the student’s views on the business world, especially in relation to networking with customers and being able to motivate a team-centric environment. The experience provided many transferrable and employable skills that will be relevant in the student’s future goals in sales and marketing. TABLE OF CONTENTS 1.0 Introduction............................................................................................................ 2.0 Work experience.................................................................................................... 3.0 Management problems.......................................................................................... 4.0 Personal development............................................................................................ 5.0 Changes in personal outlook................................................................................. 6.0 Summary and conclusion....................................................................................... References 1.0 Introduction This report highlights work experience for a 30-hour placement at Invesco, an investment management firm sustaining $4.18 billion USD in 2011 (Invesco 2012). Common stock shares of Invesco are traded on the Standard & Poor’s Index, operating multiple business segments such as Invesco Perpetual, Trimark and Powershares. Invesco maintains a very diversified portfolio of brands, including a recent $1.5 billion USD acquisition of Morgan Stanley’s retail business division (Hanna 2009). Invesco as a conglomerate whole reported, in 2011, total assets of $632 billion USD (Invesco 2011). Work experience occurred at Invesco Perpetual which is headquartered at Henley-on-Thames in the United Kingdom. Invesco offers a variety of products across an extremely diverse investment market, including mutual funds, money market funds, unit trusts, and exchange traded funds (ETFs), provided across many equity and fixed income investment vehicles (Invesco 2013). These investment management services, as well as internal divisions all along the value chain, are supported by over 6,100 employees in 20 different nations. Invesco maintains a highly centralised organisational structure, with such executives in divisions ranging from legal to accounting and control that report directly to the CEO, Martin Flanagan. The managing director of Invesco Perpetual, James Robertson, consists of 85 different executives that report to Robertson in areas of marketing, public relations, research, specialist funds, and product. Under centralised organisational structures, information moves vertically throughout the business with little opportunity for autonomous work without direct consultation and approval from senior leadership. This is due to the fact that Invesco must comply with domestic and internal regulatory environments, such as the U.S.-based Securities and Exchange Commission, which dictates a centralised structure to ensure compliance and fulfilment of political obligations in diverse international markets. A decentralised organisation is impractical in an environment where the diversity of social and economic conditions requires constant environmental scanning in order to create appropriate products, ensure adequate and regionalised marketing efforts for customers with unique lifestyles, needs and social norms as well as fluctuating currency valuations impacted by volatility in the trading markets domestic and international. Invesco operates within a dynamic competitive environment, one that is highly saturated with a variety of rival investment management companies such as Wells Fargo, Morgan Stanley, HSBC, and many other large conglomerate organisations. Thompson, Gamble and Strickland (2005) describe the work of Michael Porter illustrating forces that impact business strategy development. The most significant of these is a threat of competitive rivalry which, in turn, can create high buying power with customers in the market. Intensive competitive emphasis on value propositioning and marketing promotions create an environment where Invesco must be innovative in product development and positioning in order to gain a better brand reputation over rivals. Constant threats of brand defection by important clients to seek other financial services coerces Invesco to devote consider financial and labour capital into brand-building activities. 2.0 Work experience Because my goal is to gain a position in sales and marketing, preferably in emerging markets such as China or the United Arab Emirates, it made practical sense to seek out a placement position with a company that works with these diverse market environments. Though placement could have occurred within a business environment such as a cafe or supermarket, it was not necessarily relevant for expanding my current academic and professional competencies related to marketing. I felt that I was well-equipped with fundamental business management concepts, therefore I required development in the real-world sales and marketing environment to enhance professional growth. As such, I contacted my father who is in a management position at Invesco Perpetual who was able to negotiate a professional, short-term placement at the company in the UK. Employment experience involved data entry into the Customer Relationship Management system, which included input of information from internal meetings related to sales calls and the potential products and opportunities associated with a variety of clients. This function is to ensure that marketing is targeted appropriately for diverse clientele relating to banking, IFAs and Fund Buyers Direct customers. Additional responsibilities included participation in meetings with the bank product management team and an index fund advisor (IFA) discussing technical aspects of marketing such as product positioning with a variety of wealth management products. The student also worked with the sales and marketing team, attending a seminar referred to as Investment Intelligence, an opportunity to provide technical support to Invesco customers. This was a formal presentation to clients supplemented with a client dinner which provided opportunities to network with many Invesco managers and employees as well as client investors. What was most challenging in the placement was participation in business meetings with the Index Fund Advisor, sales and marketing, and other management professionals. Much of the terminology discussed was rather mechanical, discussing the indices and investment potential of a variety of investment management products and services. Not equipped with pre-existing knowledge of the financial services industry, I was more interested in learning about how the management and service support teams assessed the external market, compared this information to internal competencies within the organisational structure, and then proposed new value propositions and marketing strategies to build revenues with diverse clientele. Fortunately, the placement leadership did not set any specific target for accomplishment, only that the student was engaged and inquisitive about the processes and terminologies that were being discussed. My expedient and accurate entry of data into the CRM system was applauded by the management team and there was considerable respect offered for being participative during the marketing seminar, conference calls and during engagement with sales and marketing. 3.0 Management problems The most important, industry-relevant task that I was assigned to perform was data entry and evaluation of information as it was input into the CRM systems at Invesco. As previously identified, Invesco operates in a very saturated and dynamically competitive industry where financial services are difficult to differentiate due to their like returns and characteristics. Data input can be segmented into different categories to satisfy marketing objectives. The data is further broken down to that mail shots can be strategically targeted towards desired clients sharing certain market characteristics to certain products or service offerings. Moilanen and Rainisto (2008) describe the marketing function of place marketing, involving how to build a brand focused around a certain region, such as the specific customs and values prevalent within a certain market environment. Invesco operates domestically and internationally, thereby requiring focused advertising and promotions that are aligned with local customs and culture in order to gain new market interest in selecting Invesco for investment and product purchases. The data from the CRM is not only provided through domestic investment management services, but encompasses a broad range of international product offerings. Therefore, having an individual properly segment the data for each of the different divisions provides place-centric mailings that focus on how local investment management services can be aligned to the particular social, economic or cultural needs of diverse international employees. There are many risks to the business model related to improper data entry or failing to properly segment the data according to different products available in international markets, as this will create ineffective promotions that do not meet the psycho-social needs of foreign investment product buyers. Alternative strategies for achieving marketing success for diverse foreign and domestic buyers are to develop unique, customised value propositions that are relevant to the needs and values of diverse buyer segments. Value propositions must be defined so that they meet the well-being of customer segments and describe, briefly, how Invesco can provide superior value over competition (Boone and Kurtz 2007). This can include elements of price, which is especially important in price-sensitive markets, speed of services, or even access to high volume product inventories. Without having a well-structured CRM system, value propositions rather than costly advertising will likely not service the psychologically-centric needs of customers and therefore deplete the relevancy of promotional strategies. This reinforces that even though the CRM systems must be accurate and segmented properly for appropriate targeting, such information can also be translated into more effective value proposition creation to build even more positive brand personality in diverse international markets. As such, there is a great deal of pressure at Invesco to ensure that data integrity is viable and sufficient to meet competitive marketing needs. Zhang and Chan (2009) reinforce that when a brand is able to provide customers with discernment that a brand can provide them opportunities for self-expansion, buyers are likely to build attachments with the brand that ultimately leads to loyalty. Self-expansion should be referred to, in this case, as the ability to improve lifestyle, social position or economic position of buyers. Building brand attachments are a fundamental need within Invesco as the switching costs for buyers to move to other investment management companies are quite low. This is why I, and the management team, felt that the role of data input into the customer relationship management software was so critical since so much effort from managers and the executives is put forth toward the marketing function to position the business effectively with desired markets with characteristics that fit the value proposition of Invesco and its service ideologies. When a brand is able to build loyalty, it provides opportunities to offer premium pricing structures, with acknowledgement that loyal customers will increase their spending over time (Chaudhuri and Holbrook 2001). Meetings with the sales and marketing team and other management professionals at Invesco consistently reinforced the importance of establishing effective promotional strategies for products or the brand as a holistic entity. As such, I realised that the CRM input responsibility had broad implications for Invesco related to how consumers perceive the brand and by which they could build important long-run attachments to the company. In today’s dynamic markets, the only real asset a business maintains is its brand value, which is the only real asset that cannot be emulated or replicated by competition (Nandan 2005). This again reinforces not only the pressures of accurate and properly segmented CRM data, but its long-term importance on building competitive advantage with Invesco. 4.0 Personal development One of the most critical benefits that were gleaned through the placement with Invesco was working effectively with teams maintaining various levels of authority and personal values and beliefs. During team meetings and conference calls, there was a great deal of emphasis placed on coming up with innovative products and marketing strategies. Stover (2004) reminds the business world that if effective innovations are to be developed, it is necessary to interact with others rather than working in isolation. Invesco is such a diverse conglomerate maintaining individuals that have distinct knowledge that others in the business do not hold about internal processes and the tangible products being offered through investment management services. I was able to witness, first-hand, the conflicts that occurred when diverse individuals shared different views about strategy development and opportunities for improving the business’ position. However, when observing team methodology in action, I saw how the literature on knowledge management and knowledge transfer could be applied to the group dynamic. Invesco executives and other managers relied on their teammates to explain certain dimensions of product and service, as well as strategy, so that insight could be provided to essentially teach others about how Invesco operates holistically. Edwards and Ewen (1996) reinforces that when individuals in the organisation receive feedback from their colleagues and peers, they are more likely to be intrinsically motivated to change their work behaviours and habits. Experience at Invesco illustrated the importance of establishing a team-centric environment so that tacit and explicit knowledge holders can work cooperatively in order to develop workable strategies to improve competitive advantage and business positioning in the competitive market. Archer and Davison (2008) describe that many of today’s employers (30%) have significant problems with fundamental skills from their employees, which include team functioning, problem-solving and communication. Having this practical experience in how effective teams work through conflicts and cooperatively gives me an advantage over other candidates that are unable to work collectively in a dynamic environment where knowledge sharing is vital to business success and strategy development. Since today’s businesses require considerable talent and prowess in team coordination, the skills learned through the placement about how to maintain professional decorum whilst also communicating tacit knowledge to teach others are absolutely transferrable. This is especially true since so many business leaders are reporting problems in this area. Additionally, the course and the placement experience assisted in understanding the complexity of economics in not only investment management firms, but when conducting generic strategic audits of the external market environment. One of the most primary leadership competencies that are in demand, according to the course, is analysis capability. In a business environment where other companies can develop a disruptive innovation in the market, which is defined as a unique product offering that “transforms or displaces an establishment market”, forcing businesses to rapidly lose market share competitively (Christensen and Raynor 2003, p.72). This is always a risk in the investment management industry due to the intensive competitive rivalry occurring between competitors. A competent manager should have the ability to assess the current resource capabilities of a business, consider future capital needs, coupled with understanding of the market related to pricing structures, in order to determine a new strategic position. I believe that the investment services industry and witnessing the complexity of macro-level economic issues provided me with valuable first-hand knowledge that reinforces the necessity to be a very analytical manager with the ability to assess a wide range of market conditions. Archer and Davison (2008) again reinforce that employers are very concerned about limited business awareness with graduates when considering employability. I firmly believe that seeing how diverse executives and managers are able to consider the market conditions and economics of investment management and translate these into effective strategies for revenue growth provide me with employable and transferrable skills. When interviewing for positions, I think reinforcing these lessons with a fundamental emphasis on macro- and micro-level economic analyses will be both impressive to potential employers and also alleviate their concerns about potential lack of awareness of business issues that genuinely impact business success. 5.0 Changes in personal outlook The work experience at Invesco gave me both practical knowledge that can be applied to real-world business environments and also reinforced my desire to seek a marketing and sales position. Developing markets, especially, require individuals that can assist future leaders in gaining business prowess. Understanding the professional team environment will definitely assist in future job growth and employability. I definitely do not see any of my experiences as being unsuccessful, however this was due to having limited targets set for specific performance outcomes. I was able to build important networking opportunities with influential businesspersons at Invesco that could assist in gaining employment post-graduation. What could have been better would have been more interactivity with the marketing and sales division in their daily activities, being able to witness promotional developments or contact with customers in the business-to-business environment to perform qualitative observations about how to work interactively with diverse business investment product buyers. This would have been more relevant to my aspirations as a future marketing professional. My attitude about the business world did, however, change after seeing how teams functioned so well at Invesco. People were genuinely motivated and inspired to build a better strategic position which was obvious in mannerism and communications. Kotter (2001) offers that motivation turns intrinsic related to desire for achievement of high performance when people are energised by their colleagues; and where the environment is inspirational. Where I had once thought that autonomy was the key to success, I have learned that a transformational and inclusive environment with mutual colleague support is fundamental to building a positive internal culture and achieving important milestones for business improvement. 6.0 Summary and conclusion As identified, employability skills gained through placement included team working, economic and market analysis, and understanding of the importance of communication. Additional skills included new software understanding that is vital for working in technologically-equipped environments. I also learned how to network with important business clients and management members, which is something necessary to stand out among a highly competitive job market. By attending the marketing seminar with a supplementary dinner, I was exposed to many social circumstances from very diverse customer segments that showed a great deal of justification to many marketing theories about psychographic segmentation and targeting. The experience of working with diverse individuals also impressed the management team, showing that I maintained the communication and social skills necessary to be a sales leader or marketing professional. In the marketing function, it is absolutely critical to be able to network and work inter-dependently with internal and external actors. Working at Invesco provided me with a better framework by which to build trust and interest with diverse consumer segments, something necessary to find success in this field. These are skills that have transferability in the business world and would be deemed employability skills by many employers. References Archer, W. and Davison, J. (2008). Graduate employability: what do employers think and want?, The Council for Industry and Higher Education. Boone, L. and Kurtz, D. (2007). Contemporary Marketing, 13th edn. United Kingdom: Thompson South-Western. Chaudhuri, A. and Holbrook, M.B. (2001). ‘The chain of effects from brand trust and brand affect to brand performance: the role of brand loyalty’, Journal of Marketing, 65(2), pp.81-93. Christensen, C.M. and Raynor, M.E. (2003). The Innovator’s Solution: creating and sustaining successful growth. Boston: Harvard Business School Press. Edwards, M.R. and Ewen, A.J. (1996). 360-Degree Feedback: the powerful new model for assessment and performance improvement. New York: AMACOM Books. Hanna, S. (2009). Invesco pulls the trigger on Van Kampen deal. 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