Strategic Management and Leadership - Essay Example

Strategic Development – A Long Term View Report In today’s highly competitive and globalized business environment, strategy is the most critical aspect of corporate firms; formulated business strategies are the ones that shape and direct all the activities of the corporates. In this regard, it is imperative that corporate strategic planners and strategy consultants be versed with the concepts of strategic decision-making, management and leadership. The importance of strategy in the highly competitive global business environment cannot be overlooked under any circumstances; strategy determines the direction of corporates. For this reason, corporate managers are constantly preoccupied with organizational strategic reviews to assess their organization’s strategic positions and overall strategic direction. Assessing the corporate’s strategic position and direction enables the managers to make strategic decisions that affect the long-term outcomes of the organizations. This paper aims at assessing the strategic development history of Barclays PLC (Barclays), an international financial services supplier that offers a wide variety of services including, but not limited to retail banking, wholesale banking and Investment banking; Barclays PLC also provides credit card, investment management and wealth management services. The scope of this report will include the key strategic developments that have impacted the long term direction of Barclay’s PLC to the present day, and motivations for the strategy modifications inherent in the recent past. In addition to that, the report will also cover the current strategic position and future strategic direction of Barclays Plc in the financial markets industry. The current strategic position analysis includes analyses of Barclays’ strategic macro, industry and competitive environment, and the changes and trends inherent in that environment; this is by use of relevant tools of analysis such as STEEPLE and five forces. Apart from that, the current strategic position analysis will highlight the strengths, weaknesses, opportunities, threats and strengths of Barclays Plc within the context of Resource Based Theory (RBT). The future strategic direction of Barclays Plc analysis will explore the choices available for the future direction of Barclays Plc; these options will be drawn from the current strategic position of Barclays Plc. Basing on the assessment of the various options available for the future strategic direction of Barclays Plc, this report will make recommendations on the most feasible future strategic choices. Ultimately, the report will highlight the assumptions upon which the said recommendations will be based, in addition to, the potential uncertainties and changes that may constrain those recommendations. Barclays Plc’s Strategic Development History (1980-2009) Since its inception, Barclays Plc has experienced tremendous growth and expansion to achieve a phenomenal global image and presence in the banking industry. Barclays Plc has been operational for over 300 years with activities in Europe, America, Africa and Asia (Funding Universe n.d.). The bank operates in over 50 countries within eight segments namely: Africa Retail and Business Banking, UK Retail and Business Banking, Europe Retail and Business Banking, Barclay Card, Barclays Investment Bank, Wealth and Investment Management, Barclays Corporate Banking and Head Office and other Operations. Barclays’s journey within the financial services sector generally and the banking sector particularly can be traced to around 300 years ago in the United Kingdom. From goldsmith bankers to a full-fledged Barclays bank’s status it is today, Barclays has undergone various transformations in the form of strategic readjustments. Since late 1880s, Barclays Plc has had to adopt stringent strategies so as to survive in the highly competitive financial services industry and the banking sector in particular. Among these strategies was the adoption of two major money-generating enterprises namely the Barclaycard and the Mercantile Credit. This move was aimed at recapturing Barclays’ domestic market amid strong competition from other banks such as National Westminster Bank and building societies. Barclays also bankrolled an ambitious plan to step up its technology thus leading to the introduction of UK’s first electronic debit card. The bank started operating on Saturday mornings in the year 1982 and two years later, there was an increase in profits. Throughout the early 1980s era, Barclays’ main strategy was rapid expansion and aggressive lending policies that were aimed at rapidly increasing the bank’s earnings. However, these strategies led to a number of challenges such as accumulation of low quality loans, high operational cost and high bad-debt ratio for the bank (Funding Universe). Barclays was forced to reduce its African investment due to the disastrous steady deterioration of African economies around this era. Barclays Bank and Barclays Bank International merged in the year 1885 and became a group holding company under the name Barclays Plc; around the same time, the UK retail banking was brought under Barclays Bank International and it became known as Barclays Bank Plc. The following year, 1986, Barclays sold its South African business (Barclays National Bank) in response to the subsidiary’s poor performance; Barclays also bought Barclays de Zoete & Bevan alongside Wedd Durlacher thus forming BZW. Barclays Plc sold its California branch to Wells Fargo in the year 1988, and in the year 1996, Barclays took over the Wells Fargo Nikko Investment; after this acquisition, Barclays fused the Nikko investment venture with BZW Investment Management thus forming Barclays Global Investors. In the early 1990s, Barclays was still expanding its operational base; for instance, Barclays acquired a Germany investment bank known as Merck, Finck & Co. and another business located in Paris- L’Europeenne de Banque (Funding Universe n.d.). However, due to prolonged recessions on the Atlantic, there were numerous bankruptcies that resulted to large losses for Barclays Plc. In order to cushion its operations against the high operational costs and low profits, Barclays Plc was forced to set aside about 1.55 Euros in 1991 and 2.5 Euros in the year 1992 (Funding Universe n.d.). The period that lasted through early 1990s to mid1990s saw Barclays Plc embark on a broad retrenchment program that was aimed at reducing the bank’s operations in selected regions and countries. Barclays Plc also embarked on a cost-cutting program, in addition to, restructuring its domestic retail banking operations. Barclays reduced its US operations by leaving the US retail banking in the year 1992 when it sold its remaining branches and assets were acquired by Bank of New York Co. Barclays Business Credit that offered asset-based lending to US based firms was acquired by Norwest Mortgage Inc., by the close of the year 1994. The most succinct example of the cost-cutting program is inherent in the elimination of over 18000 jobs in the period starting 1990 up to 1995. As part of the bank’s program to restructure its domestic retail banking, most of the job cuts were done in the UK, and by late1994, the bank had reduced its domestic branch network to 2080. In mid 1990s, Barclays focused much of its energies on Asset Management Group; this can be seen in its move of acquiring Wells Fargo Nikko investment Advisers in 1995 and integrating it into the Asset Management Group. Barclays continued to face stiff competition in the late 1990s, especially because large mergers had rendered it unable to compete in the global investment banking industry. In the year 1998, the BZW venture was dissolved, and the individual components that made up the business were sold to Credit Suisse First Boston; however, Barclays did not sell its Barclays’ debt business, it remained to form what is known today as Barclays Capital. In the wake of 1999, Barclays unleashed its internet service known as Barclays net, which was later acquired by British Telecom in the year 2001. Barclays Plc entered the 21st century by embracing the online banking program; this move led to the closing down of Barclays’ 171 UK branches largely situated in the local communities and the elimination of over 6000 jobs from the UK workforce (Funding Universe n.d.). The company still kept eyeing opportunities for expansion in this era thus acquiring Woolwich plc, a move that was projected to hold a lot of advantages for Barclays. For instance, according to The Wall Street Journal, the move would increase Barclay’s influence in the UK Mortgage sector to about 18%; the move was also expected to raise Barclays’s total customer base by about 3 million to an impressive 16 million. Being UK’s most successful online-banking venture, Woolwich bolstered Barclays’ online Banking service and made the bank to have the largest number of online customers than any other UK based bank. Barclays continued to increase its presence in Europe through further acquisitions such as the Spain based Banco Zaragozano in the year 2003 at a cost of 1.8 billion dollars. In the year 2004, Barclays started focusing on increasing its revenues, controlling its operational costs and adopting cautious risk management approaches. The company thus was preoccupied with organic growth to improve its sales and profits globally, while remaining open to merger opportunities. In this respect, Barclays acquired the South African Absa bank in the year 2005 that has catapulted the bank to the market leader position Africa (Varley 2007). Barclays Plc’s Current Strategic Location Barclays Plc has come a long way in the financial services industry and banking sector in particular; Barclays Plc strategic position in the industry has a lot to do with the company’s long standing strategic development history. After having examined Barclays Plc’s strategic development history for the period lying between early 1980s and 2009, the following is the analysis of Barclays Plc’s strategic position in the financial services industry in general and the banking sector in particular. Barclays Plc occupies a very strong strategic position in the financial services industry especially after it acquired Lehmann Brothers in the year 2003; statistical evidence indicates that Barclays Plc has been recording impressive financials in the recent years, 2009 onwards. For instance, in the financial year 2009 (FY2009), Barclays’s total revenues rose up to 29, 954 million pounds, its operating income to 4, 337 million pounds and the net profit was 9, 393 million pounds. To begin our evaluation of Barclays Plc’s current strategic position, we shall undertake a STEEPLE analysis of the company’s macro environment. After assessing Barclays strategic position in the financial services industry by STEEPLE, we shall also carry out Barclays’ SWOT analysis, alongside its competitors. STEEPLE analysis is a tool that provides a framework upon which organizational macro environments can be evaluated. This analysis covers the Socio-cultural, Technological, Economic, Environmental, Political, Legal and Ethical forces that often determine organizational strategic decisions. Organizations have no power over these forces in their macro environment, and as such, organizational strategic decisions will be subject to changes that are motivated by alterations in any of these forces. Socio-Cultural factors Social factors includes the cultural aspects/values held by societies in the different countries that Barclays Plc operates within; these may include national demographics, age distribution, population growth rates, wealth distribution and levels of education. They may also include career attitudes, social classes, standards of life and forms of living. Barclays has also been subject to changes in the socio-cultural factors such as ageing population in some countries that is likely to result to high cost of labour. Social factors affect Barclays’ strategic position in the sense that the company’s decisions are tailored to ensure client satisfaction; the bank has to pay particular attention to the socio-cultural dynamics of different societies where it operates. This is important because it helps the bank to take into consideration the different needs of different societies where it operates and by meeting those needs, the company promotes itself. Technological factors Technological factors encompasses technological innovations and advancements, the rapid advancements in internet and e-commerce; other factors on this list include advancements in information and mobile technology, material development, advanced methods of production and government spending on research. Barclays Plc has had to effect changes in its strategic position in the financial services industry by adopting new telecommunication systems such as fibre optic telecommunication and internet. These new technological advancements have been the basis of Barclays’ Mobile banking, online banking segments that have revolutionized the banking experience. The bank has also adopted the next generation financial kiosks, NCR Self-Serve 4 (for non-cash transactions including appointment check-in and account services) and Self-Serve 8 (for cash transactions such as deposits and bill payments). On top of these, Barclays Plc operates Automatic Teller Machines (ATMs) in all local branches, some of which are equipped with touch screen capabilities. Economic factors Economic factors affecting Barclays Plc’s operations include economic growth rates of countries, costs of resources/raw material (may include energy), interest rates and monetary policies. In addition to that, economic factors may also include exchange rates and inflation rates in different countries and levels of employment or unemployment. All these factors differ in different countries, and they have a direct impact on the current strategic position of Barclays Plc in the financial services industry. Barclays Plc has been obliged to pay attention to all the above economic factors in countries where it operates with the broader aim being to facilitate the establishment of stable national economies. Interest rates affect Barclays’ cost of capital thus determines the banks global growth and expansion rates. Exchange rates, on the other hand, determines the cost of exports and imports in national economies around the world, thus affecting Barclays’ international operations. For instance, Barclays has been victim to a number of economic factors such as the increase in the UK’s Gross domestic product by 0.5%rise in the Eurozone interest rate in 2011, high inflation in China and the rise in developing countries’ import costs. Environmental factors Environmental concerns that affect Barclays Plc have inclinations to environmental impact through resource exploitation, waste disposal and recycling procedures. A heightened global consciousness with environmental concerns such as global climate change and environmental protection has affected how Barclays operates. For instance, the company has had to adopt strategies that demonstrate its commitment to global environmental goals and objectives (Group.barclays5 n.d.). Barclays Plc recognizes its obligations to manage its environmental impact through such measures as implementation of a global environmental management system, establishing targets for the company’s main environmental impacts, compliance with environmental policies and reducing the company’s use of natural resources. Barclays Plc has also ensured that the design process for all new properties pay due regard to environmental sustainability, in addition to carrying out environment sustainability assessments on the Company’s key projects. Political factors The political factors affecting Barclays Plc include but are not limited to political stability of countries and the attitudes/influences of political parties on regulation- tax policies, labour and environmental laws, trade restrictions and tariffs. Barclays Plc is subject to all the above political influences, and to a great extent, its strategic position in the financial services industry and the banking sector in particular too. For instance, political stability in the UK, US, Asia and the Southern parts of Africa heavily influences the company’s growth and expansion programs. The stable political environments in these countries enable Barclays Plc to thrive in International financial services by diversifying its operations globally. Legal factors Barclays bank is subject to legal frameworks such as consumer law, discrimination law, and anti-trust law, employment law, in addition to, health and safety laws, in the countries where it operates. These laws have shaped the current strategic position of the company in financial services industry by dictating Barclays’ strategic decisions. For instance, the bank is obliged, in some countries, to ensure that it hires a given percentage of staff from their populations without any forms of employee discrimination whatsoever. Barclays Plc recognizes and respects the talents of certain minority and underprivileged groups such as women, disabled persons and LGBTs. For instance, the gender question is Barclays’ main point of focus in their global diversity and inclusion strategy that is spearheaded by Barclays Executive Diversity Group (Group.barclays4 n.d.); the company aims at increasing the presence of women in senior leadership positions. Ethical factors Ethical considerations are a focus in Barclays Plc’s current strategic position, as the bank has embarked on a crucial strategy to embrace honest business practices while avoiding scandalous dealings (Kirka 2013). Barclays Plc cannot afford to ignore business ethics in the global financial services industry because this is likely to lead into penalties; the bank has already been fined before for undermining business ethics by manipulating the London interbank offered rate. Barclays Plc recognizes that even though it has a responsibility to its shareholders and customers, it must undertake those responsibilities in honest and just ways. Barclays Plc’s Five Forces Analysis According to the Porter’s five forces analysis, about five factors determine the market competitiveness of any given industry. These include the threat of new entrants into an existing market, the threat of availability of substitute products and the industry-suppliers bargaining power. The other two forces include customers’ bargaining power, and the degree of competitive rivalry within the respective industry. Threat of new entrants Barclays Plc is likely to be affected by the threat of new entrants into the financial services industry due to emerging markets in India and Africa; however, in as much the new markets might attract new entrants, entry into this industry is constrained by strict regulations by the governments and central banks. Still, Barclays is in danger of being squeezed out of the payments business by private entrepreneurs who can capitalize on services such as internet bill payment. Insurance companies can also easily offer mortgage and loan services thus posing a real threat to Barclays Plc. Threat of substitute products Barclays Plc faces a serious threat of substitution in the financial services industry due to the availability of many substitutes for clients; for instance, many non-banking financial services companies can offer cover, fixed income securities or joint funds. Other unconventional companies such as General Motors, Microsoft and Sony also provide preferred financing (with low or no interest at all) to clients who make large purchases thus edging banks out of the money-lending services. Suppliers bargaining power Barclays Plc is less likely to be affected by its suppliers because they are not as strong as the bank itself; however, in as much as the suppliers of capital do not pose any threat to Barclays Plc, they can entice Barclays’ human capital to leave the bank in favour of alternative, lucrative offers. For instance, Barclays Plc stands a risk of losing its human capital to larger banks and investment firms, due to attractive pay offers, higher than its own. Customers bargaining power Barclays Plc is less likely to be affected by individual customers due to the high switching costs that characterize the financial services industry, in addition to, negative biases against the switching option. However, large corporate clients are likely to switch from banks to financial institutions due to the alluring exchange rates, expanded services and exposure to foreign markets offered by these institutions. Competitive rivalry The banking sector is very competitive area of engagement especially because the financial services industry has been in existence for hundreds of years. There are so many banks in the business already, and Barclays Plc is just one of the many that continuously struggle for dominance. Banks adopt a number of strategies in order to outshine one another in the banking sector which include but are not limited to lower financing rates, preferred rates and investment services. Barclays’ internal resources and capabilities According to the Resource Based View theory, companies have a capacity to earn sustainable profits if they have superior resources that are shielded from diffusion into the entire industry to which the companies belong. Barclays Plc has amassed many resources in terms of skilled human capital, capital, physical assets and technological innovations. Barclays Plc has also acquired numerous small companies across national frontiers thus further diversifying its resources in the banking sector. Barclays Plc has a number of competitive advantages in the banking sector including a strong core tier 1 ratio of about 11% (Group.barclays1 2012). Barclays Plc’s SWOT Analysis The following Barclays Plc’s SWOT analysis provides an insight on Barclays Plc’s strategic position, based on the STEEPLE and porter’s five forces analyses already undertaken above. Strengths i. Barclays Plc is the third largest bank in the world basing on assets with 11% core tier 1 ratio. ii. Barclays Capital was ranked the second overall in a survey by Risk Magazine on Institutional Investor clients iii. Barclays Plc has developed unique technological inventions such as first ever credit card and mobile banking technologies iv. Barclays Plc has a strong brand name that has developed for over 300 years and experience in financial services industry v. The bank has a broad global presence with diversified operations in the world’s leading economies such as the US, the UK, Asia and Africa Weaknesses i. Poor customer service especially in Barclays’ UK retail banking ii. Unattractive shares due to low earnings performance iii. Barclays loans have high interest rates iv. Barclays savings accounts have low interest rates Opportunities i. Barclays Plc can take advantage of emerging markets in Africa and Asia ii. Barclays Bank has great expansion potential in Africa as a result of its merger with South African Absa iii. Barclays Wealth International can take advantage of the telephone banking innovation to offer secure, personalized and private services iv. Opportunities also lie in Barclays Capital especially after it was strengthened by appointment of ten directors Threats i. Different government policies and regulations in global financial markets ii. Increased competition from other banks and non-banking financial companies that offer substitute financial services iii. Pending Merlin Agreement that obliges banks to have capital and resources to boost gross new lending of 190 billion pounds iv. Pending suggestion to split retail and investment banking Synopsis of Barclays Plc’s Strategic Position Barclays Plc has been able to stamp its position in the financial services industry as a global financial services provider with varied/diversified activities and operations in the UK, US, Asia and Africa (Group barclays3 2013). This phenomenal success has been backed by solid strategic investment decisions that have shaped the company’s strategy development in the recent past. In this respect, Barclays Plc occupies a very influential position in this sector, with a lot of potential for further growth and expansion. Having traced Barclays Plc’s strategic development history and its current strategic position in the global financial services industry, we can now focus on Barclays Plc’s strategic future direction. Barclays Plc’s Strategic Direction for the Future Basing on Barclays’s strategic position in the financial services industry in general, and the banking sector in particular, we can trace its strategic future direction as follows: Firstly, Barclay Plc will need to focus on customer-centric strategies that will lead to high customer satisfaction (Newsroom.barclays 2013); this is by assessing, identifying and providing their clients’ needs. One viable way for Barclays to do this is to carry out regular products and services reviews through market surveys to identify its potential clients’ needs in the financial services industry. Secondly, Barclays Plc will need to increase its involvement in the larger societies where it operates through Corporate Social Responsibility and ethical strategies. Increased involvement in the local communities and global financial markets will increase Barclays’ competitive advantages thus increasing returns. In this respect, Barclays has to help in the development of global economies through creation of jobs and continuous investments. The Company should also consider revising its lending and savings account interest rates so as to attract more clients both domestically and abroad through Barclays’ international operations. Money lending services are crucial for developing economies because they boost investments in global economies (Diamond 2010). Barclays’ loans having high interest rates are unattractive to potential investors in the global economies. In addition to that, Barclays Plc has the option of diversifying its operations thus spreading its financial risks in international markets. The company will therefore benefit largely from investments in the emerging Africa and Asian financial markets that are yet to be exploited to their full potential (Group.barclays3 2013). In Africa, Barclays will have to take full advantage of its merger with South Africa’s Absa to expand its investments on the continent. The bank has the option of consolidating all its major Africa businesses and Absa “one Africa” strategy (Imara Africa 2012). In the midst of the precarious uncertainties arising from the impact of enacting the pending new Basel rules on bank’s capital ratios, Barclays bank has the option of focusing on generating substantial organic equity (Diamond 2010). Barclays has to remain committed to maintaining its capital levels, influence, balance sheet growth and utilization and disposal of legacy assets (Newsroom.barclays 2013). By maintaining a forward momentum, Barclays Plc will be able to overcome negative impacts in the industry. Barclays will have to increase its revenues on equity and on physical assets to survive in the highly competitive global financial services industry in the long term; the Bank anticipates a decline in the cost of equity from about 12.5% recorded in 2010 to about a 10%, before the credit crisis in major economies (Diamond 2010). In order to achieve the anticipated results, Barclays will have to review its strategic operational model by cutting down costs alongside other readjustments in the medium term (Group.barclays2 2013). Recommendations For Barclays’ Plc to achieve its projected growth and expansion that will ensure the company’s future sustainability and profitability, it is imperative that some strategy modifications be undertaken. The company should invest more in staff development programs so as to improve the staff’s customer relations proficiency. The bank should try to meet its clients’ expectations and needs through comprehensive products and services market-value assessment surveys. This move will enable Barclays Plc to become a “go-to” bank (Group.barclays2 2013); it will attract more clients from its rivals in the banking sector as well as retain the existing customer base. Barclays Plc should also intensify its ethics strategies so as to reform the brand after its global image suffered adversely from negative publicity after a series unethical business strategies (Kirka 2013). The bank will greatly benefit from institutionalization of ethical practices in its operational structure; this is because such a move will boost its reputation thus increasing clients’ trust in the bank. The company’s investment potential and customer base is likely to increase because of a transformation of the company’s standards and culture (Slater 2013). In this same regard, Barclays should try to reduce its job cuts to retain a skilled workforce as a future strategic direction. The firm has made clear its intentions of wanting to reduce its workforce in the investment banking division by over 8% or 1800 jobs in the year 2013 (Alden 2013). Technological innovations such as internet and mobile banking have a great capacity to bolster the company’s growth and presence both in domestic and international financial markets. The company should also intensify its research in technological systems that will ease the tedious and cumbersome banking processes in traditional banks. This is a sure way of increasing efficiency in the banking system, in addition to reducing the banks operational costs while boosting its global presence in the financial services industry (Group.barclays2 2013). Conclusion Ultimately, Barclays Plc has undergone various transformations in response to diverse forces in its macro environment; the STEEPLE, five forces and SWOT analyses have yielded incisive information on the company’s strategic development over the past years, in addition to, its current strategic position in the global financial services industry. The future strategic direction for Barclays Plc has also been inherent from the company’s strategic development and position; the company can exploit this information to steer its global operations in the desirable direction amid the high competition in the financial services industry. References Funding Universe. n.d. “Barclays Plc History”. Fundinguniverse.com. [Online]. Available at: http://www.fundinguniverse.com/company-histories/barclays-plc-history/ Accessed [15th Feb, 2013] Group.barclays1 . 2012. “Barclays PLC Results Announcement” . Group.barclays.com. [Online]. 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Honesty is best for business: New chief at Barclays embraces ethics at scandal-ridden bank. Timescolonist.com. [Online]. Available at: http://www.timescolonist.com/business/honesty-is-best-for-business-new-chief-at- barclays-embraces-ethics-at-scandal-ridden-bank-1.72234 Accessed: [15th Feb, 2013] Diamond, B. 2010. Annual Report 2010: Chief Executives review. [Online]. Available at: http://reports.barclays.com/ar10/page_16.html Accessed: [15th Feb, 2013] Read More