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    Case Study

    ABN AMRO: When culture drives transformation

    By Michael R. Wade and Lisa Simone Duke
    16 pages
    December 2020
    Order this case study
    Reference: IMD-7-2192

    The case describes two transformation journeys for ABN AMRO bank. The first transformation is cultural and the second is digital. It explores the interplay between these two journeys from the perspective of the head of the Personal Banking. The case goes into detail regarding how to bank rebuilt its internal operating model. The hierarchy was delayered and replaced with agile ways of working, employee empowerment, and a new performance management approach. At first, there was a lot of chaos, but, after some time for adjustment, benefits started to appear, such as higher NPS scores, and better financial results. The new approach also helped the bank cope with the COVID-19 pandemic as many of the changes were linked to remote working for employees and technology-mediated service provision for customers. Yet, the case describes the appearance of some new challenges. While some teams embraced the new ways of working, others had trouble letting go of legacy approaches. There were some inconsistencies and confusion around performance measurement. Despite improving performance in some areas, multifunctional teams were not necessarily delivering the best customer experiences. Sick leave was increasing, and there were signs that employee engagement was falling. The reader is placed in the shoes of the head of Personal Banking must to come up with solutions to these challenges.

    Learning Objective
    • Explore the impact of large cultural change on digital transformation.
    • Examine the scaling challenges that occur along the transformation journey.
    Keywords
    Strategy, Digital Transformation, Culture, Scaling, Self-organization, COVID-19, Digital
    Settings
    Europe, Netherlands
    ABN AMRO, Finance and Insurance, Banking
    2020
    Type
    Field Research
    Copyright
    © 2020
    Available Languages
    English, Russian
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    Copyright ©2024
    Copyright owner IMD Copyright
    Organization Daikin Industries
    Industry Consumer Goods, Home Appliances
    Available Languages English
    Contact

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    By Kazuo Ichijo and Yunfei Feng
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    By Joep de Caluwé
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    Summary
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    Read more
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    By Joep de Caluwé
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    Learn why flashy innovation often fails and how a strategic, fact-based approach can drive real innovation success in corporate environments. Insights from industry experts. In this final article in a series of three articles, Joep De Caluwé (EMB...
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    Reference IMD-7-2634
    Copyright ©2024
    Copyright owner IMD Copyright
    Organization Development Bank of Singapore
    Industry Finance and Insurance, Banking
    Available Languages English
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