The turnaround could only start with the restructuring of the management team. Among the different communication problems identified, one with most impact on the overall situation at the bank was the lack of communication between the managerial team and the board and, quite often, between the managerial team and the structures in its subordination (such as the auditing and risk management departments).
The new leadership had no problem to work the restructuring of the management team by simply headhunting capable people, with experience in troubleshooting, from other financial institutions. Such a complete change of the management team needed to be performed carefully, because entire personnel changes could very well have an impact on the morale of the entire bank. The challenge of the new management also became to glue together the new team.
Along with the organizational restructuring also came a need to tackle the bureaucracy that had hampered so many of the internal processes at nba, included communication between units. There were several ways to do this. First, necessary restructuring of personnel was performed not only to decrease the volume of fixed costs, but also to ensure that the organizational structure became leaner and more adaptable to changes on the market.
Restructuring included not only the personnel, but also some of the bank's assets. As such, it was important to sell off NAB's National Irish Bank so that the bank could be more focused on integrating and creating one business and retaining those assets that strictly fitted the new strategic perspective for the development of the bank's activity over the next period of time. The bank's strategy included several other sell offs, but also a prospective acquisition on the Australian market (a mortgage institution), one that would allow the bank to further diversify its activity.
Second, there was an important it restructuring, both in terms of implementing new it systems and also ensuring that this type of communication...
Such a measure would have a positive impact on all three categories of problems identified, because it would improve communication, while also improving control and risk management.
One of the key objectives of the turnaround strategy was to regain the market share. A nimbler organizational structure, encouraged by personnel and activity restructuring, would facilitate this. However, the bank also needed to have an approach that would target clients directly. There were two ways this was done. First, the bank put forward new and more advantageous products, more attractive for the public. Second, it also adjusted its public image to suggest less of the arrogance with which the bank was previously associated, hence the new logo 'nab'.
In the end, an event such as the option trading irregularities triggered a much larger and wider restructuring perspective, one that included other key functions and sectors of the organization.
Bibliography
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2. Stevenson, William; Bartunek, Jean; Borgatti Stephen. Front and Backstage Processes of an Organizational Restructuring Effort. The Journal of Applied Behavorial Science. September 2003
3. Thomson, Diane; Jain, Ameeta. Accountability and Board Functionality: National Australia Bank's experience. September 2006. On the Internet at http://www.melbournecentre.com.au/Finsia_MCFS/Monday/Stream%202/DianneThomson_paper.pdf. Last retrieved on May 6, 2010
4. Acquaah-Gaisie, G. Enhancing Corporate Accountability in Australia. Australian Journal of Corporate Law, Vol. 11, pp 139-148. 2000
5. Bartholomeusz, S. Inexperience a Bigger Risk for NAB. The Age. 2006. On the Internet at http://www.theage.com.au/articles/2004/04/05/1081017101460.html. Last retrieved on May 6, 2010
