akbank Service and Management Analyzed

Akbank
1. Write a directive to the Director of Marketing and Communications outlining the exact strategy they should take to a) write an external public response addressing the situation and b) develop a short and long-term marketing strategy going forward
To: Director of Marketing and Communications
From: Chief Executive Officer
Date: 31 June 2017
RE: Short and Long-Term Marketing Strategy
Short-term marketing plans are also referred to as strategic plans as they lay emphasis on the marketing activities in the forthcoming financial year. Essentially, these plans highlight details on the phases Akbank will undertake in the promotion and advertisement of its goods and services. Taking into consideration that one of the short-term objectives of the bank is to generate increased revenues and returns within the financial year, the strategy that we can take is to hire an advertising and marketing consultant or expert to aid in the analysis and capitalization of the financial institution’s consumer purchasing trends. In addition, it will be necessary for Akbank to assess and fully comprehend its key competitors and ascertain the different services and financial products they offer that Akbank does not. Moreover, Akbank can make use of this research data and information to come up with a new marketing and advertising campaign that delineates the distinctive points regarding our business and products. Another short-term marketing strategy will be to refine the consumer service research practice and procedure to encompass incentives and questionnaires to consumers to grasp what the company can do better and improve its performances (Williams, 2017).
On the other hand, long-term market plans take into consideration marketing activities that surpass one-year financial period, and more often than not lays emphasis on five to ten years. In particular, this is undertaken in alignment with instituted corporate strategic periods and as a result these marketing activities provide support to the organization’s general business goals. With progressively more banks entering into the market, one of the long-term strategies of Akbank is building and increasing its name recognition and acknowledgement within the Turkish and European community by means of community outreach projects. For instance, the bank can reward the personnel that participate in volunteering with selected community projects with extra vacation, gratuities, or gift cards. Moreover, the organization can opt to create and set up charity events every year to sponsor, which will increase the name and reputation of Akbank. In addition, Akbank is largely in the business of credit cards. This implies that it has to increase its consumer base. Another long-term strategy takes into account increasing traffic into the website of the bank. Progressively more consumers will be able to obtain information regarding the bank’s business operations through its website at all times, which may increase a more consistent audience (Williams, 2017).
2. Write a directive to the Director of Human Resources outlining your strategy for how to recruit, retain and motivate employees
To: Director of Human Resources
From: Chief Executive Officer
Date: 31 July 2017
RE: Strategy for Recruiting, Retaining, and Motivating
With Akbank entering and having its operations within the European Union, it is imperative to recruit new personnel, retain the current set of experienced employees and also motivate them in general. Irrespective of what is taking place in the economy, it is imperative for the organization to offer a workplace setting that is appealing and motivating to employees in order to retain the prevailing workforce but also easily recruit new ones. Understanding the job market is vital in having successful recruitment strategies. Akbank will need to be ready to increase its level of productivity through technology and training. As the Director of Human Resources, it is imperative to ensure that Akbank hires personnel with the right attitude for the company. This takes into account the individual’s perspective, manner and general disposition towards another individual. The company should hire people with positive attitude, which will be mirrored in their behavior of reacting positively in majority of the situations (Clearfit, 2012).
Aside from recruiting new employees, it is essential to retain and motivate them. First and foremost, one of the key aspects of the strategy takes into account growing and developing the potential of the employees. A significant way of retaining employees is offering them the opportunity of developing their career and experiencing greater challenges. Every personnel that performs efficaciously expects to be challenged, and with their work expectations being increased, it increases their level of work performance. Akbank as an organization should also grant its employees a chance to build and develop a career and not simply earn money. Our strategy to retain employees should clearly show every personnel how they can make a step further in their careers. This will not only give them a substantial reason to stay, but it will also be beneficial in increasing the level of productivity within the organization (Aileron, 2011). Another important aspect that ought to be integrated is the recognition and rewarding of employees. It is imperative to note that wages and remunerations may attract employees to join our institution, but it is key to ensure that we make them stay. Notably, individuals have a fundamental need of having the feeling of appreciation and acknowledgement of their work. The recommended strategy is putting in place acknowledgement and incentive programs that will accomplish this necessity. Once assimilated with suitable payment and compensation to the employees, this will enhance the overall attitude of the employees (Smith, 2017).
An additional way to motivate the personnel is ensuring that they are happy. It is important to note that ultimately, if the workforce is happy with respect to the different tasks at hand, then the employees are motivated to do their best. One of the key ways of making sure the employees are happy is providing them with work-life balance. The financial and banking field is demanding and it is significant to make certain that at the end of the day the employees have sufficient time to spend with their families. As the HR Director of Akbank, this can be accomplished by having awareness as to whether personnel are satisfied or not. This also encompasses laying emphasis on different manners in which Akbank’s business operations and staff can continuously improve. Motivation can also be accomplished through trust. Employees want to know that their different managers and supervisors are looking out for their best interests, and this in turn gives them the motivation to be successful. It is the task of such managers and supervisors to make certain that this particular trust is created with their personnel and to have the capacity to communicate efficaciously with every person and nurture constructive relationships (Walters, 2010).
3. Construct a set of data-driven questions for the Chief Operating Officer to produce. Explain why you are looking for this information and what you expect to do with the results
To: Chief Operating Officer
From: Chief Executive Officer
Date: 31 July 2017
RE: Data-driven Questions
As the CEO of the organization, at times it is enticing and inviting to depend on my gut for the different decisions undertaken in our business operations. However, it is at these times that you as the COO of the organization become efficacious and stop me or hold me back and necessitate for data to be involved as a guiding principle for decisions. Taking into consideration that you are liable for making certain that Akbank’s strategic vision is transformed into profitable and cost-effective business operations, as the chief operating officer it is imperative to be data driven. That is, instead of letting the bank’s business be directed by dispositions or gut feelings, it is important to ensure that the business operations are steered by data (Caldbeck, 2014).
The following is a set of data-driven questions for you as the COO to produce with an elucidation as to why I am seeking this information and what I plan to do with it.
i. What are the key performance indicators that should be taken into consideration in the financial year?
The application of strategic key performance indicators is beneficial in the quickening and speeding up of the company’s vision and strategic objectives. Nonetheless, caution is essential and needs to be taken into consideration when assimilating them with operational metrics, owing to the reason that the periods necessitated for measurement can be considerably dissimilar. Moreover, through the use of KPIs, it will be possible to objectively and hastily ascertain how efficacious an operational decision was. However, it is more challenging to get that timely feedback with respect to the firm’s strategic decisions. There are different ways in which I can use this information. In particular, aside from operational KPIs, through the addition of strategic KPIs, for instance longstanding revenue growth, the efficacious accomplishment of change projects, as well as capacity development. More importantly, it will be able to determine the progress and performance of Akbank in general. As the COO, the information you provide will be able to help in determining numerous key performance indicators for both strategic and operational problems within the organization, in addition to those regarding delivering outcomes, those for building capacities and most of all those in relation to forming a brighter future for the organization. The use of these metrics will be significant for the success of the organization. One hindrance to making a greater strategic addition for the company may be the magnitude to which strategic performance is measured. The metrics will help me as the CEO of Akbank in increasing organizational efficiency, sticking to the annual financial budget, and accomplishing cost-savings (Ernst and Young, 2016).
ii. How and why are the data analytics essential for Akbank for the future both in credit cards facilitation and general business operations?
Data analytics has come to be one of the most important aspects of banking in the contemporary business setting. In the present day, having accessibility to data as well as the capability of processing this information is not sufficient. These data analytics will be important in enhancing the capability of savings funds, attaining specific financial goals and objectives, augmenting financial knowledge and understanding and also improving budget spending. This information will be employed in three significant ways. First, it will lead to substantially bigger volumes of data, consisting of largely comprehensive data combined from various systems. Secondly, it will lead to models that lead greater insight driven by software which can facilitate data-driven forecasts and decisions. Third of all, there will be more efficacious technology that can consist of more cost efficacious manners and approaches of coping with huge amounts of structured as well as unstructured data (The Financial Brand, 2016).
iii. What are the major change and transformation initiatives necessary for the organization in financial year?
Change is inevitable for any organization. With the expansion of the market and business operations, Akbank is expected to experience significant change and will have to adjust and adapt to such changes in order to succeed. However, the need for change for our organization ought to come from a place of genuine need and concern. With the growth and advancement of organizational capability, I will expect you as the COO to normally lay emphasis on getting things done, instead of the longstanding perspective, which is more often than not the concerns of the CEO. Therefore, with respect to change management, it will be possible to steer this initiative through communication whilst the COO will accomplish this by means of measures and actions. This information will be important in ascertaining and pinpointing the change transition as early as possible and making the essential transformations to make certain that the company is incessantly developing and building up the fitting capabilities or allowing individuals to ease into new positions and roles. More importantly, it is key to comprehend when things are going in disarray at the earliest phase for the reason that this provides me with a chance to make enhancements and alter Akbank’s processes and practices. With respect to the business operations of the bank, the conception of continuous improvement implies that we will constantly strive to determine things in order to change for the better (Ernst and Young, 2016).
4. Write a directive to your Chief Technology Officer outlining your technology concerns and things he/she should consider
To: Chief Technology Officer
From: Chief Executive Officer
Date: 31 July 2017
RE: Technology Concerns
Akbank is one of the major banks in Turkey. With the inclusion of the country into the EU, there has been increased importance on the nation’s credit card market. Bearing this in mind, there are a number of technology concerns that I have for the company moving forward. One of the key concerns encompasses fraud and the issues of safeguarding consumer data. In particular, credit card at the present moment and in the forthcoming periods will continue to be an important and dynamic risk to the organization. I have serious concerns that the developing and incessantly evolving fraudulent threats and the solutions necessitated to alleviate them are progressively more technically intricate. Keeping in line with this issue, there is also the concern that hackers can easily gain access into the company’s system and steal data and information of the bank’s consumers. This is a concern because it can bring about major mistrust amongst the consumer base, which may lead to them shifting to rival financial institutions. Bearing this in mind, there are different measures that you should take into consideration. To begin with, in order to sustain the trust of the consumers, it is imperative for Akbank to preclude, pinpoint, and react to fraud risk in a swift way by means of fraud management technologies and extrapolative analytics. As the chief technology officer of Akbank, it is important to remain cautious and alert owing to the fact that fraudsters and hackers will without doubt be inventing new ways of attacking the system. Along with dynamic and forceful preclusion and monitoring of fraudulent action, as the chief technology officer of Akbank, I believe that you should set up, extensive data security as well as third-party systems of governance purposed to safeguard the sensitive data of the consumers (Ernst and Young, 2017).
With the expansion of the financial markets and with the entry into the European Union, the use of credit cards will be more prevalent in Turkey and Akbank is set to experience an increase in its consumer base. One of the worrying concerns in relation to this is an increase in online fraud. Taking into consideration that it is considerably challenging to speed-read and copy physical credit card, the comprehensive worry then lies in online fraud. This is simply because if physical credit card fraud is harder, then what becomes appealing to fraudsters is online fraud. In fact, in accordance to Wong (2015), as Europe over the years has experienced a 40 percent increase in online fraud. Taking this into consideration, Akbank should alert its consumers to incessantly check their credit card statements more cautiously. Similarly, the consumers are not safeguarded against fraud that takes place in online purchases. It is imperative to note that online transactions do not necessitate a terminal while checking out, and therefore it becomes impossible to read the credit card and provide a code. This implies that any fraudster solely requires the credit card number and the three-digit security code as well as the card’s date of expiration. Once they gain accessibility to this, then it becomes easier for thieves to accumulate online purchases in the name of the consumer, which makes Akbank, the credit card issuer, liable for such fraud. What the company ought to do is ensure that such credit card numbers and expiration dates are not easily accessible to hackers. Moreover, the consumers should be made aware of ensuring that their security codes are kept safe (Wong, 2015).
Technology is incessantly developing and advancing. Bearing this in mind, it is imperative for Akbank to be at par and constantly consider the technological progressions made in the industry. With respect to credit cards, a major concern that I have is the constantly increasing level of competition faced from financial technology companies. In particular, these are firms that are more often than not start-up companies that are within the business of utilizing technological software to offer financial services. Owing to the increasing approval and capability of these companies, there is disruption in the manner in which traditional banking has been undertaken. As a result, this generates a massive challenge for Akbank owing to the fact that it is difficult to hastily adopt to the transformations not only in technology but also in the organization’s operations and other aspects of the banking industry (Schubert, 2015). In addition, as a bank, one of the core competences of Akbank is to manage risk, the capacity to appraise the needs of clients and abilities and offer accessibility to capital to those in need of it. Through management of this risk, the bank will offer a profit on capital for the depositors and stakeholders. In this regard, Akbank also faces the issue of managing technological risk. This ranges from becoming obsolete in the market owing to advanced technology and also the risk of hackers manipulating the system (Schubert, 2015).
5. Write a statement to your Board of Trustees explaining the ethical and social responsibility the organization carries and your proposal for how you plan to meet that responsibility
To: Board of Trustees
From: Chief Executive Officer
Date: 31 July 2017
RE: Ethical and Social Responsibility
Banks plays a fundamental role as the most significant financial institution within the economy at large, which receives consumer deposits, provides them with loans, and also offers the extensive variety of services of all financial institutions. Akbank as an organization has an ethical and social responsibility that we carry to the society at large. In definition, ethical norms can be construed through individual sense of right and wrong and the anticipations of external stakeholders. The key undertaking of ethics is to minimalize the exploitation of corporation authority in the association of mutual interchange, and to diminish adverse influences on public’s everyday lives. Part of the ethical responsibility that Akbank carries as an organization takes into account the inclusion of basic principles of truthfulness, fair conduct, respect, and transparency in its business operations (Lentner et al., 2015).
The main objective of the management in Akbank is to maximize profits to the organization’s stakeholders. However, this must be assimilated with social and ethical responsibility. In general, the society has permitted banks and financial institutions to make huge amounts of money. However, there is a necessity to acknowledge the other side of this bargain. Taking into consideration that the bank is given this position and standing within the society together with the affluence that comes along with it, because the social order necessitates the services Akbank offers so as to function, then it is imperative for us to render such services in a manner that is dependable, accountable, and not compromised by self-centeredness. This is the sort of ethical and social responsibility that is expected of Akbank from its consumers, the general public, and also the government. From a practical perspective, it without doubt does not imply retailing financial products that are not in the interest of the consumer. Moreover, it implies providing credit to the general public with the main objective of promoting economic growth and not solely with the objective of generating profit (Baxter, 2014).
Akbank should also undertake corporate social responsibility (CSR). In delineation, CSR is in overall comprehended as being the approach through which a firm attains poise in its economic, environmental and social practices and at the same time satisfying expectations of the stakeholders. Subsequent to the occurrence of the global credit crisis, there has been augmented regulatory issues and scrutiny from the general public with regard to the banking industry. The unprecedented level of regulatory charges and fines owing to the banking malpractice has made banks to face the challenge to reinstate the trust of the public and institute clear and apparent models of business. Bearing this mind, it is imperative for Akbank to start to assimilate corporate social responsibility factors within its longstanding investment strategy. In turn, this will act as a basis not just for coming up with novel products and new opportunities for growth, but also ascertain better risk management in the general investment approaches of the bank. To undertake this CSR, from a strategic standpoint, Akbank will have to espouse novel policies and practices within its organizational structure. In particular, this may consist of ensuring the labor force is retained, espousing novel risk management practices and being largely discriminatory with their investment portfolios (SIA Partners, 2015).
Moreover, the implementation of social and ethical responsibilities by the bank will lead to its high-performance levels. One of the sensible reasons that can delineate this encompasses being a financially healthy corporation that try to fashion the future with respect to new social environmental problems. In addition, CSR is a manner in which Akbank can generate new businesses and has permitted the organization to appeal to new investors, stakeholders and new chances of growth and development Finally, irrespective of whether Akbank has a comprehensively straightforward and candid corporate social responsibility strategy or simply espousing ethical practices with the fundamental objective of maximizing profit, it is apparent that operating in the banking industry we are arriving at a largely demanding new setting where banks are faced with the issue of attempting to obtain a competitive advantage within a substantially controlled industry. This has been counteracted by the growth and advancement in ethical behavior within business and for this reason has offered banks with new prospects to continue being competitive and appeal new investments (SIA Partners, 2015).


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