ANZ Bank: A Brief Overview

Discuss About The Strategic Planning Turbulent Environments.

The concepts, tools, methodologies, technologies for constituting an information system to make proper strategies of an organization are known as strategic information system (Smith 2013). This strategic information system is a mere support to the business for gaining several competitive advantages. It is solely characterized by the ability to alter all the business processes for providing strategic advantages. Any specific information system like transaction processing system, knowledge management system or any other that are responsible for altering the products, objectives and processes for helping the business to obtain competitive advantage and reduce competitive disadvantage is a strategic information system (Bryson 2018). The competitive strategies are certain formulas that define the business process and how those processes could be successfully executed. Accounting information systems are used for taking decisions in any organization.

This literature review will be providing relevant details on one of the banks in Australia, ANZ Bank. The current organizational structure with various operational problems like errors and inefficiency because of the structure will be given here. The next part discusses about the most likely method of system acquisition of the organization and the flowchart of the overall sales process of ANZ Bank. Moreover, the frauds and control problems of this bank will also be discussed here. The final part discusses about the accounting software package of ANZ Bank with relevant recommendations. The details of the above discussion are provided in the following paragraphs.

The Australia and New Zealand Banking Group Limited is one of the most significant banks in Australia (Anz.com.au. 2018). It was founded in the year 1835 and is considered as the oldest bank in Australia.  The market capitalization of this bank is extremely high and is almost same as the Commonwealth Bank of Australia. They have dominated the sectors of commercial banking and retail banking. Previously, it a completely nationalized bank; however, in 2012 it was turned to a private bank (Anz.com.au. 2018). The headquarters of this bank is in Melbourne Australia. It even operates in thirty four separate nations.

The shares of the organization have always been on the higher side; however, recently they have examined losses within their business. The shares had a drastic fall and they were unable to avoid this situation (Anz.com.au. 2018). This particular situation is extremely dangerous for the organization and thus they are undergoing a tough phase. However, there is scope for them to become successful again by changing few of their strategies.

Operational Problems within ANZ Bank

The organizational structure of any specific organization is responsible for identifying all the major and important parts of a business and allocating all the tasks of the business (Cassidy 2016). Moreover, the proper supervision and coordination of the business are done with the help of this organizational structure. The aims and targets of the organization are achieved with this structure. If the organizational structure is not perfect and if this structure is not proper, the organization is bound to be failure (Haiss 2013). The organizational structure of ANZ Bank is extremely strong and hence the bank has come to this stage.

Figure 1: Current Organizational Structure of ANZ Bank

(Source: Anz.com.au. 2018)

The figure has provided the view of the current organizational structure of the ANZ Bank. The board of directors are the main and the most important part of the bank. They are the heads of the bank. The chairman and the president are the second hierarchy (Haines 2016). All of them constitute the top management of the business. The middle management of ANZ Bank is the audit committee, governance committee and many more. The rest of the employees are the parts of the lower level management.

The various operational problems within the ANZ Bank are as follows:

1. i) Expectations of Consumers: The first operational problem is the expectations from consumers. They are not being able to deliver the type of services the customers are expecting from them (Wolf and Floyd 2017). This is causing a major drift in the shares of the bank and hence they are in major problem. Since, the customers are the main parts of the bank, they are under huge pressure.
2. ii) Incapability in Making Money: The next important operational problem in ANZ Bank is the incapability in making sufficient money (Albrechts 2013). In spite of having fixed deadlines of the banking profitability, ANZ Bank is incapable of making enough money for their banks. Thus, the shareholders and stakeholders of the bank are extremely unhappy with them

Main Competition from FinTech Organizations: Several FinTech or financial technology organizations have come into account in present days (Ioppolo et al. 2016). These FinTech companies are specific start up companies that have utilized software for providing the financial services. The incrementing popularity of all the FinTech companies is eventually disturbing the traditional banking methods of ANZ Bank. This has become a huge challenge for the ANZ Bank as they are unable to accept the changes and alterations amongst the banks (Elbanna, Andrews and Pollanen 2016). The operations of the bank are strongly affected due to this and thus they are affected.Pressures for Regulatory: The requirements for regulatory eventually continue for increasing and ANZ Bank requires a spending of huge amount of their budget for building their systems and business processes (Glykas 2013). This type of pressure has often become dangerous for the organization and they have suffered losses.

The system acquisition method that ANZ Bank has taken is the commercial software. It is the type of a specific software or computer software, which is substantially produced for the purpose of sales and serves all the commercial purposes (Brumm and Drury 2013). The commercial software could be an open source software or a proprietary software. The organization of ANZ Bank has got various advantages or benefits for this commercial software. The most significant advantage that ANZ Bank has got from commercial software is advantage of the organization’s customer services department in case of troubleshooting (Ramírez and Selsky 2016). The second important advantage is the expense. The overall cost incurred here is very low and thus the organization is benefitted. The third important advantage of commercial software that ANZ Bank has got is the easy adaptability. The commercial software that ANZ Bank is using for their business is .NET Framework by Microsoft and Adobe Flex by Adobe (Austin and Pinkleton 2015). Some more software are also used by them for their organizational goals and objectives.

System Acquisition Method of ANZ Bank

Figure 2: Commercial Software in ANZ Bank

(Source: Anz.com.au. 2018)

The above figure shows the list of commercial software that is used by the ANZ Bank. Microsoft Document and Microsoft Excel are the major and the most important amongst them (Pearlson, Saunders and Galletta 2016). These are extremely important for the organization and thus ANZ Bank obtains various advantages form them.

The sales flowchart of any bank refers to the steps of the processes of sales within that bank (Bernus, Mertins and Schmidt 2013). The sales flowchart of ANZ Bank is given below:

Figure 3: Flowchart of Sales in ANZ Bank

(Source: Anz.com.au. 2018)

The above flowchart provides a simple image of the sales of the ANZ Bank. The process is extremely simple (Laurini 2014). It starts with the customer arriving at the bank. Then the customer makes a request and the bank teller inquires for his ID. He checks whether the ID is valid or not. If it is not, the process stops there only. However, if it is genuine, the balance is checked. If the balance is alright, transaction is continued and if not, it is rejected (Rainer et al. 2013). Policies are being checked in the next step and the policy is within purview, it is transacted. However, if not, the transaction is rejected. Finally the customer gets the money and the transaction is completed.

The problems within the system of ANZ Bank mainly include the lack of strategies. They do not have enough strategies for the betterment of their business and hence they face these types of problems. The next problem is in managing customers (Österle 2013). The customers should be their first priority; however they are unable to control and manage their customers properly and significantly. This eventually becomes a major problem for them. The interest rates in their banks are very high and hence customers do not wish to continue their business with ANZ Bank.

The main types of frauds that are identified within the bank system are fake emails that the customer gets in the name of the bank and the probable measures for mitigating these problems should be taken by the bank immediately (Marin? 2013). Advertisement is another important sector in any type of bank.

The most suitable accounting software package that ANZ Bank has acquired is Xero. It is one of the most important and old accounting software amongst the rest (Cassidy 2016). The accounting software package of Xero is responsible for the overall growth and development of the business. It is based on cloud platform and hence it provides all the benefits of cloud computing to the software. Moreover, it is cost effective and does not incur huge costs (Smith 2013). Xero is also flexible and scalable and thus it is utilized by ANZ Bank. It also helps to collaborate all the processes of a business and updates are taken regularly.

Sales Flowchart of ANZ Bank

Figure 4: Market Size of ANZ Bank

(Source: Anz.com.au. 2018)

Market size of ANZ Bank is much higher than the rest of the banks of Australia and New Zealand. 26.3% sales are absorbed by them (Albrechts 2013). The position has not degraded to extreme level and hence there is still hope of improving the position.

The big four banks of Australia are Commonwealth Bank, ANZ Bank, Westpac Bank and National Australian Bank (Elbanna, Andrews and Pollanen 2016). Following is the share price movements of all of them.

Figure 5: Share Price Movements of Competitors in Banking Sectors

(Source: Anz.com.au. 2018)

The above graph clearly shows the share price movements of the competitors within the banks of Australia and New Zealand (Brumm and Drury 2013). First let us start with the Commonwealth Bank of Australia or CBA. In the year 2003, they were around 100, however, with years, finally in 2013; they have reached to more than 240. It is a drastic rise for the organization and thus they are on the top. More than 100% of their shares have been raised in the tenure of 10 years, which is very good for any bank (Pearlson, Saunders and Galletta 2016). The shares of this particular bank are very high and thus they are enjoying the top position. The second bank is the Westpac Bank of Australia. Even they have started with 100 in the year 2003 and gradually, they have reached up to 180 in 2013. They have also shown major progress in the share market and hence is quite popular amongst the customers. The third bank is the Australia and New Zealand Banking Group or ANZ Bank. They started with 100 in 2003 and have reached to 160 in 2013 (Rainer et al. 2013). This is not a big rise; however they are trying to climb upwards. The final banking sector in the big four banks is NAB or National Australian Bank. They have degraded. They started with 100 in 2003 and have ended below 100 in 2013, which is extremely degrading for any bank (Marin? 2013). The market leader is CBA or Commonwealth Bank of Australia.

The several gaps and challenges, faced by ANZ Bank are extremely disrupting for reaching to the top position in any banking sector. The first challenge is competing with FinTech companies. The recommendation is to upgrade the technologies to modern tools so that there is no problem in their system. The second challenge is high interest rates. The recommendation is to reduce the interest rates and maintain good relation with customers.

Fraud and Control Problems of ANZ Bank

Conclusion

Therefore, conclusion could be drawn that competitive advantages are required in any organization to become successful. These competitive advantages are obtained by any particular organization with the help of strategic information system. The tools, technologies, concepts, and methodologies after comprising a typical information system for making perfect strategies of a company are called a strategic information system. This typical strategic information system is the perfect prop up for any business to gain various competitive advantages. It is effectively and efficiently featured by the capability in altering each and every business process to provide strategic advantages. This particular strategic information system is not classified as per the organizational structure, support systems and functional areas. Any typical information system such as knowledge management system, transaction processing system and many more that are eventually responsible for altering the processes, products and objectives to help out the company in obtaining all the competitive advantages and in mitigating competitive disadvantages is the strategic information system. The competitive strategies are various formulas, which would be defining the several business processes and the procedure of executing those processes. The process of decision making in any organization is extremely difficult and hence various organization suffer through problems due to this. The tools that is utilized by the organizations to take decisions and make the decision making processes easier are known as accounting information systems. Accounting software packages are software that is used in accounting information system. The literature review has properly described about one of the banks in Australia, ANZ Bank or Australia and New Zealand Banking Group. The current organizational structure with various operational problems like errors and inefficiency because of the structure are provided here. Accounting software packages and various suggestions are given here.

References

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Anz.com.au. 2018. ANZ Personal Banking | Accounts, credit cards, loans, insurance | ANZ. [online] Available at: https://www.anz.com.au/personal/  [Accessed 21 Apr. 2018].

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