Discuss about the Strategic Development Within National Australian Bank (Nab).

National Australian Bank (NAB) has been referred to as one of the leading financial institution with its operations in New Zealand (NZ), Asia & Australia. NAB has been referred to as one of the leading financial institution in terms of number of customers and market capitalization. NAB has more than 110 branches and more than 4, 000 ATMS/ service centers all over NZ, Asia & Australia. Leadership style refers to the way in which the leaders communicate within the organization. Using an appropriate leadership style is referred to as one of the key aspects for smooth functioning within the organization. There are two main leadership styles which are followed at NAB i.e. transformational & transactional leadership. NAB has the following eight divisions under its head i.e. personal banking, Private Wealth, business banking, wholesale banking, specialized functions & corporate functions.

Mission: The mission of National Australian Bank (NAB) is to provide apt solutions to its customers keeping in mind the requirements of the same. They also believe in recognizing the profitability for long term success. NAB also helps to create a working environment which is built with confidence & helps to boost the morale of the employees in the long run. NAB also helps in providing a positive contribution towards the development of the society as well as strength the quality of service (Foss, 2007).

Vision: The vision of National Australian Bank (NAB) is to become one of the most respectable banks of Australia. Our vision is to become the best in the banking sector. We management team at National Australian Bank (NAB) believes in success (Special Issue of Strategic Organization, 2015).

Competitive advantage: Competitive advantage refers to outrun the competitor by using different strategies. Competitive advantage helps any organization to maintain a favorable position amongst its competitors and help to boost the image of the company in the long run. Competitive advantage helps the organization to have a better identification & understanding of the customers in the best possible manner. Some of the ways in which NAB has attained competitive advantage as compared to its rivals have been discussed as follows:

• The primary role of NAB is to facilitate smooth flow of money & capital in the market so as to meet the needs of the customers.
• NAB provides transactional banking which helps the customers to earn hefty amount of income.
• NAB also invests high amounts in attracting as well as developing people so that they can create a diverse workforce which enables to execute the strategies (Papanastassiou & Pearce, 2009).
• NAB’s business operations helps to attain high levels of dividend & taxes to the government officials.
• NAB has been known for improving the reliability as well as the speed of the process.
• NAB aims to improve as well as manage the way a business operates. NAB has made efforts to become a profitable business in the long run. It has been known as a performance driven organization (Dellaportas, Cooper & Braica, 2007).
• A strong organizational culture has helped NAB to successfully execute the vision & strategy at Australia & New Zealand’s (NZ) most respectable banks.
• The customer experience at NAB has been referred to as one of the best i.e. in which it operates. NAB helps in providing one of the best experiences for its customers & attain critical success within the premium portfolio segments (Sethurama & Suresh, 2014).

Some of the strategies used in past by National Australia Bank (NAB) to promote its product has been discussed as follows:

• Free items: Free items helped customers to get attracted at a bank. It was seen that, majority customers used to get ready to switch their bank in eagerness of attaining a small gift as a sweet gesture. Banks used to analyze their target customers in order to witness what shall be provided as a gift (Skowron-Mielnik, 2011).
• Word of mouth: Word of mouth was referred to as one of the most common and powerful marketing tool. People used to encourage their friends or colleagues to open a savings or current account in a particular bank. This helped the people working in a bank to attain referral.

Strategies which are used currently by National Australia Bank (NAB) in order to market their products have been discussed as under:

• NAB focuses on advertising their three main range of products such as home loans, business loans & credit cards.
• Brand awareness has helped the financial institution to grow and attain first mover advantage so as to remain competitive in the long run (Hansen, 2007).
• NAB has used certain strategies to attract its customers which will help to retain competitive advantage.
• Use of technology: Technology plays a vital role in deciding the success of a particular organization. With the use of smartphones, internet majority customers have started practicing banking online. Description of all the products by the bank will be displayed on the portal which will help the users to manage their account in the best possible manner (Skowron-Mielnik, 2011).
• Providing credit cards to college students, independent working women, will help the customers to get attracted towards NAB. Offer cards with low rate of interests will appeal the customers to procure the same.

Strategies Used in Past

The subsidiary of NAB in Irish was under inquiry for more than 6 years which was carried out by the police inspectors in the Irish High Court. The main reason for the same was engaging in overcharging of customers & tax evasion scheme applicable before 1998 (Hansen, 2007).

• Controversy 2:

In the year 2004, NAB had resulted in unauthorized foreign currency options by losing more than $400 million. The reason for the same was, failed speculative position wherein the traders falsified the profits in order to generate more revenues. The speculation was made on US dollars as compared to other currencies (Hansen, 2007).

PESTLE analysis: The PESTLE analysis for National Australian Bank (NAB) has been described as follows:

• Political analysis: Political analysis in terms of financial institution refers to deregulation and privatization. With the entry of financial deregulation, the National Australian Bank (NAB) were asked to emboss high fees & cut down the services whenever possible.
• Economic analysis: The capital position at NBA is measured by the standard ratio. Hence, NBA strengthens the capital levels with stronger impact on neutralizing the capital framework (Kirkman & Shapiro, 2001).
• Social analysis: It has been stated that, banks play an important role in supporting communities by offering various literacy programs. This bank also provides advantages to youth in terms of educational facilities such as education loan, etc.
• Technological analysis: National Australian Bank (NAB) has been referred to as the first Australian Bank which offers customer satisfaction & settlement. This bank also provides 24 hours access with the help of ATM and telephone banking. It has been referred to as an online broker which provides facilities such as Net Banking & Securities (Kirkman & Shapiro, 2001).
• Legal analysis: National Australian Bank (NAB) has started a program by the name open advice review (OAR). This review takes into consideration the following aspects such as negotiating with independent parties, preparation & focusing upon the documentation. The OAR program has certain challenges like financial services to the customers, scope and timings of the financial assets, determine the scope & estimation of customers with the bank (Kirkman & Shapiro, 2001).
• Environmental analysis: NAB has been referred to as one of the largest financial institutions in Australia & New Zealand (NZ). In the year 2012, NAB also won the sustainability awards and also has major impact in attaining the position with best leadership indices.

Leadership style refers to the way in which the leaders communicate within the organization. Using an appropriate leadership style is referred to as one of the key aspects for smooth functioning within the organization. Some of the leadership styles used at National Australian Banks (NAB) have been discussed as follows:

• Transactional Leadership: Transactional Leadership has been referred to as a type of leadership practice which is mainly practiced at NAB. The main focus in transactional leadership is to know the needs of the consumers. This will help to attain the organizational goals in the best possible manner (Anon, 2015).
• Transformational leadership style: The second type of leadership style which is used at NAB is transformational leadership. In this type of leadership style, the leader has moral qualities & it sacrifices its own interest as compared to the group’s interest (Charteris-Black, 2007).

Conclusion

Hence, it can be concluded that National Australia Bank has been referred to as one of the leading banks with major presence in Australia & New Zealand (NZ). NAB has been referred to as one of the leading financial institution in terms of number of customers and market capitalization. NAB has more than 110 branches and more than 4, 000 ATM/ service centers all over NZ, Asia & Australia. This assignment takes into consideration, mission vision and competitive advantage of the same. The report is then followed by the strategies used by NAB and strategies that are currently in use by NAB. Environmental analysis has been performed for National Australia Bank (NAB) using to main marketing tools i.e. PESTLE analysis & SWOT analysis. Lastly, the use of two main leadership styles i.e. transformational & transactional leadership shall be practiced at National Australia Bank (NAB) has been discussed. 

References

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