外文翻译商业银行能力发展(共10页).doc

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1、精选优质文档-倾情为你奉上Capability Development: Commercial BanksAbstract The competitive strategies of Thai banks during the transformative period brought some successes and some failures associated with payment systems. In this chapter we show how banks, ranked among the largest in the world, devised and purs

2、ued innovation strategies. This allows us to contrast the competitive strategies of first movers, dominant market players, re-engineering leaders, and innovative state banks. The cases illustrate the relationship between innovation and banking leadership in the country. In the final section we asses

3、s the common characteristics of these approaches and present some lessons that can be applied by other commercial banks seeking to use IT to gain competitive advantage.Siam Commercial BankSiam Commercial Bank was officially established in 1906, following its transformation from a Book Club set-up in

4、 1904. The Book Club, which was a private trust, formed the modern basis of the bank, providing basic banking functions such as deposits, loan extensions, and foreign exchange. It was operated by local people and primarily served Thai and Chinese clients in the local business community. The bank bec

5、ame the first Thai commercial bank formed after the first foreign bank, Hong Kong Shanghai Banking Corporation, began operations in the country in 1888. Most importantly, it has served as a model for many Thai commercial banks in the early and modern periods. In 1996, the bank was ranked the fourth

6、largest Thai commercial bank in terms of total assets, and the 211th largestRole of ITSiam Commercial Bank has been progressive in the use of IT through senior-level management support which has helped shape its visions and strategies. For example, the active involvement of the chief executive offic

7、er has led to investments in data warehousing technology to learn more about the bank and, more importantly, customer information (The Asian Banker 1997b). Furthermore, the chief executive officer has clearly defined two main objectives in the use of IT: (1) to facilitate daily banking activities be

8、tween the bank and customers, and (2) to develop new methods in delivering financial services (SCB Technologies 1996a).More interestingly, the bank surprised the banking community in early-1998 by announcing an increased investment in its IT budget by 23% over its 900 million baht investment in the

9、previous year (Bangkok Post 1998b). This was despite the countrys financial crisis which caused a change in the exchange rate regime, the devaluation of the local currency, and the cutting of costs across companies. In response to the financial crisis, the bank established a non-profit organisation

10、to serve as a job placement centre for potential employers and employees, while also providing language and computer training for unemployed IT professionals (Bangkok Post 1997n).Bank functions related to IT are mainly organised in the technology group. In addition, the information system audit depa

11、rtment located within the human resource and control group also has a technological role. The technology group, following the initiation of ideas in the early-1980s and a reorganisation in 1996, reports directly to the banks chief executive officer, and is divided into five main units (SCB Technolog

12、ies 1996b). Firstly, the technology policy division overlooks broad technological developments and provides a centre of co-ordination. It prepares and monitors policies, plans, and the banks expenditures in IT. Secondly, the system engineering department develops, implements, tests, operates, and ma

13、intains the banks computer systems. Thirdly, the technology and process engineering department overlooks the management of the banks two main computer centre, controls the operating systems, and manages the banks data warehouse located in mainframe computers. It also overlooks the purchase of comput

14、er equipment. Fourthly, the business relations department manages the banks call centre, promotes the use of IT in the bank and to the public, and finally, overlooks the banks customer information facility system, credit monitoring, and collection system, and black list system. And lastly, the appli

15、ed technology department conducts research into the use of new information technologies, maintains computer software, and manages computer hardware, software, and communication standards. This last function has played a particularly important role in building and strengthening bank capabilities and

16、is discussed later.Bank Automation and InnovationComputers were first introduced in 1975. This mainly supported deposit functions located at the banks head office. Early use of IT was extended to more sophisticated bank operations, and financial products and services. The pioneering ATM provided a n

17、ew method of delivering payment services and was widely adopted by other local commercial banks which diffused nation-wide accordingly. In the 1990s, the bank once again became a pioneer in introducing on-line electronic banking communications in Thailand, particularly in tele-banking and infobankin

18、g systems.The bank introduced two major changes in the early 1990s. They were the adoption of customer-based business process management and organisational restructuring at the banks head office. Price Waterhouse was contracted to advise on improving the banks commercial lending and counter services

19、, for which the consultants studied customer requirements and modified the banks work processes to help address their needs. This partly resulted in the increased use of IT.A project called “relationship banking 2020” (RB 2020) was initiated jointly with IBM to help shift the banks focus from an acc

20、ount-based to a customer-based system. RB 2020 restructured the way retail banking was delivered to bank customers since the early 1970s, and pioneered an analytical capability that assists in identifying the most suitable services for a specific target group of customers. This project, introduced i

21、n early 1996, was to be widely diffused and installed in over 400 bank branches nation-wide.The bank also adapted and applied object-oriented technology to support the delivery of financial services. For example, loan authorisation systems were built based on expert systems which has decision-making

22、 capabilities based on a 100-points scale. If a loan application scored high points, the computer approvedthe loan. Otherwise, an average or low score further considered or rejected the application accordingly. Furthermore, the bank built a mobile loan authorization system which efficiently analysed

23、 and approved a customer loan application data, following on-line verification by portable computers with its head office. Such services provided new channels for delivering financial services and improved customer convenience.Information technology was also applied to improve personnel management a

24、nd staff promotion (SCB Technologies 1996c). In 1994, the banks human resource and control group introduced a personnel IS that recorded all personnel particulars including education, work experience, and training. Thereafter, an employee promotion system was successfully introduced in 1995. This wa

25、s aimed to support the banks concept of a learning organisation. The second system was later enhanced to support decision-making in personnel promotion, and was aimed to make personnel information widely available to specific bank departments and branches located nation-wide.Bangkok BankBangkok Bank

26、 was established by the Sophonpanich family in 1944 and is the largest Thai commercial bank, enjoying wide recognition regionally and internationally. In 1996, it was ranked the largest Thai commercial bank in assets, and the 121th largest international commercial bank (KTB 1997; The Banker 1997). T

27、he bank was also recognised by IBCA, a leading rating institution in Europe, to be the worlds second most profitable bank in 19941995. In 1995, the bank was presented with an award for excellence as the “Best Domestic Bank” in Thailand (Euromoney 1995), having been the largest commercial bank in Sou

28、theast Asia, and having expanded its international operations, particularly in the Indo-Chinese region and in the Peoples Republic of China. Role of ITBangkok Banks chairman, together with senior-level management, have clearly defined the banks future theme as being focused on electronic banking and

29、 IT which is in support of providing innovative financial services and generating fees-based income (Bangkok Post 1997p). Such a technologically oriented theme was well supported with regular five-year technological improvement plans. For example, an approximate sum of 400500 million baht was alloca

30、ted, as of 1998, for the replacement of computer hardware and software among the banks nation-wide branches. Nevertheless, the banks senior vice president (SVP) for systems development suggests that the support of such a strategy involves not only investments in IT.IT related functions of the bank a

31、re located within a technology division which is part of broader support service operations. This includes other housekeeping divisions like financial information services, operation, general service, and personnel. In the technology division, there are two departments headed by an executive vice pr

32、esident in charge, including the system development, and information-processing departments, which are, in turn, headed by senior vice presidents and managers.The application of satellite technology supported branch banking in the provincial areas. In addition, this supplemented the use of telephone

33、 lines in such remote areas which were inadequate in number and were also relatively unreliable. Therefore, the bank innovated by combining two types of technologies satellite and microwave technologies. The banks senior EVP for support service operations further explains the potential and problems

34、in this choice of innovation.Sources of InnovationThe sources of innovation can be grouped in four main areas. The first and most important source is bank personnel. At the organisational level, the bank introduced a range of policies and programmes aimed at promoting the quality of staff and servic

35、es.Since the bank began to use computers in the early 1970s, employees working in a particular department became familiar with their tasks, leading to user-driven innovation. Departmental employees, who are owners of specific job functions, gained familiarity with particular routines and used them a

36、s a basis for defining user requirements. The banks senior EVP for support service operations emphasized this point.This suggests that the technology division plays a supporting role to other departments. As the decision to use or to invest in a particular type of technology remains with the user, t

37、he search for new IT rests with users. For example, staff from specialised bank divisions may request for technology after learning about new applications from overseas travel and training.The second source, computer companies, is a result of such outward-oriented training programmes. For example, t

38、his has included training with computer companies such as IBM which provided courses on project management and programming skills. In addition, the bank organised training courses with Microsoft at the banks premises and at the software firms authorised training centres. Such courses have specifical

39、ly included server administration which is a required skill in nonmainframe technology and has become an emerging trend in the country, particularly networking in local and wide area environments.The third source is the systems development department which has been behind the banks pioneering use of

40、 IT. As the bank was the first to develop computer online systems in the country, it enjoyed an early mover advantage, and more importantly, acquired and build-upon these early technological capabilities. The banks SVP for systems development further suggests that such capabilities may be partly att

41、ributed to the systems development department, which has focused its strengths,for example, in the development of retail payment systems.The fourth, and least important source, is consulting companies. During the re-engineering of its work processes, the bank contracted consulting firms, for example

42、 Booz Allen and Hamilton, to assist in developing new credit processes, credit lease management, and credit workflow systems. Although such firms have served as the banks idea catalysts and informer of market and technology trends in banking, such sources of knowledge have provided a limited contrib

43、ution. The bank made two reservations. Firstly, although foreign firms were more experienced, as compared to their local counterparts, this did not suggest that all foreign consultants were experts. Secondly, foreign firms merely made recommendations but faced difficulties in implementing project de

44、tails. Thus, the bank strongly supports selfreliance and self-judgement, and even argued that 90% of consultant recommendations were widely available in textbooks.Lessons LearnedThis section discusses the common characteristics shared by the commercial banks and draws some lessons for other commerci

45、al banks seeking to use IT for competitive advantage. Although there has been widespread developments in IT in the banking sector, major technological developments and trends were initiated by the large commercial banks. Therefore, this group has become technology leaders and their involvement has s

46、erved as a precedent for, or in some cases as a catalyst to the adoption of new information technologies in the commercial banking sector.Most importantly, however, is the acquisition of personnel at the senior-management level. Although such policies are not explicit, it has become one of the commo

47、n characteristics among the commercial banks. Such individuals have been recruited, or in some cases appointed, to acquire managerial skills and senior management was actively involved in setting IT strategies. In Thailand, where a large number of commercial banks are family-controlled, there has be

48、en the appointment of influential figures in the country to key organisational positions. This has largely been to gain and maintain political and social connections in government and business. Thus, such invisible human resources are unique and difficult to transfer, but would provide a potential s

49、ource of competitive advantage.In sum, the combined case studies helped identify the major sources of innovation which contributed towards banking automation and payments system modernisation. Although such sources included skilled staff, IT, and re-engineering, their potential as a source of sustained competitive advantage varied. In order to develop and provide innovative products and services, commercial banks increasingly depend on the development or acquisition of skilled bank person