Challenges of International Banks Essay Example | Topics and Well Written Essays - 3000 words

Challenges of International Banks - Essay Example Banks have been in competition and have been making efforts to become larger either by organic growth or by mergers and acquisitions and international banking have largely become associated with thinking big with an Economist survey analyzing how size of banks matter although banks go through various structural and functional changes and with their shifting shapes and sizes, the volatility of banks may be a factor in winning markets and market share (Economist, 2006). Ten commercial banks in America control 49% of the country's banking assets and mergers have been the buzz word in the US with removal of barriers between banks and insurance companies. Using strategy as the relevant point of discussion here, I will suggest how strategy focused on matching an organization's assets and capabilities with the external relationships and environment. Here the course models from B820 and concepts could be used to show how by placing strategy at the centre of analysis a clear relationship coul d be drawn between banks/financial organisations and the external environment. The questions of size and ownership have been taken by the Economist survey to suggest that big banks tend to get bigger with mergers, acquisitions and organic growth. However it is worthwhile to ask what are the limitations to this process, and big banks tend to have bigger shares in the market and commercial banking around the world remain preoccupied with matters of size and ownership. The Economist article referred here asks whether the future bank is expected to be ten times bigger than HSBC or the Citibank. However some of the recent bank mergers in the financial environment have destroyed shareholder value and usually the medium sized banks are prized highly by stock markets. Procurement, systems, operations, research and marketing are some of the areas on which the banking industry seems to depend on (Economist, 2006). However when diseconomies of scale creep in, there are also concealed risks and failure of internal controls, however related lines of business can create opp ortunities for each other. Usually banking companies are affected by external environment to the extent that the global economy calls for merger and acquisitions to help the bank gain a larger size in the market. This all relate to the B820 models and theories studied. Survival and prosperity depend on the solutions to questions such as: which products or services to offer; whether to pursue single or multiple lines of business; which markets or clients to aim for; whether to limit activities to local markets or expand internationally; how to acquire appropriate technologies, knowledge, finance and human resources; and which skills and capabilities to develop that will be relevant to your competitive strengths now and in the

Common Pool Resources - Privatization or Collective Action Assignment

Common Pool Resources - Privatization or Collective Action - Assignment Example Regulating the manner in which oil is produced will ensure that it is well preserved and it can be effective as a pool resource. Privatization will ensure that oil production can specialized in accordance to its requirement as a pool resource. Oil can only be refined or obtained in particular areas and regions, which adds to the ideology of the resource being produced and refined through privatization. It implies that specialization (based on regions) is the best course of action for production (Ramanadham, 1993). Therefore, oil as a resource should be privatized. Forests require a collective effort. I say this because the general state of global forests is abysmal. This is a prime reason as to why individuals must do the best they can to ensure that the forest are preserved and developed to ensure that they are wiped out. Privatization would be inadequate because forests are required on a global scale and their maintenance cannot be done a few companies (Ramanadham, 1993). Developing a forest will take time and cannot be carried out by a few companies. Since forests can be developed in numerous areas, in contrast to oil, making it a collective action is the best measure of ensuring the pool resource does not run