DBS Bank: Transformation through strategy implementation

• Main Authors: SPECULAND, Robin, WONG, Adina
• Format: text
• Language: English
• Published: Institutional Knowledge at Singapore Management University 2016
• Subjects: Strategy Implementation; strategy execution; change management; balanced scorecard; DBS; banking; Asian Studies; Finance and Financial Management; Organizational Behavior and Theory; Strategic Management Policy
• Online Access: https://ink.library.smu.edu.sg/cases_coll_all/159; https://cmp.smu.edu.sg/case/2071
• Institution: Singapore Management University

Part A of the case takes place in February 2010. In late 2009 Piyush Gupta joined DBS Bank as its CEO and set about transforming the bank. His first 100 days were spent familiarising himself with the business. He then hosted a three-day strategy formulation retreat offsite with his top leaders. The participants at the offsite retreat crafted a strategy that identified key areas of focus going forward such as the customer experience, people and processes as well as things that needed to be fixed, like technology and culture. The next question was how to implement the strategy. Part B of the case is set in April 2015 and discusses the actions DBS took to execute the strategy. The bank addressed not only where it should grow and where it should not, but also fixed the basics that needed to be in place to support the strategy. It empowered its people to improve processes, updated management information systems, invested in premises, identified the right measures and developed its people. These actions contributed to transforming its culture, and changing the way people worked together, eliminating waste and being ‘Asian’ and customer-centric. The case will examine how the company developed and used the balance scorecard that provided transparency while reinforcing strategic initiatives. In addition, students will discuss how strategy implementation can fail and explore best practices to avoid such failure.