The case was written for an introductory business course, particularly the section on operations. It deals with managing capacity and demand. In early 2008, McKenzie Scott, manager of administrative services at Nipissing Bank (Nipissing) in Ottawa, Ontario, was trying to decide how to carry out a management initiative to add additional marketing materials to client mail-out packages. In particular, Scott was considering upgrading the bank’s current .....more

The assistant administrative officer in a branch of a chartered Canadian bank, is trying to decide how to give good service. The case describes ten incidents. The central issue is when and how the bank's procedures should be set aside and when they should be followed.

A government-owned bank is struggling to transform itself into a modern, internationally competitive financial institution. However, as a state-owned bank, it had limited freedom to reduce and train staff, to be selective in its lending, or to experiment with new kinds of financial services. Furthermore, many concepts that were common in non-communist countries had not yet become part of the Chinese banking system, such as collateral, security, risk .....more

The Singapore-based managing director of Origination and Structuring for CIBC CEF pondered how expansion opportunities in Asia fit with the firm's Asia-Pacific strategy and what his recommendation would be at the monthly senior management meeting regarding the Canadian investment bank's expansion into Malaysia. The firm has existing Asian operations in Australia, China, Hong Kong, Japan, Singapore and Taiwan. From the perspective of the managing .....more

After a 15-year absence, the Royal Bank of Canada returned to Thailand in 1997. During a period of high economic instability, the bank must weigh the merits of Thailand versus other markets within Asia-Pacific. The case provides details on subsidiary start up costs (including staff, capital expenses) and requires decisions on organization/human resources issues as well as the best strategic approach to the market.

A partner in a banking institution is concerned about internal communications regarding a partnership agreement. The CEO had reorganized the organization and introduced a partnership concept, whereby all employees became some type of partner. Each business unit was to complete a partnership agreement, however, one year after the introduction, many agreements had not been completed. An employee survey has revealed that nearly all employees support .....more

Eastern Bank's key financial data and the key factors in a remarkable turnaround of the bank are presented. The turnaround was achieved despite tough competition from both domestic and international banks. This is a supplement to Eastern Bank Limited (A), product 9B04A030.

Kaupthing Bank hf is a large financial institution that began as an investment bank and after five years, expanded operations into other Nordic countries. Kaupthing acquired JP Nordiska, a Swedish securities trader that is four times larger than Kaupthing Bank hf and is currently unprofitable. The immediate issue is to determine the processes to return JP Nordiska AB to profitability, however, the substantive issue concerns the degree of decentralization .....more

This supplement to Kaupthing Bank hf and JP Nordiska AB (A), product 9B04B001 discusses the events that happened after the acquisition of JP Nordiska AB.

The Royal Bank of Canada is the largest bank in Canada. The bank had to respond to regulator's inquiries regarding activities of one of its subsidiaries. The bank's corporate governance was considered exceptional, however, the governance at the subsidiary level did not necessarily receive the same degree of attention. A consultant and the executive vice-president and general counsel must review the bank's corporate and subsidiary governance .....more