Introduction
The present report contains a thorough analysis of the practices of J.P. Morgan & Chase, a US-based financial service organisation, regarding its value proposition, the factors that influence it, such as its organisational structure, corporate culture, leadership style and the approach to customer service, and the delivery of excellence. As the sources of data, I used the official websites of the company and its subsidiaries, the interview with a manager from a UK-based subsidiary, and secondary supporting literature. The report also presents my recommendations to the board of directors, which would help to strengthen the value proposition and improve the delivery of excellence.
Data gathering
To fulfil the analysis of the practices of J.P. Morgan & Chase, I have collected the data from multiple sources. First, I used the information from the official websites of the company and its subsidiaries regarding its attitude and approach to the customers, organisational structure, ethics, corporate culture, the measurement of performance and some other issues. Second, I have interviewed a department manager at one of the company’s UK-based subsidiaries.
The interviewee has forbidden to disclose their name, gender and the name of the department. They have provided me with information regarding the actual impact of the organisational structure and culture on the value proposition and excellence delivery, the real leadership practices of the company, and the approach to customer service. Third, I used some additional literature to support my recommendations with evidence.
Company overview
J.P. Morgan & Chase is an international, American-based financial holding organisation that was created in 1968. The company itself claims a legacy that dates back to 1799. It is considered the largest bank in the USA. The company works in such fields as commercial and investment banking, assisting small businesses, asset management, providing financial services for customers and performing financial transactions. The activities of the company are related to such business segments as commercial banking, corporate and investment banking, asset management, consumer and community banking, and the corporate sector.
The organisation has such major subsidiaries as JPMorgan Chase Bank (a national association that has branch offices in 23 American states and is working as the credit-issuing bank of JP Chase Morgan), J.P. Morgan Securities LLC (the investment banking firm that is considered the main nonbank subsidiary of the organisation) and J.P. Morgan Securities plc (the main UK-based subsidiary of the company). The total estimated value of all the assets of the company is 2.35 trillion US dollars, which gives the company 6th place in the list of the largest banks in the world (JPMorgan Chase & Co 2016).
The company was created as the union of two firms – Chase and J.P. Morgan. Currently, the J.P. Morgan brand is associated with investment and private banking, asset management and wealth management while the Chase brand is connected with retail banking and credit card services (JPMorgan Chase & Co 2016).
The mission of J.P. Morgan & Chase is to assist its clients in achieving business excellence and providing them with innovative and sustainable advice. The company is especially proud of the history of its leadership that helped it survive in times of financial crises.
Value proposition and delivering the excellence
J.P. Morgan & Chase is a revered company that managed to gain a strong position in the market of financial services. An integral part of this success is the right approach to the value proposition. The company makes its customers sure that the declared value will be created and delivered. The company considers its unique value proposition for the customers its strong competitive advantage.
In the offerings of J.P. Morgan & Chase, clients define excellence as the successful implementation of the following goals: helping to identify and decrease the financial risks, finding workable solutions for the arising financial problems and identifying the benefit in the particular processes related to the transition to the sustainable global economy. The company has incorporated these expectations in its value proposition, which has strengthened its reputation over the years and helped it to gain a stable target market.
The firm is organised in such a way as to facilitate the delivery of the expected excellence to the clients. The purposes of the value proposition are addressed by the corporate structure, corporate principles, and organisational culture of the company. The organisational structure of the company allows different departments to specialise in different financial service needs of their customers. For instance, the issues of consumer and community banking and commercial banking are addressed by two different departments.
The organisation values diversity, meritocracy and balance in its organisational culture. The managers of the company are independent and knowledgeable enough to satisfy the needs of the clients. The company values the ethical code of finance professionals, which has a serious impact on the way, in which it fulfils the obligations towards its clients.
To ensure the delivery of the declared excellence, the company maintains a high level of performance and strives to increase the level of its performance. To be able to do so, the administration measures the performance regularly. As the administration of the company considers, a regular performance analysis is beneficial for the value proposition because the clients of the company treasure transparency, as well as they, perform regular monitoring of the performance of the companies, whose financial services they use, to decide if they should continue using the services of this company.
To measure the performance, the company uses regular (daily) web-based accounting. The results are analysed according to the Modified Dietz method. The company publishes its performance statistics regularly to make it available to the current and potential customers.
The leadership style used by J.P. Morgan & Chase serves the purpose of strengthening the position of the company in the market of financial services and delivering excellence to its customers. I would define the leadership style executed at the company as laissez-faire. The administration believes that the managers should be enabled to make independent decisions as long as they are committed to equality, discipline, and proactivity.
At the organisation, such measures as talent reviews, councils and team meetings are frequently held to ensure the efficiency of the company and the equality among its employees. Also, managers are encouraged to maintain responsibility for their teams and take the blame on themselves in case of team failure. The managers are also encouraged to promote proactivity among their followers. Such specificities of a leadership style have impacted the organisational culture of the company and its position in the market.
Recommendations to strengthen excellence in the value proposition
Having analysed the value proposition and excellent delivery of J.P. Morgan & Chase, I developed some recommendations for the board of directors.
First of all, I would like to mention the areas that, to my opinion, do not require any changes. The company has a well-developed global supply chain, this chain is perfectly managed and the communication between various links of the chain is working at a high level. I do not see any necessity to alter the mode of chain management, as it is already well-working. I also believe that the approach of J.P. Morgan & Chase to customer service does not require changes.
The company perceives its clients as individuals rather than a crowd, which has a significant positive impact on the delivery of excellence (Solomon, Ackerman & Kock 2000). Besides, the company tends to look at important issues of service from the customer’s viewpoint. For instance, it publishes its performance statistics since it understands what a client is looking for and acts accordingly.
However, some areas still require changes. The most important change that I am willing to propose is the amendment of the organisational structure. The modern financial service companies tend to get large and sophisticated, which may be confusing for their customers. I propose that the company should be divided into a larger amount of independent entities, each of which serves a particular purpose (Solomon, Ackerman & Kock 2000).
For instance, J.P. Morgan & Chase can create a separate entity that deals with private wealth management, another one that specialises in financial consulting, and other minor firms following this example. It will facilitate customers’ understanding of the services of the company, which will strengthen the value proposition. To launch this innovation, the managers of the departments should be given more independence so that they can become leaders of separate entities. Likewise, the role and influence of each employee should be enhanced. Another proposed change is to increase the presence of the company in social media. Currently, millennials are becoming the primary target audience of customer service companies, and marketing research provides evidence that they are most interested in the services of the companies with strong social media presence (O’Connor 2015).
To launch this innovation, the company should maintain activity on the accounts in various social media, providing information regarding its performance and services understandably. Such a measure would strengthen the value proposition and improve the mode of excellence delivery. Finally, the company should find a way to explain to its potential customers why it is better than the other financial service companies.
The market for financial services is extremely competitive in the USA, and it is getting more competitive in the world. Even though J.P. Morgan & Chase possesses a strong reputation of an old and respectable company, it would not be enough to defeat the rivals. Defeating the rivals require a frequent update and improvement of customer service practices and, again, the increase of the online presence. As I am sure, the above-mentioned change of the organisational structure would facilitate this innovation since a manager of each separate entity will receive enough independence to fulfil the constant update of practices.
Conclusion
To prepare the present report, I used both internal and external sources of data. I have analysed the practices of J.P. Morgan & Chase related to the value proposition and excellence delivery. Furthermore, I have prepared recommendations that should improve the value proposition and excellent delivery of the company.
Reference List
J.P. Morgan 2014, Performance analytics. Web.
J.P. Morgan Chase 2014, Corporate responsibility report 2014. Web.
JPMorgan Chase & Co. 2016.
O’Connor, P 2015, What to know when marketing to millennials, weblog.
Solomon, M, Ackerman, M & Kock, L 2000, Achieving customer relationship excellence in financial services. Web.