Wells Fargo Strategy: Essay Introduction
Wells Fargo & Company (also called Wells Fargo) is one of “the leading financial services holding companies in the globe” (Our strategy, 2016, para. 3). The firm has numerous stores across the United States. The company has been leveraging its distribution strategy in order to improve its business performance. With the current level of consolidation experienced in the United States, the company has been forced to tackle the problem of competition in the industry. This study examines the nature and organizational strategy of the company. The paper goes further to outline the best strategies that can be implemented to revolutionize the firm’s performance.
Nature of the Organization
Wells Fargo is a public company that operates in the Finance and Banking industry. This industry is associated with the provision of banking and financial services to different consumers in the targeted market (Crotty, 2008). The company offers a wide range of products to its customers such as private equity, corporate banking, wealth management credit cards, foreign currency exchange, financial services, mortgage loans, and consumer banking (Wells Fargo, 2016).
This company was started by William Fargo and Henry Wells in 1852 to provide banking products to Californians (Wells Fargo, 2016). The firm acquired Overland Mail and Holladay in 1866 (Wells Fargo, 2016). Throughout the years, Wells Fargo has merged with different firms such as Union Trust, American Trust Company, and First Security Corporation. The company established Wells Fargo Securities in the year 2009 (Our strategy, 2016). This move supported its performance in investment banking. The organization currently has a total of 265,000 employees.
The other critical issue affecting Wells Fargo is the increasing level of competition. Wells Fargo is one of the companies with a superior management approach. The company has recorded positive results within the past three decades. However, the issue of complexity and size continues to affect this industry. The firm faces competition from giants such as Citigroup, JPMorgan Chase, and the Bank of America (Wells Fargo, 2016). Wells Fargo is the leader in terms of market capitalization. JPMorgan Chase and Bank of America have huge total deposits thus making it impossible for Wells Fargo to compete with them.
Organizational Chart
This corporation has a unique organizational structure that supports its business goals. The organization has a Board of Directors (BoD) to ensure the major functions are completed in a timely manner. The company’s leadership is shared by different executive officers (Eos). The firm has eight EOs who manage different departments and functions. For example, David Carroll is the Senior EO for Wealth and Investment Management (Wells Fargo, 2016). The current Chief Executive Officer (and President) is Timothy Sloan. The Chief Risk Officer is Michael Loughlin while the Chief Finance Officer is called John Shrewsberry.
The CEO monitors various organizational activities and encourages every EO to focus on the company’s goals. The Chairman of the BoD overseas the major functions of the firm to ensure they are legal and sustainable (Wells Fargo, 2016). The Chief Finance Officer (CFO) monitors and manages the company’s financial matters. The role of the Risk Officer is to ensure the best investment decisions are made at the company. The firm’s quality assurance (QA) department improves service delivery.
Wells Fargo Business Strategy
The success of Wells Fargo in the Banking and Finance industry can be attributed to its unique business strategy. The firm has developed a powerful business strategy that is guided by specific principles. The company’s vision is “to satisfy the customers’ financial needs and help them succeed financially” (Our strategy, 2016, para. 1). The firm embraces the power of determination, persistence, and hard work to ensure the targeted goals are realized. The firm uses its core values to build sustainable relationships with every client. The created relationships make it easier for the company to discover the diverse needs of the customers. By so doing, the company develops a powerful model that can deliver the best support to the customers.
In order to achieve its best goals, Wells Fargo creates new teams that can deliver exemplary results. The firm creates new opportunities for its customers in different regions. The move to understand the unique financial needs of the customers plays a critical role towards reshaping the business strategy (Our strategy, 2016). The company uses its financial resources to innovate and develop superior financial products. The next step is channeling such products to the targeted customers. The firm’s ultimate objective has been to ensure the company’s customers realize their potentials.
The firm’s strategy is supported by the concept of risk management. The risk management department is always committed to the emerging needs of different customers. The firm uses effective capital management to ensure its business more sustainable and safe. The company “monitors the financial needs of its clients in order to address risk before its affects them” (Our strategy, 2016, para. 9).
This approach explains why the company has specialized in a number of products such as mortgage, investment, and banking. The managers work tirelessly to avail the company’s services to more people across the globe. The firm is also known to distribute its diversified earnings equally. This strategy has been observed to support the firm’s profitability and business performance (Wells Fargo, 2016). This analysis shows clearly that Wells Fargo uses a powerful business strategy that is guided by its core values and principles.
Specific Area to Address
It is agreeable that Wells Fargo’s business model has made it one of the most successful financial institutions in North America. The firm’s products and services continue to address the needs of many customers in the region. Some “threats such as the increasing level of consolation and meltdown in asset-backed securities continue to affect Wells Fargo” (Oxelheim, Randoy, & Stonehill, 2011, p. 12). That being the case, Wells Fargo must restructure its model in order to overcome these challenges. For instance, the firm can expand its operations in order to target more customers in the developing world (Fama & French, 2008). A powerful strategy characterized by superior financial products will make it easier for the company to realize its potentials (Hunt, 2014). This gap explains why the targeted study will focus on the best approaches to overcome these threats affecting Wells Fargo and eventually make its successful.
Wells Fargo Strategy: Essay Conclusion
This discussion has showed conclusively that Wells Fargo is one of the successful providers of financial services in the United States. The company’s business strategy is guided by the best values and ideas thus remaining sustainable. However, competition from giant corporations such as Citigroup and JPMorgan Chase remains a major threat. A revision of the current business strategy can make it possible for Wells Fargo to expand its operations and eventually become more profitable (Hunt, 2014). In conclusion, Wells Fargo & Company should implement a new business model in an attempt to address the increasing level of competition the industry.
References
Crotty, J. (2008). If financial market competition is intense, why are financial firm profits so high: Reflections on the current ‘golden age’ of finance. Competition & Change, 14(2), 167-183.
Fama, F., & French, K. (2008) Dissecting anomalies. Journal of Finance, 63(1), 1653-1678.
Hunt, T. (2014). Common sense talent management. Hoboken, NJ: John Wiley and Sons.
Our strategy. (2016). Web.
Oxelheim, L., Randoy, T., & Stonehill, A. (2011). What can international finance add to international strategy? IFN Working Paper, 1(8), 1-28.
Wells Fargo. (2016). Web.