5

CASE STUDIES ON ABN AMRO

In a time of drastic change, it is the learners who inherit the future.

The learned find themselves equipped to live in a world that no
longer exists

-Eric Hoffer

Netherlands former two largest banks Algemene Bank Nederland (ABN) and
Amsterdam-Rotterdam Bank (AMRO) merged to form ABN AMRO Bank in
1991. ABN AMRO is an international bank with roots stretching back to 1824.
ABN AMRO ranks eighth in Europe and 13th in the world based on total
assets. ABN AMRO is Holland’s leading bank operating over 800 offices in
Holland together with 2,600 worldwide offices in 75 different countries with
over 110,000 employees.

5.1 Innovation & Creativity

Innovation and Creativity is a main pillar in any Learning Organisation.
Innovation and Creativity will contribute towards potential increased
efficiency in an organisation provided that its employees learn quickly how to
adapt themselves to new technologies and innovations in an effort to
position the organisation in a competitive edge.

5.1.1 Social and Environmental Innovative

Sustainability
Sustained Social and Environmental causes form an integral part of ABN
AMRO Social Responsibility business strategy.The bank strives to include a
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concern for social and environmental issues in its decision-making and
encourages other businesses to create benefit in society. Through its lending
practices, the bank seeks out and supports business activities that support
social or environmental causes. The innovativeness of this sustainability
mindset has led to numerous activities that are creating a shift in the impact
of ABN AMRO on both the environment and society.

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 5.1.2 Common Office Environment (COE) Deployment
Project
ABN AMRO’s COE Wholesale Client Services business brought innovation and
new practices for over 3000 Traders in the organisation with the objective of
streamlining common standards across its global business. This project
impacted 10 different countries being UK, US, Netherlands, France,

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Germany, Hong Kong, Singapore, Australia, Japan and New Zealand which
are key to the ABN AMRO’s business.

The challenge was to provide user training with minimal impact on business
operations and without taking the user away from their desks for long
periods of time.This task was entrusted to ILX Group which is a specialist
provider of customised training and implementation solutions and services
with considerable experience in the financial sector.ILX deployed a simple
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and unobtrusive global solution whereby users can self train with a practical
hands-on approach from their own PC through graphical step-by-step guides
and simple exercises.

This was a new learning experience for the organisation taking advantage of
innovative technology as a Learning Organisation process.

5.1.3 Pathlore Learning Management Solution

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ABN AMRO has partnered with Pathlore to deploy a learning management
solution in its organisation. This solution enables employees to analyse their
training needs and to receive feedback on how to improve their
performance. This solution also automates many of the employee
development activities handled by a bank's training department such as the
registration of employees for training and the launching of courses. This
gives the bank's training team an opportunity to concentrate more on the
evaluation of the effectiveness of its programs and to create new and
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strategic training initiatives rather than wasting its resources on
Administrative tasks.

5.2 Culture
Managing Cultural Change through Learning: One of ABN AMRO’s major
strategies is the acquisition of Financial Institutions such as the LaSalle
National Bank and the Cragin Federal Bank in the USA. ABN AMRO is an

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active Learning Organisation and has an aggressive program aimed to
change the traditional banking culture to meet today’s challenges.

"We’re going through so much change," says Director of Training Judi

Davenport "that I think everybody realises we need to help people through
that change... as people need new skills and knowledge, we need to be there
to give it to them and not let that happen by chance"

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5.3 Continuous Improvement
The ongoing success of ABN AMRO is attributed to its commitment towards
employee learning and personal development; learning is a major priority for
the organisation. Being a dynamic and a fast growing organisation, there is
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the need for staff flexibility, staff mobility and staff adaptation to new
technologies, practices, situations and challenges. In order to support the
personal development and career development of employees, ABN AMRO
offer continuous learning programmes such as:

• Job-related training

• Management programs

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 • Leadership programs

• Development Programs

Learning is an investment and an ongoing process in ABN AMRO adding

value both to the organisation and to its employees.

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E-learning: It is an innovative learning solution and is the only way forward
for a global Learning Organisation such as ABN AMRO where staff is
deployed worldwide.

Continuous improvement is achievable through the continued upgrading of

the organisational Total Quality Management practices as an ongoing
learning experience. TQM can be achieved by having a knowledgeable
workforce who continuously strives for self-improvement and through
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personal development for the benefit of both the organisation and its
employees.

5.4 Conclusion

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It is evident that ABN AMRO is a dynamic Learning Organisation which is
always in search of new opportunities for business growth. ABN AMRO
recognises that its survival depends on continuous development and
innovation and creativity which can only be achieved through a never ending
learning experience.

The main pillars of a Learning Organisation i.e. “Continuous Improvement”,

“Culture” & “Innovation and Creativity” are a living monument in ABN AMRO
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Bank which contributes towards the organisation’s success, survival and
potential future growth.

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6
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CONCLUSION

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Like it or not, the years ahead will be an era of change and
competition The only thing one can predict about the future is
change

-anonyms

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The perfect Learning Organisation is not an attainable goal, it is merely a
desirable concept: there is no correct implementation of the Learning
Organisation. Every company can continuously adapt and adjust and some
will be better Learning Organisations than others, but every one of them has
something new to learn.

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Finally it should be mentioned that the Learning Organisation is just a means
to a business goal, created to improve productivity and most importantly
profit. Quite how long this philosophy will remain fashionable is unknown.
What is certain is that for any company in today's global marketplace
continuous change and adaptation is the only way to survive.

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 REFERENCES
Books

• Jeffrey K. Liker, The Toyota Way, Tata McGraw-Hill Edition, New

Delhi, 2004, Pg 250- 267
• Michael E. McGill, John W.Slocum, The Smarter Organisation,John
Wiley & sons,Newyork, Inc,1994, Pg 17-21,52-53
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 • Peter M Senge, The Fifth discipline, Currency Doubieday, Newyork,
2004,Pg 57-61,302-306, 368-372.
• Richard L Daft, Organisational Theory and Design, Thomson South
western, Bangalore, 2004,Pg 25-29, 507-508,419-424.

Reports and Case Studies

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• Peter Gerard, The Learning Organisation: A qualitative research
project to identify best practice in the field, Humdyn, London ,
2007,Pg 4-9 . Source- www.Academy-of-rocks. co.uk
• Jesmond Calleja, Case studies : ABN AMRO Bank, 2008, Source –
www.Speedy Adverts.com

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 • Lourival Paulino da Silva, and Fl´avio Soares Corrˆea da Silva, A
Formal Model for the Fifth Discipline, University of S˜ao
Paulo,2002, Source www.skyrme.com

Websites

• en.wikipedia.org
• www.see.ed.ac.uk
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• www.infed.org
• www.fieldbook.com

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