Macquarie Bank Strategy Analysis

Executive Summary

1.1 Macquarie Bank Limited (MBL) is a world leading investment house with an entrepreneurial culture. At a glance, MBL has become an unprecedented success for numerous reasons, perhaps particularly due to its reactive nature to the industries it is represented in. Their strategies and structures are unique and have proven to be particularly profitable. A causal relationship has been revealed between demand for banking services, economic activity and the level of interest rates. Profitability within the financial industry depends vitally on marketing skills, efficient operations, and management strategies including risk management. This industry is categorically capital-intensive and highly automated, the implications this places on MBL are strong emphasis on a fierce internal cultural and drive. This implication has been harnessed by MBL who has been labeled as having an exceptional internal structure and unique management style and arguably this is the core contingent upon which a success enterprise continues its growth. Their organisational structure and management strategies are not commonplace, but have proven highly successful and are now being emulated in other organisations.

The purpose of this Consultant's Report is to focus of the key drivers that contribute to Macquarie's success - both internal and external.

2. Company Description

2.1 Mission Statement

Macquarie’s mission statement is a formal commitment to its stakeholders. The statement expresses that strategies are formed with the claims of the stakeholders in mind and to balance the competing interests between these various stakeholders needs. This statement flows to underpin the later introduced concept of the “Maquarie Model”, dominated by a long term ideology, which has become signatory to Macquarie’s success and future dominance internationally.

2.2 Significance of History

Historical reporting reveals key indications of the views, beliefs and operative standards and applications followed by MBL. Macquarie’s continual focus on a “firm” as the success typifies their attitudes of teamwork and a firm-first mentality. Individual’s contributions towards the success of MBL are deliberately omitted from historical recollections. This works two-fold, removing an association of success or reputation with any one key employee who may leave, and building a strong core structure, which cannot be easily emulated by MBL’s competitors. This once more is an assertion of a long-term outlook and is strategic in managing the risk that surrounds this industry being capital intensive. By harnessing the notion of ‘the firm is first’ MBL is successfully able to sustain itself long-term and protect its intangible resources which produce