Strategic analysis
INTRODUCTION
Perhaps one of the most well-known banking institutions in the United States is Wells Fargo. Wells Fargo and Company will incessantly be associated with the image of a stagecoach begin pulled by six horse as it flashes across the America West, filled with gold. The banks roots are rich in history covering a span of more than 160 years. Wells Fargo has been a part of some of the most iconic moments in American. Moments such as the gold rush to the early 20th Century, through wealth, Great Depression and war, has earned Wells Fargo the covenant admiration of its customers (Wells Fargo Bank, 2020.a para. 1).
Wells Fargo is an American international financial corporation headquartered in San Francisco, California. The company’s mission statement is “to help our customer succeed financially” (Wells Fargo Bank, 2020.b para. 2). The meticulousness of this proclamation displays how certain and clear the organization is with regards to its order and need in the industry. The importance in this statement is more about what the customers, and what they could potentially earn from the firm.
Wells Fargo has offices throughout the United States with an estimated 8,400 branches (Wells Fargo Bank, 2020.c para 2). Wells Fargo is considered to be third largest bank by market capitalization and the tenth largest financial institute in the world (Wells Fargo Bank, 2020.d). The company employs approximately 260,000 team members who provide support to diversified products such as Home Mortgage, Auto-Financing, Wealth and Investment Management, International Service, and Treasury Management to name a few.
The annual earnings of Wells Fargo is a contributing factor to their continued success. In their 2019 third quarter financial earnings, Wells Fargo grossed $4.6 Billion (Wells Fargo Bank, 2019). Wells Fargo’s competitive advantage derives from cost recompenses and capability to borrow capitals at a lower rate than that of its competitors. Additionally, the banks’ ability to offer lower mortgage rates than that of its competitors further adds to their ability to compete in the financial industry.
PROBLEM STATEMENT
The problem at Wells Fargo is how to build sales, profits and market share in the finance industry. One of the nation’s top leading banks, Wells Fargo remains upside down in reorganization and governing reforms subsequently since 2016 stemming from the disgraces at its consumer-facing community bank. The bank came under extreme scrutiny beginning in 2016 after it was discovered that Wells Fargo had opened millions of factitious accounts in order to meet unrealistic sales goals established by supercilious leaders. Upon discovery of this unethical practice, leaders insisted it was the doing of a few branch employees, “the blame later shifted to top-down pressures from management to open as many accounts as possible via aggressive cross-selling” (Frank, 2020 para 4). Wells Fargo has yet to fully recover from this ordeal.
References
Frank, T., (2020) Wells Fargo reported near $3 billion sefflement with SEC and DOJ over sales scandal. Retrieved from https://www.cnbc.com/2020/02/21/wells-fargo-reportedly-near-settlements-over-sales-scandal.html
Wells Fargo Bank and Company (2020.a) History of Wells Fargo. Retrieved https://www.wellsfargo.com/about/corporate/history/
Wells Fargo Bank and Company (2020.b) Vision, values, and goals of Wells Fargo. Retrieved https://www.wellsfargojobs.com/values
Wells Fargo and Company (2020.c) About us. Retrieved https://www.wellsfargojobs.com/about-us
Wells Fargo and Company (2020.d) Wells Fargo today. Retrieved https://www08.wellsfargomedia.com/assets/pdf/about/corporate/wells-fargo-today.pdf