International Business : Al Rajhi Banking & Investment Corporation

Running head: INTRODUCTION TO INTERNATIONAL BUSINESS 1
Introduction to International Business
Name
Institution
Author’s Note

INTRODUCTION TO INTERNATIONAL BUSINESSS 2
Al Rajhi Banking & Investment Corporation
Introduction
In the year 1981 realized the formation of the Gulf Cooperation Council when their office
opened doors for operation in Saudi Arabia. The main agenda for the formation was to help
members in Arab countries to be able to grow in terms of their economic standards, which in
return would realize better living standards for the citizens (Salahuddin & Gow, 2014). The main
economic activity carried out by these countries is the mining and exportation of oil to other
countries of the world that are not members. Being that these countries have the same export, the
formation of the Gulf Cooperation Council was to give these countries the opportunity to fight
poverty and to have a common exchange value in the global market (Al-Mawali, 2015). For
Saudi Arabia, in particular, this cooperation led to economic growth due to the springing up of
many companies and industries. It is an undeniable fact that this cooperation brought many
benefits to the economy of the member countries despite the lack of a common currency (Kaya
& Tsai, 2016). One of the companies that will be discussed here is Al Rajhi Banking &
Investment Corporation.
SWOT analysis
Strengths
This is one of the most successful investment companies in Saudi Arabia. There are many
strengthening factors that have put this company in its position and maintained it there
(ElMassah, 2015). To start with, this company provides a variety of services to its customers and
with a lot of ease. Ranging from retail to corporate banking services, treasury, and investment
solutions are provided by this bank. This makes Al Rajhi bank one of the efficient banks that can

INTRODUCTION TO INTERNATIONAL BUSINESSS 3
be able to provide a lot of solutions to people's financial problems. It is able to triumph over the
competitors because of the many services such as credit facilities, personal, home, car finances,
credit cards, and a lot more range of investment products to its customers. This company has also
beaten its rivals by providing its customers with a network of branches and ATMs all over the
country and other parts of the world that makes work easier for clients to get their problems
solved. This bank got popularity when it won the Asian banker of the year award in retail and
corporate banking. On the last point of the strengths, this bank is attracting customers by its
cheap cost of funds such as free deposits (Edgar et al. 2016). This makes Al Rajhi bank one of
the most favorite for many people to bank and invest with.
Weaknesses
Some of the weaknesses of this bank that may have deterred further rise of this bank are
as follows; firstly, there are some accusations that this bank is involving in funding illegal
activities. When this kind of information got into the ears of the pubic, some of the clients, both
private and corporates, lost their trust in the bank because of this reputation. This resulted in
some withdrawing for other providers of the same services. There is a very drastic credit growth
that puts much difficulty on this bank capital count, which is resulting in this bank, tightening
some of its services and hence losing attraction to clients.
Opportunities
Some of the opportunities that this bank is relying on are; its strong net profit growth
even when the county's economy declines brought about by high oil prices, which increase
lending and depositing of money (Nusair, 2016). On the other strength, due to their lending