HI5019 Strategic Information Systems: ANZ Bank Literature Review

This literature review examines the strategic information systems of ANZ Bank, focusing on its organizational structure, operational challenges, and system acquisition methods. It discusses issues like customer expectations, profitability, competition from FinTech companies, and regulatory pressures. The review includes a sales flowchart, identifies control problems within the bank's system, and suggests suitable accounting software packages like Xero. Furthermore, it analyzes ANZ Bank's market size, identifies key competitors such as Commonwealth Bank and Westpac, and provides recommendations for improvement. The analysis uses publicly available information to derive all its insights. The document is available on Desklib, a platform offering study tools and resources for students.

Running head: STRATEGIC INFORMATION SYSTEM
Strategic Information System: ANZ Bank
Name of the Student
Name of the University
Author’s Note:

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Table of Contents
Introduction................................................................................................................................2
Discussion..................................................................................................................................2
ANZ Bank..............................................................................................................................2
Part A.....................................................................................................................................3
1. Complete Organizational Structure................................................................................3
2. Various Operational Problems.......................................................................................4
3. System Acquisition Method...........................................................................................5
4. Sales Flowchart of ANZ Bank.......................................................................................6
5. Control Problems within System...................................................................................8
Part B......................................................................................................................................8
1. Suitable Accounting Software Packages........................................................................8
2. Market Size of ANZ Bank.............................................................................................9
3. Market Leaders and Core Competitors of ANZ Bank...................................................9
4. Suitable Recommendations of ANZ Bank...................................................................11
Conclusion................................................................................................................................11
References................................................................................................................................13

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Introduction
The concepts, tools, methodologies, technologies for constituting an information
system to make proper strategies of an organization are known as strategic information
system (Smith 2013). This strategic information system is a mere support to the business for
gaining several competitive advantages. It is solely characterized by the ability to alter all the
business processes for providing strategic advantages. Any specific information system like
transaction processing system, knowledge management system or any other that are
responsible for altering the products, objectives and processes for helping the business to
obtain competitive advantage and reduce competitive disadvantage is a strategic information
system (Bryson 2018). The competitive strategies are certain formulas that define the
business process and how those processes could be successfully executed. Accounting
information systems are used for taking decisions in any organization.
This literature review will be providing relevant details on one of the banks in
Australia, ANZ Bank. The current organizational structure with various operational problems
like errors and inefficiency because of the structure will be given here. The next part
discusses about the most likely method of system acquisition of the organization and the
flowchart of the overall sales process of ANZ Bank. Moreover, the frauds and control
problems of this bank will also be discussed here. The final part discusses about the
accounting software package of ANZ Bank with relevant recommendations. The details of
the above discussion are provided in the following paragraphs.

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Discussion
ANZ Bank
The Australia and New Zealand Banking Group Limited is one of the most significant
banks in Australia (Anz.com.au. 2018). It was founded in the year 1835 and is considered as
the oldest bank in Australia. The market capitalization of this bank is extremely high and is
almost same as the Commonwealth Bank of Australia. They have dominated the sectors of
commercial banking and retail banking. Previously, it a completely nationalized bank;
however, in 2012 it was turned to a private bank (Anz.com.au. 2018). The headquarters of
this bank is in Melbourne Australia. It even operates in thirty four separate nations.
The shares of the organization have always been on the higher side; however, recently
they have examined losses within their business. The shares had a drastic fall and they were
unable to avoid this situation (Anz.com.au. 2018). This particular situation is extremely
dangerous for the organization and thus they are undergoing a tough phase. However, there is
scope for them to become successful again by changing few of their strategies.
Part A
1. Complete Organizational Structure
The organizational structure of any specific organization is responsible for identifying
all the major and important parts of a business and allocating all the tasks of the business
(Cassidy 2016). Moreover, the proper supervision and coordination of the business are done
with the help of this organizational structure. The aims and targets of the organization are
achieved with this structure. If the organizational structure is not perfect and if this structure

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is not proper, the organization is bound to be failure (Haiss 2013). The organizational
structure of ANZ Bank is extremely strong and hence the bank has come to this stage.
Figure 1: Current Organizational Structure of ANZ Bank
(Source: Anz.com.au. 2018)
The figure has provided the view of the current organizational structure of the ANZ
Bank. The board of directors are the main and the most important part of the bank. They are
the heads of the bank. The chairman and the president are the second hierarchy (Haines
2016). All of them constitute the top management of the business. The middle management
of ANZ Bank is the audit committee, governance committee and many more. The rest of the
employees are the parts of the lower level management.
2. Various Operational Problems
The various operational problems within the ANZ Bank are as follows:

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i) Expectations of Consumers: The first operational problem is the expectations from
consumers. They are not being able to deliver the type of services the customers are
expecting from them (Wolf and Floyd 2017). This is causing a major drift in the shares of the
bank and hence they are in major problem. Since, the customers are the main parts of the
bank, they are under huge pressure.
ii) Incapability in Making Money: The next important operational problem in ANZ
Bank is the incapability in making sufficient money (Albrechts 2013). In spite of having
fixed deadlines of the banking profitability, ANZ Bank is incapable of making enough money
for their banks. Thus, the shareholders and stakeholders of the bank are extremely unhappy
with them
iii) Main Competition from FinTech Organizations: Several FinTech or financial
technology organizations have come into account in present days (Ioppolo et al. 2016). These
FinTech companies are specific start up companies that have utilized software for providing
the financial services. The incrementing popularity of all the FinTech companies is
eventually disturbing the traditional banking methods of ANZ Bank. This has become a huge
challenge for the ANZ Bank as they are unable to accept the changes and alterations amongst
the banks (Elbanna, Andrews and Pollanen 2016). The operations of the bank are strongly
affected due to this and thus they are affected.
iv) Pressures for Regulatory: The requirements for regulatory eventually continue for
increasing and ANZ Bank requires a spending of huge amount of their budget for building
their systems and business processes (Glykas 2013). This type of pressure has often become
dangerous for the organization and they have suffered losses.

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3. System Acquisition Method
The system acquisition method that ANZ Bank has taken is the commercial software.
It is the type of a specific software or computer software, which is substantially produced for
the purpose of sales and serves all the commercial purposes (Brumm and Drury 2013). The
commercial software could be an open source software or a proprietary software. The
organization of ANZ Bank has got various advantages or benefits for this commercial
software. The most significant advantage that ANZ Bank has got from commercial software
is advantage of the organization’s customer services department in case of troubleshooting
(Ramírez and Selsky 2016). The second important advantage is the expense. The overall cost
incurred here is very low and thus the organization is benefitted. The third important
advantage of commercial software that ANZ Bank has got is the easy adaptability. The
commercial software that ANZ Bank is using for their business is .NET Framework by
Microsoft and Adobe Flex by Adobe (Austin and Pinkleton 2015). Some more software are
also used by them for their organizational goals and objectives.
Figure 2: Commercial Software in ANZ Bank
(Source: Anz.com.au. 2018)
The above figure shows the list of commercial software that is used by the ANZ
Bank. Microsoft Document and Microsoft Excel are the major and the most important
amongst them (Pearlson, Saunders and Galletta 2016). These are extremely important for the
organization and thus ANZ Bank obtains various advantages form them.

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4. Sales Flowchart of ANZ Bank
The sales flowchart of any bank refers to the steps of the processes of sales within that
bank (Bernus, Mertins and Schmidt 2013). The sales flowchart of ANZ Bank is given below:
Figure 3: Flowchart of Sales in ANZ Bank
(Source: Anz.com.au. 2018)
The above flowchart provides a simple image of the sales of the ANZ Bank. The
process is extremely simple (Laurini 2014). It starts with the customer arriving at the bank.
Then the customer makes a request and the bank teller inquires for his ID. He checks whether
the ID is valid or not. If it is not, the process stops there only. However, if it is genuine, the
balance is checked. If the balance is alright, transaction is continued and if not, it is rejected

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(Rainer et al. 2013). Policies are being checked in the next step and the policy is within
purview, it is transacted. However, if not, the transaction is rejected. Finally the customer
gets the money and the transaction is completed.
5. Control Problems within System
The problems within the system of ANZ Bank mainly include the lack of strategies.
They do not have enough strategies for the betterment of their business and hence they face
these types of problems. The next problem is in managing customers (Österle 2013). The
customers should be their first priority; however they are unable to control and manage their
customers properly and significantly. This eventually becomes a major problem for them.
The interest rates in their banks are very high and hence customers do not wish to continue
their business with ANZ Bank.
The main types of frauds that are identified within the bank system are fake emails
that the customer gets in the name of the bank and the probable measures for mitigating these
problems should be taken by the bank immediately (Marinč 2013). Advertisement is another
important sector in any type of bank.
Part B
1. Suitable Accounting Software Packages
The most suitable accounting software package that ANZ Bank has acquired is Xero.
It is one of the most important and old accounting software amongst the rest (Cassidy 2016).
The accounting software package of Xero is responsible for the overall growth and
development of the business. It is based on cloud platform and hence it provides all the
benefits of cloud computing to the software. Moreover, it is cost effective and does not incur
huge costs (Smith 2013). Xero is also flexible and scalable and thus it is utilized by ANZ

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Bank. It also helps to collaborate all the processes of a business and updates are taken
regularly.
2. Market Size of ANZ Bank
Figure 4: Market Size of ANZ Bank
(Source: Anz.com.au. 2018)
Market size of ANZ Bank is much higher than the rest of the banks of Australia and
New Zealand. 26.3% sales are absorbed by them (Albrechts 2013). The position has not
degraded to extreme level and hence there is still hope of improving the position.
3. Market Leaders and Core Competitors of ANZ Bank
The big four banks of Australia are Commonwealth Bank, ANZ Bank, Westpac Bank
and National Australian Bank (Elbanna, Andrews and Pollanen 2016). Following is the share
price movements of all of them.

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Figure 5: Share Price Movements of Competitors in Banking Sectors
(Source: Anz.com.au. 2018)
The above graph clearly shows the share price movements of the competitors within
the banks of Australia and New Zealand (Brumm and Drury 2013). First let us start with the
Commonwealth Bank of Australia or CBA. In the year 2003, they were around 100, however,
with years, finally in 2013; they have reached to more than 240. It is a drastic rise for the
organization and thus they are on the top. More than 100% of their shares have been raised in
the tenure of 10 years, which is very good for any bank (Pearlson, Saunders and Galletta
2016). The shares of this particular bank are very high and thus they are enjoying the top
position. The second bank is the Westpac Bank of Australia. Even they have started with 100
in the year 2003 and gradually, they have reached up to 180 in 2013. They have also shown
major progress in the share market and hence is quite popular amongst the customers. The
third bank is the Australia and New Zealand Banking Group or ANZ Bank. They started with
100 in 2003 and have reached to 160 in 2013 (Rainer et al. 2013). This is not a big rise;
however they are trying to climb upwards. The final banking sector in the big four banks is

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NAB or National Australian Bank. They have degraded. They started with 100 in 2003 and
have ended below 100 in 2013, which is extremely degrading for any bank (Marinč 2013).
The market leader is CBA or Commonwealth Bank of Australia.
4. Suitable Recommendations of ANZ Bank
The several gaps and challenges, faced by ANZ Bank are extremely disrupting for
reaching to the top position in any banking sector. The first challenge is competing with
FinTech companies. The recommendation is to upgrade the technologies to modern tools so
that there is no problem in their system. The second challenge is high interest rates. The
recommendation is to reduce the interest rates and maintain good relation with customers.
Conclusion
Therefore, conclusion could be drawn that competitive advantages are required in any
organization to become successful. These competitive advantages are obtained by any
particular organization with the help of strategic information system. The tools, technologies,
concepts, and methodologies after comprising a typical information system for making
perfect strategies of a company are called a strategic information system. This typical
strategic information system is the perfect prop up for any business to gain various
competitive advantages. It is effectively and efficiently featured by the capability in altering
each and every business process to provide strategic advantages. This particular strategic
information system is not classified as per the organizational structure, support systems and
functional areas. Any typical information system such as knowledge management system,
transaction processing system and many more that are eventually responsible for altering the
processes, products and objectives to help out the company in obtaining all the competitive
advantages and in mitigating competitive disadvantages is the strategic information system.
The competitive strategies are various formulas, which would be defining the several

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business processes and the procedure of executing those processes. The process of decision
making in any organization is extremely difficult and hence various organization suffer
through problems due to this. The tools that is utilized by the organizations to take decisions
and make the decision making processes easier are known as accounting information
systems. Accounting software packages are software that is used in accounting information
system. The literature review has properly described about one of the banks in Australia,
ANZ Bank or Australia and New Zealand Banking Group. The current organizational
structure with various operational problems like errors and inefficiency because of the
structure are provided here. Accounting software packages and various suggestions are given
here.

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References
Albrechts, L., 2013. Reframing strategic spatial planning by using a coproduction
perspective. Planning theory, 12(1), pp.46-63.
Anz.com.au. 2018. ANZ Personal Banking | Accounts, credit cards, loans, insurance | ANZ.
[online] Available at: https://www.anz.com.au/personal/ [Accessed 21 Apr. 2018].
Austin, E.W. and Pinkleton, B.E., 2015. Strategic public relations management: Planning
and managing effective communication campaigns (Vol. 10). Routledge.
Bernus, P., Mertins, K. and Schmidt, G. eds., 2013. Handbook on architectures of
information systems. Springer Science & Business Media.
Brumm, C.A. and Drury, S., 2013. Leadership that empowers: How strategic planning relates
to followership. Engineering Management Journal, 25(4), pp.17-32.
Bryson, J.M., 2018. Strategic planning for public and nonprofit organizations: A guide to
strengthening and sustaining organizational achievement. John Wiley & Sons.
Cassidy, A., 2016. A practical guide to information systems strategic planning. CRC press.
Elbanna, S., Andrews, R. and Pollanen, R., 2016. Strategic planning and implementation
success in public service organizations: Evidence from Canada. Public Management
Review, 18(7), pp.1017-1042.
Glykas, M., 2013. Fuzzy cognitive strategic maps in business process performance
measurement. Expert Systems with Applications, 40(1), pp.1-14.
Haines, S., 2016. The systems thinking approach to strategic planning and management.
CRC Press.

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Haiss, P.R., 2013. Cultural influences on strategic planning: empirical findings in the
banking industry. Springer Science & Business Media.
Ioppolo, G., Cucurachi, S., Salomone, R., Saija, G. and Shi, L., 2016. Sustainable local
development and environmental governance: A strategic planning
experience. Sustainability, 8(2), p.180.
Laurini, R., 2014. Information systems for urban planning: a hypermedia cooperative
approach. CRC Press.
Marinč, M., 2013. Banks and information technology: marketability vs.
relationships. Electronic Commerce Research, 13(1), pp.71-101.
Österle, H., 2013. Business in the information age: heading for new processes. Springer
Science & Business Media.
Pearlson, K.E., Saunders, C.S. and Galletta, D.F., 2016. Managing and Using Information
Systems, Binder Ready Version: A Strategic Approach. John Wiley & Sons.
Rainer, R.K., Cegielski, C.G., Splettstoesser-Hogeterp, I. and Sanchez-Rodriguez, C.,
2013. Introduction to information systems. John Wiley & Sons.
Ramírez, R. and Selsky, J.W., 2016. Strategic planning in turbulent environments: A social
ecology approach to scenarios. Long Range Planning, 49(1), pp.90-102.
Smith, R.D., 2013. Strategic planning for public relations. Routledge.
Wolf, C. and Floyd, S.W., 2017. Strategic planning research: Toward a theory-driven
agenda. Journal of Management, 43(6), pp.1754-1788.