Report on Strategic Issues and Recommendations for CBA Australia

This report provides a comprehensive analysis of the strategic issues confronting the Commonwealth Bank of Australia (CBA). It begins with an executive summary and introduction, emphasizing the importance of branding and positioning within the competitive financial landscape. The report then delves into the 8 P's of marketing, examining product, price, promotion, place, partnerships, processes, and physical evidence as they relate to CBA. An external environmental analysis using the PESTLE framework (Political, Economic, Social, Technological, Legal, and Environmental) is conducted to assess the bank's operating environment. The core of the report identifies key strategic issues, including challenges related to customer acquisition, technological innovation, and risk management. Finally, the report offers actionable recommendations to address these issues, focusing on enhanced marketing strategies, technological improvements, and improved risk management practices to ensure CBA's continued success in the coming years. The report, written by a student, aims to provide a detailed understanding of CBA's challenges and opportunities.

Running head: INTRODUCTION TO STRATEGY
INTRODUCTION TO STRATEGY
Name of the Student
Name of the University
Author Note

1INTRODUCTION TO STRATEGY
Executive Summary
Australia has a very strong and prosperous future which will be underpinned by an
efficient, secure, stable, and reliable financial system. This report will be able to identify and
inquire the strategic issues which will be faced by the company in the coming three to five years.
The Commonwealth bank of Australia has been acquiring a status of financial icon which was
built in the history. The bank’s financial success continued with its innovation technologies in
customer service departments. As it is the Australia’s largest financial institution it covers a wide
range of Australian’s. The report will be aligned in identifying the strategic issues faced by the
country in the present years as well as the issues which will be faced by the company in the next
three to five years. After the identification of the issues the report will further provide
recommendations to the issues which will be faced by the bank.

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Table of Contents
Executive Summary.........................................................................................................................1
Introduction......................................................................................................................................2
Importance of branding and positioning..........................................................................................2
8 P’s of marketing for the Commonwealth Bank of Australia........................................................3
External environmental Analysis of the Commonwealth Bank of Australia..................................5
Strategic Issues which will be faced by the bank in the coming years............................................6
Recommendations............................................................................................................................7
Conclusion.......................................................................................................................................9
References......................................................................................................................................10

3INTRODUCTION TO STRATEGY
Introduction
Every company needs to be keenly keep its strategies focused towards the importance of
the promotional and marketing strategies. These strategies helps the organization in order to
utilize the existing skills of the employees in an organization who are responsible for developing
the creative approach in order to gain a competitive advantage over other companies. Here lies
the necessity of developing and designing the marketing and promotional plans which will help
the company to achieve its success in a long run (Willcocks and Reynolds 2015). Preparing well
planned and thought out marketing plan will be able to provide a feasible solution which will
help the Commonwealth bank of Australia in order to stay connected with the client which will
help the bank to overcome the strategic issues, the bank will be facing in the coming years.
The paper is based on the evaluation of the best marketing mix for the bank. The importance of
carrying out the corporate social responsibilities and the roles played by the social media will
also be highlighted in the research paper. The theoretical approach towards the importance of
determining the strategic issues and the various ways which will help the bank to improve its
market better will be made.
Importance of branding and positioning
Proper positioning of the product and services which are provided by the bank in the market is
one of the most crucial approaches which the Commonwealth bank of Australia should
undertake. According to the authors (Aulich, Jones and Head 2018) creating a proper brand helps
any business organization to stand out from the usual crowd as well as from the competitors
existing in the market. The only answer to the questions raised by the customers regarding what

4INTRODUCTION TO STRATEGY
makes the Commonwealth bank of Australia better than the rest is an effective brand positioning.
However the strategic issues has made it very tough for the bank to ensure the best positioning of
the bank due to the intense competition faced by the bank from its competitors also the
availability of the various kinds of substitution. In the following part a detailed analysis of the
marketing variables which can be determined by the 8P will be provided.
8 P’s of marketing for the Commonwealth Bank of Australia
Product – It is all about the exact products and services which are offered by the bank. In the
case of Commonwealth Bank of Australia are insurance, bank accounts, health facilities, credit
cards, and other services which falls under the services provided b the bank.
Prices – Price is one of the most important factor which is known to decide the purchase decision
of the customers of the bank. According to (Willcocks and Reynold 2015) the present customers
of the bank are very much focused and stick to their point as well as the smart buying choices. If
the information with the prices and are available with the customers they will be able to select
products and services which best suits them from a wide range of products offered by the bank.
As the factors of pricing affects the market, as Commonwealth Bank of Australia is a bank it has
no such valuable factor where the pricing strategy is very important. But however the bank can
make some changes in charging the bank rates for the loans and fixed deposits imposed by the
bank.
Promotion – In the present stage of competition and globalization the promotional activities of
the bank to its customers is helping the organization to stand out from the crowd. Brueckner and
Paull, (2018) suggested that it is very important for every organization to take initiatives towards
the promotional activity of the services and products offered to its customers. The traditional

5INTRODUCTION TO STRATEGY
activities of advertising through the televisions, board hoardings, and radio should be put to an
end. Rather the bank should implement the latest technologies and sources of advertising for the
promotion of its products and services. When talking about the Commonwealth Bank of
Australia the organization is running under deficit towards the use of the new and digitalized
social media. The management should therefore take necessary steps which should focus on the
new and popular social media sites which will help the company fight with its competitors in the
market.
Place of Distribution – The area of distribution and operation of the Commonwealth Bank of
Australia is called as the place of distribution. When planning the marketing strategies of the
bank, the bank should get a complete knowledge for the place of distribution where the
customers of the bank are present. These types of decision making programs help the bank to
make the services and products available in the market for the targeted customers of the bank.
This helps the bank to increase the success rate for the advertising campaigns of the bank and
achieves the response of the targeted customers of the bank. In the place of Commonwealth
Bank of Australia the places of distribution is majorly the metropolitan cities of Sydney and
Australia (Watson 2019).
Partnerships – It is known as the merge or collaboration of a particular organization along with
other companies. The following procedure is proposed by any organization in order to increase
their domination in the chosen market or in the operating region. Rodrigo (2016) also suggested
that a company decides to merge with other companies only when it finds it very difficult to
operate in the highly competitive market. As the bank has faced various problems with
the payment clearings, the bank has successfully become partners with the financial providers of
Australia like Association for Union Democracy and New Zealand Dollar Regional Currency.

6INTRODUCTION TO STRATEGY
The partnership of the bank with these organizations helps the bank in other forms of functions
like corporate functions, and providing credit facilities.
Processes – The Commonwealth Bank of Australia is known for carrying out various types of
promotional activities in order to capture more market and gain a competitive advantage over the
competitors in the market. This approach is proposed to attract more customers it is known to be
a continuous process.
Physical evidence – The ambience of a place if not suitable can create a negative impact among
the customers of the organization or a particular company. In the case of Commonwealth Bank
of Australia the expectation of the customers of the bank are much higher than any other
company in the banking sectors. The ambience of the bank is very pleasing according to
(Lovelock and Patterson 2015). There are adequate number of security guards present in the
bank and protective measures in the process of the operations of the bank.
External environmental Analysis of the Commonwealth Bank of Australia
The bank is known for providing various types of financial services in almost every part
of Australia such as the institutional or retails sectors, broking services and investments sectors
as well as various types of insurance service. The following PESTLE analysis will aim to
highlight the external analysis of the place where the bank is known to operate.
Political - Trade regulatory factors and tariffs related with the bank. Antitrust laws which are
related with the bank. Australia is a federal government ruled country and it is one of
the commonwealth nations of the world. It has a warming relationship with China and
other Asian countries around it.
Economic - It is mainly elated with the exchange rates and stability of the host country currencies.

7INTRODUCTION TO STRATEGY
The infrastructural quality of the bank is much suitable. The bank has to focus in the
ageing population of the country and the evolving economy in market.
Social - The bank should focus in the population of the country where it holds 75% of the
middle aged group of people including both men and women
Technological - The technological advancement in the market in Australia is easily visible. The
invention and discoveries of new methods and process should be accomplished by the
bank in a regular basis.
Legal - There are much allegations of laundering money against the bank which it should take
care of.
Environmental
-
The sectors of the Bank are environmentally rich in culture. The regulations of the land
and water impact the bank (Riddell 2016).
Fig 1. PESTLE Analysis of Commonwealth Bank of Australia
( Source : Self Made )
Strategic Issues which will be faced by the bank in the coming years
From the PESTLE analysis of the bank which is represented in the Fig 2. of the report
clearly depicts that the bank will b facing various problems with the funding and creation of
more customers in the bank. The only way which can help the bank in bringing the financial help
is by attracting more and more customers in the approaching years of success. The bank will not
be able to keep up the pace with the competitors in the market as because the company is nt
implementing the modern changes by means of innovative and creativity in approaching the
customers of the bank. In the words of Aleksandrova (2018) he proposes that the only means of

8INTRODUCTION TO STRATEGY
capturing the market is by implementing new means of innovation and creative approach when
the bank is providing any advertising campaign.
The management team and top managers of the company does not pay much attention to
the risks which are faced by the bank in compliance with the audit issues (McIlro 2017). The
flow of information is much less among the leaders and management of the organization. The
executive community of the Commonwealth bank of Australia is very poorly focused in terms of
achieving the organizational goals and aims of the company. Due to the poor technologies used
by Commonwealth Bank of Australia, the bank will be certainly facing related with the logging
into the online banking services provided by the bank.
Recommendations
The Commonwealth Bank of Australia has been known as an operator providing both the
services and products in the market of Australia. However, the bank has been facing various
problems in the present years with the present intense market pressure. The bank will have to
focus in building better marketing plans and stick to the strategies in order to grab more and
more customers in the following years. The following recommendations will help the bank to
gain a competitive advantage over the strategic issues which will be faced in the coming three to
five years.
 As the Commonwealth Bank of Australia deals with various kinds of banking services
and also provides various kinds of insurance policies. It can be recommended that the
bank should primarily focus in better value enabled schemes and offers which will
successfully differentiate its products from the other companies in the market.

9INTRODUCTION TO STRATEGY
 When it comes in providing services to the customers of the bank, the bank should put
more focus in managing their products and services. The bank should also modify the
existing products in terms of quality and quantity.
 The bank should promote itself also by the means of non verbal communication.
According to Simonsen (2018) specially in the banking sector the word of mouth is a
very effective tool for the organization. The importance of speaking verbally can never be
denied by the customers of the bank. Therefore it can be expected that the
Commonwealth Bank of Australia should focus in other means of communication which
will be able to promote the advertisements.
 The interaction between the top management and the employees of the bank should be
more loyal, this helps the relationship to be more rigid. The Commonwealth Bnak of
Australia should not forget that the members of the bank are considered as the internal
customers of the bank. A satisfied as well as a committed employee relationship also will
the bank to achieve a long term success.
 The bank should put more focus in the recent technological approaches present in the
economy. According to Zikmund (2018) most of the banks are successfully working
based on the use of latest technology available. The bank should make and design ATM
in their operating area which will be acceptable to the customers of the bank.
 The Commonwealth Bank of Australia should keep its business private. The bank should
focus in the protecting the layout of the pin codes in the smart cards issued by the bank to
its customers. It is recommended that the telephonic calls should be kept private and
secure. The data of the customers of the bank should be secured so that the customers

10INTRODUCTION TO STRATEGY
does not fall under the prey of the third party companies. This will help the bank to retain
more customers than before.
 The bank should focus in innovative marketing idas in order to promote their products
and services to its customers. This will help the bank to achieve success of rapid
promotional activities. This will also help the Commonwealth bank of Australia to gain a
competitive advantage over the other competitors in the banking sector of the country.
Conclusion
In order to conclude the above research paper it can be said that an effective marketing
strategy will be able to serve as a progress map for the Commonwealth Bank of Australia. It is
expected that the Commonwealth Bank of Australia should be able to identify the diverse aspects
of marketing the products and services offered by the bank. The bank should be bale to value its
stakeholders and manage the risks. It should also utilize the impact of the new media and social
media involved in marketing their products and services.
The strategic issues which will be faced by the bank in the following years are identified.
By applying proper means of promotional activities the bank will be able to achieve success in
the market and will be able compete with the competitors in the market.

11INTRODUCTION TO STRATEGY
References
Aleksandrova Georgieva, A., 2017. Digital marketing plan: Ecoral Hotel.
Aulich, C., Jones, S. and Head, B., 2018. DIVESTMENT OF COMMONWEALTH PUBLIC
ENTERPRISES IN AUSTRALIA: THE CUPBOARD IS BARE 1. Annals of Public and
Cooperative Economics, 89(3), pp.475-490.
Brueckner, M., Spencer, R. and Paull, M., 2018. Teaching for tomorrow: Preparing responsible
citizens. In Disciplining the Undisciplined? (pp. 1-18). Springer, Cham.
Lovelock, C. and Patterson, P., 2015. Services marketing. Pearson Australia.
McIlroy, J., 2017. Bank inquiry aimed at heading off royal commission. Green Left Weekly,
(1151), p.2.
Riddell, G., 2016. Environmental shareholder activism in Australia after ACCR v CBA.
Australian Resources and Energy Law Journal, 35(2), p.172.
Rodrigo, R., 2016. Banking on Modernism: Dr HC (Nugget) Coombs and the Institutional
Architecture of the Reserve Bank of Australia. Fabrications, 26(1), pp.72-101.
Simonsen, M., 2018. Daily naturals (Bachelor's thesis, BI Norwegian Business School).
Watson, A., 2019. Australian drought policy: Notes on collateral damage and other issues (No.
2186-2019-434).

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Willcocks, L. and Reynolds, P., 2015. The Commonwealth Bank of Australia–strategizing from
outsourcing to the cloud part 1: perennial challenges amidst turbulent technology. Journal of
Information Technology Teaching Cases, 4(2), pp.86-98.
Willcocks, L. and Reynolds, P., 2015. The Commonwealth Bank of Australia–strategizing from
outsourcing to the cloud part 1: perennial challenges amidst turbulent technology. Journal of
Information Technology Teaching Cases, 4(2), pp.86-98.
Zikmund, W.G., D'Alessandro, S., Winzar, H., Lowe, B. and Babin, B., 2017. Marketing
Research: Asia-Pacific Edition. Cengage AU.