University Report: Corporate Strategy Analysis of ANZ Bank

This report offers a critical analysis of the corporate strategy of ANZ Bank, a major Australian multinational banking and financial services company. It examines the company's strategic position within the market, utilizing Porter's Generic Strategies Model to assess cost leadership, differentiation, and focus strategies. The report delves into ANZ's innovation strategy, highlighting key issues such as criminal cartel accusations and their strategic significance. It outlines the strategies the company has employed to address these challenges, including efforts to become the best bank for business enthusiasts and entrepreneurs, build a strong presence in regional trade and capital flows, and establish a robust digital infrastructure. The analysis concludes with an assessment of ANZ's response to these issues and its future prospects, emphasizing the importance of maintaining and religiously following these strategies.

Running head: ANZ: CORPORATE STRATEGY ANALYSIS
ANZ: CORPORATE STRATEGY ANALYSIS
Name of the student
Name of the university
Author Note

1ANZ: CORPORATE STRATEGY ANALYSIS
Executive Summary
The respective paper is a critical analysis of corporate strategy of ANZ, a bank of New
Zealand, which encompasses the corporate strategies and measures taken by the company to
expand and popularize its market across the globe. The respective paper is a report which has
provided information of the company, its market position, strategy mentioned and its
implications clearly and precisely.

2ANZ: CORPORATE STRATEGY ANALYSIS
Table of Contents
Introduction.................................................................................................................................................3
Discussion....................................................................................................................................................3
Company Overview.................................................................................................................................3
Strategic Position of the company...........................................................................................................4
Innovation Strategy taken by the company.............................................................................................5
The Issue..................................................................................................................................................5
Strategic Significance of the Issue...........................................................................................................6
Strategies Taken by the company............................................................................................................6
Strategic Position of the company based on the issue............................................................................7
Significance and response to the issue....................................................................................................7
Conclusion...................................................................................................................................................8

3ANZ: CORPORATE STRATEGY ANALYSIS
Introduction
Corporate strategy is generally taken by the enterprises to select, grow and develop
particular market plans where it would wish to compete while improving various divisions and
units of the enterprise1. The respective paper is a critical analysis of corporate strategy of ANZ, a
bank of New Zealand, which encompasses the innovative and corrective corporate strategies and
measures taken by the company to expand and popularize its market across the globe. The
respective paper is a report which has provided information of the company, its market position,
strategy mentioned and its implications clearly and precisely.
Discussion
Company Overview
The company ANZ or Australia and New Zealand banking group is an Australian multinational
company of banking and financial services which has its headquarters in Melbourne, Australia2.
As far as assets are concerned, it is the second largest bank and by market capitalization, it is the
third largest bank in Australia. ANZ was founded in the year 1951 in 1st October when the bank
of Australasia merged with the one of the four Australian banks, namely, commonwealth bank,
1 Genoveva, Genoveva, and Stivenes Tjin Siam. "Analysis of marketing strategy and competitive
advantage." Journal of Economic & Management Perspectives 11, no. 1 (2017): 1571-1579.
2 Anz.com.2019. Available at: https://www.anz.com.au/about-us/our-company/

4ANZ: CORPORATE STRATEGY ANALYSIS
National Australia Bank and Westpac. In the year 2012 September, it had almost 1,337 branches
worldwide.
Strategic Position of the company
Strategic position can be defined as the way by which an enterprise distinguishes itself from its
competitors and peers in a valuable way and delivers a unique value to its specific customer
segment3. The company ANZ is renowned for its assets and market capitalization in Australia.
The company ANZ is a big and nationally operating company which operates in a prolific and
ever evolving National market of Australia and New Zealand.
Porter’s Generic Strategies Model is utilized in order to find out the strategic position of the
respective company. Porter’s Generic Strategies Model includes: Cost leadership,
Differentiation, Cost focus, Differentiation focus.
Cost leadership: The Company ANZ is a big company that has its operations in Australia and
New Zealand and it is considered to be one of the biggest banking companies in terms of its
assets and operations. The scope and size of the company is comparatively greater than other
banking companies in the nation. However, the company has taken up strategies to reduce
operating costs and risks by removing product and management complexities and non core
businesses. Therefore, the Cost leadership of the company is basically high.
Differentiation: ANZ is a banking company which is unique in its own ways. The company
provides the largest database and information about business in the Asia pacific region than all
3 Crittenden, William F., Victoria L. Crittenden, and Allison Pierpont. "Trade secrets: Managerial
guidance for competitive advantage." Business Horizons 58, no. 6 (2015): 607-613.

5ANZ: CORPORATE STRATEGY ANALYSIS
other banking companies and provides unique commercial opportunities to its customers. It
provides unique business solutions for its clients.
Cost focus: ANZ has taken the decision not to charge customers from other banks at $2 fee for
the withdrawal of cash from their ATMs. ANZ also takes $374 m for customer compensation.
The company has kept its cost focus low and simple and affordable for the target customers such
as small and big entrepreneurs.
Differentiation focus: The company ANZ has focused on its differentiating characteristics
keeping in mind the needs and preferences of the budding entrepreneurs and business enthusiasts
who want to go for an unconventional business idea and plan. With its unique commercial ideas,
solutions and vast information regarding business and finance, the company’s profitability is
above the banking industry average and the differentiation focus of the company is high.
From the above analysis, it can be deduced that being company ANZ’s cost leadership relatively
low with high cost focus, differentiation and differentiation focus, the company is a market
leader that operates in a large, ever evolving national market.
Innovation Strategy taken by the company
The Issue
The issue that changed the fate of the company to a certain extent was that the company was
charged with criminal cartel accusations by the organization the Australian Competition and
Consumer Commission (ACCC) on 1st june, 2018 and was also expected to be laid by the
Commonwealth Director of Public Prosecutions (CDPP) against ANZ Bank, along with other
such as it's Group Treasurer Rick Moscati, Deutsche Bank, Citigroup and a number of other

6ANZ: CORPORATE STRATEGY ANALYSIS
people4. The company had been alleged with the criminal charges for directly or indirectly
restricting the supply of the shares of the company or maintains the price of the respective shares
according to the documents shown and discussed about in the court of Australia.
Strategic Significance of the Issue
As the issue is about a scam in the company ANZ, the reputation of the respective company
might have been in stake. The scam could have led to a complete dissolve of the company as the
company was charged with corporate misconduct. Apart from reputation and goodwill being at
stake, the company’s stakeholders might have fallen into trouble due to its troublesome
reputation.
Strategies Taken by the company
There had been certain civil charges too that were being faced by the company and therefore, the
company had taken certain strict legal corporate strategies to deal with such charges and make
sure that such events do not happen again. The strategy taken by the company has three elements
in them that have been enumerated hereafter5.
1. Creating the bank to be best suited for all kinds of business enthusiasts and entrepreneurs.
2. Building the respective company as the best bank for the clients that have been driven by
regional trade and capital flows
4 Businessstandard.com.2019. Available at:
https://www.business-standard.com/article/international/2-bn-scam-anz-citi-deutsche-cartel-case-
heads-for-bigger-courtroom-in-aus-119070900229_1.html
5 Anz.com.2019. Available at: https://shareholder.anz.com/our-company/our-strategy.html

7ANZ: CORPORATE STRATEGY ANALYSIS
3. Establish common, digital ready infrastructure in order to provide greater customer
experience, scale and control.
Strategic Position of the company based on the issue
Even though the company has faced certain financial scams and accusations of corporate
misconduct, the company still has come up as a market leader in the banking industry of
Australia and New Zealand for its greater assets and financial resources, even though the scam
has affected its goodwill to a certain extent. 6
Significance and response to the issue
Apparently, ANZ, despite of all kinds of civil and financial allegations, has proved to be
one of the best banking services in the country of Australia. ANZ has been striving to become as
one of the best and leading banking and finance company in Australia and New Zealand keeping
in mind the factors such as digital transformation, synergizing of the potentials and capabilities
of the employees and workers in order to grow and develop the company, create a simpler and a
better algorithm for the bankers as well as the users of the bank, making the bank the most
convenient and easy and be completely honest in order to deal with the clients of the bank. The
company has tried to follow the strategy and it has proved to be successful in its venture. The
6 Theguardian.com. 2018. Available at:
https://www.theguardian.com/australia-news/commentisfree/2018/mar/22/banking-inquiry-has-
already-exposed-shocking-corruption-but-it-needs-more-time

8ANZ: CORPORATE STRATEGY ANALYSIS
company has a bright future as speculated if the respective strategies are followed and
maintained religiously and proportionately.
Conclusion
The respective paper concludes to be a brief introspection, analysis and interpretation of
innovative strategy taken up by ANZ. Corporate strategy is generally taken by the enterprises to
select, grow and develop particular market plans where it would wish to compete while
improving various divisions and units of the enterprise. The respective paper concludes to be a
critical analysis of corporate strategy of ANZ, the banking company of Australia and New
Zealand, which encompasses the corporate strategies and measures taken by the company to
expand and popularize its market across the globe. The respective paper concludes to be a report
which has provided information of the company, its market position, strategy mentioned and its
implications clearly and precisely.

9ANZ: CORPORATE STRATEGY ANALYSIS
References:
Crittenden, William F., Victoria L. Crittenden, and Allison Pierpont. "Trade secrets: Managerial
guidance for competitive advantage." Business Horizons 58, no. 6 (2015): 607-613.
Genoveva, Genoveva, and Stivenes Tjin Siam. "Analysis of marketing strategy and competitive
advantage." Journal of Economic & Management Perspectives 11, no. 1 (2017): 1571-1579.
Anz.com.2019. Available at: https://shareholder.anz.com/our-company/our-strategy.html
Businessstandard.com.2019. Available at:
https://www.business-standard.com/article/international/2-bn-scam-anz-citi-deutsche-cartel-case-
heads-for-bigger-courtroom-in-aus-119070900229_1.html
Anz.com.2019. Available at: https://www.anz.com.au/about-us/our-company/
Theguardian.com. 2018. Available at:
https://www.theguardian.com/australia-news/commentisfree/2018/mar/22/banking-inquiry-has-
already-exposed-shocking-corruption-but-it-needs-more-time