Analyzing HSBC's Organizational Structure and Culture

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STRUCTURE AND
CULTURE –
ASSESSMENT 1
Name:
Student Number:
Module Title:
Assignment Title: Structure and Culture – Assessment 1
Lecturer’s name:

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Table of Contents
Introduction................................................................................................................................3
Organisational structure of HSBC PLC.....................................................................................3
Fig. 1 Structure of HSBC PLC in UK........................................................................................4
Fig 2: Organizational structure of HSBC bank..........................................................................5
Culture of HSBC PLC UK and factors which affect the organisational culture........................5
Leadership style.........................................................................................................................8
Conclusion..................................................................................................................................9
References................................................................................................................................10

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Introduction
Different organisations frame and formulate different structure for the internal management
to maintain the work efficiency and carry on the business functions. Organisational structure
means how the tasks and jobs are formally divided, grouped and coordinated. There is a
series of tasks which are to be done in order to complete the organisational structure of any
organisation. HSBC is one such organisation which is amongst the largest and leading
financial service providing organisation in the world. Hence the following assessment is
presented in respect of HSBC Bank and contains discussion regarding the structure of the
organisation and the culture which is prevailing currently in the organisation. The following
presentation provides for various organisational models and theories reflecting the cultural
design of the chosen organisation.
Organisational structure of HSBC PLC
HSBC in United Kingdom was first opened in the year 1990 in England which has its present
head office in London since 1993. The headquarter was initially in Hong Kong before 1992
but then it was forced to move due to an acquisition. In the year 2002 the bank came up with
a campaign named “The World Local Bank.”
The organisational structure of HSBC Bank is not a complex one and thus the organisation
has succeeded in framing a simple structure without any complexities. HSBC PLC has
around 1000 branch all over United Kingdom and also has its presence in Ireland and Wales.
Further, HSBC is the first bank in United Kingdom to allow the providing of assistance
regarding the Islamic sharia law according to which the bank is not allowed to charge any
interest on its customers under the Muslim law (Seekingalpha, 2019). Thus, during the
implementation of this policy the managers of the organisations have to face a lot of
challenges in these operations and functions of the organisation’s management. The
following chart describes the structure of HSBC PLC in United Kingdom:

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Fig. 1 Structure of HSBC PLC in UK.
(Source: Seekingalpha, 2019)
Organizational structure can be defined as the system that states the outline of the business
activities. All these activities are related with the achievement of the organizational
objectives of the business. Organizational structure of a business defines the path in which
the information flows between all the stakeholders of the business. The different levels of the
business are depicted in the organizational structure of the business. The organizational
structure can also be referred to as the system in which determined the superior and
subordinate relationship in the business.

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Fig 2: Organizational structure of HSBC bank
(Source: keywords basket, 2019)
Culture of HSBC PLC UK and factors which affect the organisational culture
The organisation is heading with the mission of achieving diversity and inclusion at
workplace. The bank is of the vision that diversity and inclusion are essential to achieve out
motives and objectives for HSBC UK. The bank is of the view of giving commitment in
order to attract, develop and retain a diverse workplace environment. The bank is further of
the aim of achieving diverse culture across a variety of areas which includes gender, place of
birth, ethnicity, disability and LGBT community (Rice, 2015). The bank has focussed to take
a number of actions in order to fulfil this goal and mission.
There has been a diverse culture witnessed in the working environment of HSBC Group in
United Kingdom which has also proved to be a positive effect on the working and
performance of the organisation. Hence there are two main factors which are responsible for
the organisation’s performance. These factors are the internal factor and the external factor.

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Among the internal factors the inclusions are the leaders, team members, employees and the
organisational culture in the office. There are specific factors which affect the functioning of
the organisation HSBC PLC in UK which includes the corporate policies, structure and ethics
prevailing in the working environment. As a part of corporate culture, the HSBC PLC wants
the best commitment of the employees. The organisation wants to retain its best employees
and treat them like a family member. The culture is in support of understanding the
employees and give them opportunity to grow in their desired field. The leaders and
management of the organisation that the policies are so framed that it completely becomes a
symbol of the organisation’s culture. The organisation has made sure that their policies are
transparent and designing of the products are done in such a way that it is completely fair for
the customers to understand. Further the leaders take an ethical way of controlling the
employees and stabilizing the values and beliefs of the bank (Ferdman and Deane, 2014). The
leadership style is ethical and everyone feels free to express their ideas and thoughts. The
bank is of the belief of achieving brainstorming in order to get a varied of opinions for better
results which shall bring efficiency as well as enhance the personality of the employees.
Furthermore, the structure of HSBC PLC is hierarchal under which the leaders and managers
are the decision makers regarding the allocation of functions and responsibilities within the
organisation. they are also empowered to delegate their responsibility of decision making on
others in case it is required in the interest of the organisation.
As an example, the UK Employee Resource Group can be taken into consideration which is
an initiative taken by HSBC PLC which promotes diversity and make sure that every
employee feels a sense of inclusion in the organisation. there are 12 active networks of HSBC
PLC which focus on equality on gender, ethnicity, faith, disability and much more. The
Employees network includes a strong external network like Military network, Flex network,
Hellenic network, etc. (About.hsbc, 2019).
As an organisational culture HSBC group in UK have been recognised for Times top 50
employer for women in 2015, 2016 and 2017. HSBC has also formulated a global policy for
the inclusion of diversity within the organisation. Further in the year 2016 HSBC UK was the
first signing organisation to the HM Treasury Women in the Charter of Finance (About.hsbc,
2019). Hence all these examples from the internal as well as external management of HSBC
UK are an evidential prove that the organisation has a mission of achieving organisational
cultural diversity among its workplace.

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Along with the internal factors there are also external factors which are responsible for
influencing and affecting the structure and culture of HSBC PLC in UK. These external
factors include the advancement in technology, growing political influence, the economy of
the country at present and the growing competition among the financial services. In this
organisation technology is the main stream to have a connection with the customers so that
the bank can provide them with better services (Thomas, 2012). The leaders are sure that they
remain updated with the latest technology in their field. The access of the customers to
internet banking using password protected files and data is an excellent example of
technology being used in HSBC PLC UK.
HSBC PLC has grown tremendously in the past few years and the reason behind the
successful running of the organisation is the abidance of the organisation with the current
legal system of United Kingdom. There are a number of laws which are made applicable on
the organisations functioning in UK. All the regulations to which the financial service
organisations are subjected to are governed by the Financial Service Authority (FSA). Thus,
HSBC has successfully abided by the legal structure drawn by the FSA in form of regulatory
framework and this framework has influenced the structure and culture of the organisation
(Torelli, et. al., 2014). For example, due to this regulatory framework the bank has structured
an internal committee in order to review the activities being carried on as organisations
functions. This formation is to avoid illegality and mis functioning within the organisation.
The current economy of United Kingdom has also influenced the organisation as the growing
inflation has adversely affected organisation worldwide. The interest rates are also affected
by the economy of UK and hence there is effect on the overall and the final outcome of the
organisation. in presence of all these factors and influences, HSBC PLC has also to face the
growing competition in the finance sector and banking industry in order to produce good
deals and manage overall performance (Rock and Grant, 2016). One of the most trending
examples of effect of economy is the uncertainties of the Brexit which shall have potential
impact on the banking industry in UK. The withdrawal of United Kingdom form European
Union shall have great effect on the economy of United Kingdom which shall in turn affect
various sectors including banking and financial services.
There are various types of organizational structures that can be followed by a business.
HSBC is the company that follows the Hierarchal structure of the organization. In the
hierarchal structure of the organization each employee in the business has a supervisor to

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look after his work. The hierarchal organizational structure is based on certain factors. The
major factors that determined the hierarchy of the organization are the functions of the
business. Based upon the functions of the business, employees are divided into various
departments like finance, sales, technical and marketing. The next factor is geography as
HSBC is a big bank having operations in various countries. All the countries are divided into
regions. When the countries are divided into regions, the operations of the business are
carried out smoothly. This is called the geographical factor. One more factor is the product
factor. The company is organized into various categories as per the multiple products offered
by the company. HSBC is divided on the basis of all the three factors of hierarchal
organizational structure.
Leadership style
Leadership is the ability of a person to make others work and attain the organizational
objectives in the stipulated time and at the stipulated cost. Leaders are very important pillars
of any organization. Without the effective guidance and management of the leaders, it is not
possible for any company to achieve its objectives. Leadership is the skill that can be either
learned by observation and it is also inborn in some people. There are various theories
related with the leadership. Talking about the styles of leadership, a leader can make use of
various types of leadership styles to guide the employees in a business (Yahaya & Ebrahim,
2016).
Leaders in HSBC are competent enough to manage the employees and the organizational
operations effectively so that the overall targets of the business can be achieved. The
leadership style that is adopted by HSBC is democratic and transactional leadership. In the
democratic leadership, the leaders also consider the opinions and views of the employees
while taking any business decision. In transactional leadership, the leaders create criteria to
provide rewards and punishment for the efforts of the employees. Employees feel motivated
when they get rewards and recognition for their good and hard work.

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Conclusion
Thus, from the above findings it can be analysed that the management of HSBC UK and the
leadership element is the most important and strongest connection that is holding the
organisation. HSBC group has moved all over the world and is holding a competitive stand in
the world among the best financial service providers. The hierarchal structure of the bank has
also proved to be satisfactory and thus gaining the confidence of the employees as well as
customers. The analysis of the organisational culture of HSBC UK has also proved that the
organisation has proved to achieve diversity in culture within its workplace. The organisation
has further initiated to remove all sorts of inequality by various measures at internal as well
as external level. HSBC PLC has also recognised the efforts of the employees by means of
awards and thus the organisation is awarded with various recognitions worldwide.

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References
 About.hsbc, 2019. Diversity and Inclusion [Online]. www.about.hsbc.co.uk.
Available at: https://www.about.hsbc.co.uk/hsbc-uk/diversity-and-inclusion.
(Accessed on 23rd July 2019).
 Ferdman, B.M. and Deane, B., 2014. Diversity at work: The practice of inclusion.
 Keywords Basket, (2019). HSBC bank organizational structure. [Online]. Keywords
Basket. Retrieved from:
http://www.keywordbasket.com/aHNiYyBiYW5rIG9yZ2FuaXphdGlvbmFsIHN0cnV
jdHVyZQ/ on 23 July 2019.
 Rice, M.F., 2015. Diversity and public administration. ME Sharpe.
 Rock, D. and Grant, H., 2016. Why diverse teams are smarter. Harvard Business
Review, 4(4), pp.2-5.
 Seekingalpha, 2019. HSBC Holdings PLC 2018 Q2 - Results - Earnings Call Slides
[Online]. www.seekingalpha.com. Available at:
https://seekingalpha.com/article/4195408-hsbc-holdings-plc-2018-q2-results-
earnings-call-slides. (Accessed on 23rd July 2019).
 Thomas, K.M. ed., 2012. Diversity resistance in organizations. Psychology Press.
 Torelli, C.J., Leslie, L.M., Stoner, J.L. and Puente, R., 2014. Cultural determinants of
status: Implications for workplace evaluations and behaviours. Organizational
Behaviour and Human Decision Processes, 123(1), pp.34-48.
 Yahaya, R., & Ebrahim, F. (2016). Leadership styles and organizational commitment:
literature review. Journal of Management Development, 35(2), 190-216.