Marketing Systems: Analyzing Commonwealth Bank's Marketing Failures

This report critically reviews the Commonwealth Bank of Australia (CBA) in the context of the Royal Commission into the Australian banking industry, focusing on the role of marketing systems and ethical considerations. It examines the wrongdoings identified by the commission, including issues like the Dollarmites scandal, deceptive insurance practices, and a lack of customer satisfaction, highlighting governance failures and a fragile ethical culture within CBA. The report discusses the importance of marketing systems theory in bringing about organizational changes and transparency, especially in retail banking. It recommends refining organizational culture through assessments, prioritizing customer satisfaction, and promoting ethical leadership. The conclusion emphasizes the need for CBA to regain customer trust through changes in its working environment, addressing the impact of misconduct reports and fostering a culture of ethical behavior. The report references various sources to support its analysis and recommendations.

Running head: MARKETING SYSTEMS
Marketing Systems
Name of the Student
Name of the University
Author Note

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Table of Contents
Introduction......................................................................................................................................2
Role of the institution in Royal banking Commission report..........................................................2
Role of marketing system for Commonwealth Bank......................................................................3
Recommendations............................................................................................................................4
Conclusion.......................................................................................................................................5
References and Bibliography...........................................................................................................6

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Introduction
The overall purpose of this report is to present the role of the banking industry in obeying
the guidelines presented by the Royal Commission of Australia. It has been perceived that the
Commonwealth bank of Australia has not obeyed the guidelines and they have committed some
punishable activities. The guidelines can be explored through the Commonwealth Bank of India
that will bring about the social change within the country. The activities committed by the
country will be discussed in this report and some methods to rectify these mistakes will be
covered up as well. The issue of governance through the proper cultural and behavioral and
ethical considerations will be highlighted.
Role of the institution in Royal banking Commission report
There has been a tremendous impact on the financial services of Australia on the report
of the Royal banking Commission. It has been acclaimed by the financial experts that
Commonwealth bank of India is regarded as one of the safest banks in the country and it is also
among the top four banks (Commbank.com.au 2019). There are numerous wrongdoings that
have been identified by the Royal Banking Commission in Australia.
One of these wrongdoings are regarding the Dollarmites committed by the
Commonwealth Bank of Australia. The use of dishonesty and breaking the trust of the customers
has been regarded as one of the biggest fraud activities by the bank. It could be evidently seen
that the bank had been billing the charges for insurance to the customers who had been deceased.
Apart from that, it could also be seen that the staff of the Commonwealth Bank had opened the
bank accounts for the school children and Dollarmites bank accounts were also activated in the
name of the school children i.e. not legitimate at all (Commbank.com.au 2019). This had been

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done by them so they could meet the individual targets and get rewarded with the bonus
payments.
The first priority for the officials of the Commonwealth Bank had always been on the
financial profits and this focus led to the deterioration of their service delivery process in large
time. The scandals had also been observed in the credit card insurance (Steen, McGrath and
Wong 2016). Through the further investigation, it had been revealed that they sold their
insurance to almost 64000 unemployed people in the country. They said that it was a part of the
profit in the retail banking business (Cull and Bowyer 2017).
The deceptions committed by the CBA included the fact that they did not cater to the
customer satisfaction (Commbank.com.au 2019). The governance of the CBA seemed to be
fragile and there was not much ethical culture included in the proceedings of the organization.
There was very little transparency in the culture of the organization and numerous fraudulent
activities could be seen within the organization (Cull and Bowyer 2017). The customer
satisfaction had been in danger as the Royal Banking Commission had reported.
Role of marketing system for Commonwealth Bank
The Commonwealth Bank of Australia has some specific roles that they must fulfill to
achieve their dreams (Cull and Bowyer 2017). The Royal Banking Commission went on to
publish the report on the Misconduct in the financial services industry especially in banking and
superannuation. This report had been published in the year 2018 and many issues regarding the
misconducts in the banking system had been reported (Steen, McGrath and Wong 2016).
Therefore, it was very clear that the bank should have adopted some means to justify the
marketing systems theory (Pearson 2016).

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This kind of marketing systems theory should be adopted by the Commonwealth Bank so
they can bring in the changes within their organizational culture and be more transparent to their
customers (Oates and Dias 2016). The case against the Commonwealth bank had been very
much serious since they were accused of fraudulent activities, issue of money laundering and
deception to the customers. The primary focus of the CBA should always be on the transparency
in the organizational culture. Some changes should be brought within the organization so it will
be able to work in an ethical manner (Steen, McGrath and Wong 2016). The retail banking
should be done properly so it can give the customers the opportunity to perform in the better
manner.
The personal and small business customers should always be given the opportunity to
work with the satisfaction of mind. This will yield better outcomes and everything should be
made confidential (Oates and Dias 2016). The private banking services should be provided to the
customers so they can take the help of these services in the best manner possible. The mid-aged
people of the country constitute the maximum customer base of the company.
Evidently, the satisfaction of these customers will always be the first priority for the
organization (Matthews 2016). The growth of their retail banking process will be effective
largely for the growth of the organization. Activities like money laundering will definitely harm
the reputation of the organization. Sincere and transparent banking operations will add to their
image and customers will again get back their trust on the marketing systems of the company.
Recommendations
Some recommendations must be given in this scenario so the CBA can gain back their
faith.

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 The organizational culture should be refined properly through the cultural assessments.
This will help them to find out the faults and rectify them by punishing the offenders.
 Regular initiatives should be taken to make everyone understand that their first priority is
customer satisfaction and they will work on that only. The leaders should encourage the
people to act ethically and make sure no customer faces any problems in banking
transactions.
Conclusion
In the concluding section, it must be said that the CBA should fix their aim on proving
that they are worth of belief by the customers. Some changes should be brought within the
working environment of the organization. These changes will help the organization’s employees
to act in an ethical manner. The reports on misconduct upon the banking, superannuation and
financial services have affected the reputation of the bank but it should be brought back for the
overall welfare of the customers. This is how the organization will be able to work very
smoothly and people will get back their faith on the organization as well.

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References and Bibliography
Boersma, M., 2015. How Does Sustainable Banking Add Up?. Catalyst Australia, Sydney.
Commbank.com.au/ (2019). Personal banking including accounts, credit cards and home loans -
CommBank. [online] Commbank.com.au. Available at: https://www.commbank.com.au/
[Accessed 3 Aug. 2019].
Cull, M. and Bowyer, D., 2017. Ethics in Financial Planning: Myth, Fact or Rhetoric
Paradox?. e-Journal of Social & Behavioural Research in Business, 8(2), pp.56-69.
Matthews, A., 2016. The financial services industry: Whistleblowing and calls for a royal
commission. Precedent (Sydney, NSW), (136), p.35.
McIlroy, J., 2017. Re-nationalise the commonwealth bank. Green Left Weekly, (1149), p.11.
Oates, G. and Dias, R., 2016. Including ethics in banking and finance programs: teaching “we
shouldn’t win at any cost”. Education+ Training, 58(1), pp.94-111.
Pearson, G., 2016. Failure in corporate governance: financial planning and greed. Handbook on
Corporate Governance in Financial Institutions, p.185.
Steen, A., McGrath, D. and Wong, A., 2016. Market failure, regulation and education of
financial advisors. Australasian Accounting, Business and Finance Journal, 10(1), pp.3-17.