Management Theories in Practice: An Analysis of the NAB Case Study

This case study delves into the application of various management theories within the National Australian Bank (NAB). It begins with an overview of NAB's mission, strategies, and SWOT analysis, highlighting the importance of classical management principles. The analysis further explores human r...Read More

Running head: Management Theories (NAB Case Study)
Management Theories (NAB Case Study)
Student Name:
University Name:
Author’s Note:

1MANAGEMENT THEORIES (NAB CASE STUDY)
Introduction
The concept of management differs from people to people and varies with the variations
in the perspectives of different people (Morden, 2017). It is the main source of balance in various
firms between the risks and shortcomings and the opportunities and strengths of the corporate
organizations (Baynosa, 2014). It helps firms to build a strong competing impression on its rivals
and help improve the ranking of the firm with respect to its target customer base (Morden, 2017).
The National Australian Bank is one of the well know financial institutions in the world that
operates across1600 branches all over Australia and Queensland (nab.com.au, 2018). The annual
revenue generated by the bank amounts to almost AU $17.42 billion (nab.com.au, 2018). There
are many management theories that are integral to the everyday working of this bank and
determine the internal and external environmental operations of the firm (Hudson, 2015). These
management theories and the various aspects of management that govern the successful working
of the organization and helps maintain balance internally and against its competitors are
discussed in detail in this paper.
NAB’s mission:
“Our business is founded on a commitment to create more of what matters for people,
communities and the economy – a belief that motivates our people to do the right thing, show
passion for customers, win together, be bold and show respect for people.
Our responsibility is an integral part of our strategy and our approach to corporate responsibility”
(nab.com.au, 2018)
The mission of the bank is thus to promote to the needs of the customers while maintaining the
trust with the stakeholders.

2MANAGEMENT THEORIES (NAB CASE STUDY)
Strategies
The theory of traditional classical management was proposed by Fayol and Urwick, and
encompasses most of the business decisions and operations that are carried out in most of the
multinational corporations and organizations (Morden, 2017). It comprises of the following
features and principles in the context of the working of the bank:
 Controlling the internal and external working of the firm while adhering to the
regulations and policies in place with context to the political and environmental scenario
existing in the country.
 In coordinating and collaborating the working of all the branches of the bank across all
the locations to provide the same level and quality of service to all the customers while
maintaining meticulous internal working
 Aiming towards uniformity of commands used for functioning of the internal workings,
especially the development of disruptive business models and financial particulars.
 Analyzing in detail the particulars of budget in the past and generating financial models
that will ensure increased growth, depending on predicted estimates and variables
considered.
In this context the SWOT analysis of the bank is very important as the strategies are based on
these internal and external factors:
Strengths
The strengths of the firm include the following factors:
 A very brand value created as a result of the financial positioning

3MANAGEMENT THEORIES (NAB CASE STUDY)
 Huge amount of assets
 Variety of financial services
 Immense revenue generation
Weaknesses
 General degradation of international acclamation
 Gradual decline in the revenue generation
Opportunities
 Expansion globally
 Diversification of assets
 Increasing acquisitions and asset management cohort
Threats
 Competition and Rivalry
 Increasing recession and other financial crisis and risks
In relation to the strengths, weaknesses, opportunities and threats mentioned and the
management theories taken up by banks the following set of strategies are used by the National
Australian Bank:
The strategies used by the National Australian Bank encompass the responsibilities that
managers have on the basis of division of labor and planning of the hierarchical structure that
will lead to greater transparency and rigorous working of the bank. This management strategy
also helps to identify and determine the different parameters of recognition and compensation
and the methods which will help to identify the processes in which deals can be finalized and

4MANAGEMENT THEORIES (NAB CASE STUDY)
more deposits can be kept within the bank (Bratton & Gold, 2017). It also helps in steering each
and every employee of the organization towards one goal that unifies the working thought
process of all the employees.
The other strategies used are based on the approach of human relation theories proposed by
Mary Parker Follett which brings to light the non-scientific approach that needs to be followed to
maintain a healthy relation between the managers and the clients as well as the stakeholders of
the firm or the corporate organization (Morden, 2017). It focuses in the strength of humanity and
diversity and collaboration of different ideas and importance of the view point of leadership
based on the situation. This theory asserts that management is more of an art than a proven
science (Morden, 2017). It is flexible and the perspective as to how a situation should be handled
depends upon the scenario implicit within the situation, the stakeholders and a lot other variables
that inevitably affect the situation. Thus, this helps the National Australian Bank to increase the
resources in the context of human relations and hence make sure that the expansionary activities
of the firm are carried out with greater efficiency and productivity. It is basically the most
important theory that helps in sales and revenue generation in the long run by maintaining bothn
client and stakeholder relations.
Management Characteristics
There are various types of management theories that help in framing and implementation of
of management techniques that are applied to the working of a firm. These are discussed
subsequently with context to the National Australian Bank:
 The first of these is the exploitative authoritative theory that is used by the top
authoritative and governing body of the organization to impose decisions taken by them

5MANAGEMENT THEORIES (NAB CASE STUDY)
on all the other employees of the organization. In this particular context, the authoritative
body of the National Australian Bank takes decisions to adhere to and follow the policies
framed by the government to ensure smooth functioning of the economy, which are
imposed on the workers and employees functioning at all levels in the bank across all the
1600 branches.
 The next theory of management proposed under the human relation theory is the
benevolent authoritative management that focuses on the behavior of the subordinate
employees with their respective leaders and managers. This focuses on the decisions
taken at the top level but with the opinion and content of the managers that slowly trickle
down to the low level workers. This kind of a management system is observable in any
international or national organization and hence is inevitably implacable within the
working of the National Australian Bank.
 The next theory is called the consultative theory wherein, the management and higher
authorities determines and decides the various forms and strata of financial and other
forms of recognition, compensation or punishment for each level of employees working
under them and is known to all the employees. This is very important as it can lead to
various business decisions that positively or negatively affect the working and the job
satisfaction of the employees.
 The last type of theory that comes under this heading of management theories is that of
the participative group management type wherein, both the leaders, supervisors as well as
the subordinates or lower level of employees make informed decision making and
implementation based on two way communications built by the managers and the other
employees. This in turn promotes greater cooperation and participation of individuals at

6MANAGEMENT THEORIES (NAB CASE STUDY)
all levels and helps in building a cooperative approach towards achieving the goals
prescribed by the top level authority of the firm.
There are few other important techniques that are applied by the National Australian Bank in its
every basis working which include:
 Following of the traditional classical management theory can be applied up to some
extent to manage the amount of investments and international challenges that exist due to
the fluctuating currency exchange rates, the banking and investment policies of the
different countries, the total amount of exports and imports, the savings rate, the interest
rates and the inflation rats prevalent at the time.
 However, in the context of management of external environment with respect to the
social environment, the National Australian Bank takes managerial decisions based on
the situation that arises or the factors that cause unforeseen changes in the internal
working environment. Developing policies to capture increased market segments and
look after the cultural and societal values that the bank holds, the communicative and
participative theories are used which help in easy tackling of situations through informed
decision making. It helps determine the values and propositions that will help the bank to
gain customer trust through the use of business ethics and maintenance of corporate
social responsibility.
 Again, to propel and deliver urgent services in the most careful and meticulous way, the
application of the exploitative authoritative management theories is important for the
National Australian Bank.
 To determine other regulatory policies like retirement and holidays and recognition and
promotions, the combinations of these theories are important and need to be used in an

7MANAGEMENT THEORIES (NAB CASE STUDY)
efficient and effective manner. These are also used to reach financial goals and targets of
the bank.
Ethical Decision Making (A context of change and sustainability management)
Sustainability Management
This theory of management is increasingly being used to cater to the needs of the
stakeholders especially, and overcome the challenges that banks and other financial
institutions face in this context (Otley, 2015). It focuses on keeping the stakeholders at the
centre of the decision making process in order to adhere to the practices that help in
promoting sustainable development of the employee framework. This means that theories
that aim towards increasing the benefits of the current workforce of the bank are focused on
without compromising the benefits that the future workforce is to receive from the bank.
Studies posit that sustainability based value creation is very important to maintain long term
and strong relationships with the stakeholders (Hörisch, Freeman & Schaltegger, 2014).
Change Management
This type of management perspective is very important in managing situations that arise
out of changing perspectives of the customers about the organization and changing demand,
market ranking, revenue generation, exchange rates and other policies that cause change in
the trends existing in different markets. It helps in the hiring and maintenance of the
employee quality and job satisfaction while maintaining the level of growth and overcoming
the challenges posed by the changes at the same time (Hayes, 2014). In this aspect
recognizing the opportunity to introduce a change in the working of the firm based on the
changes in the patterns of growth and revenue generation observed at the correct time is very

8MANAGEMENT THEORIES (NAB CASE STUDY)
important. Technological factors form a very important component that helps in disruption of
business models and generation of new models that bring about improved changes in the
working of the bank. The use of smart products that will be able to collect, secure, process
and analyze data based on the changing educational, entrepreneurial success and investment
initiatives of the citizens of Australia and Queensland. Immense number of researches and
application of change tools form a very important and crucial component of change
management. Motivational workshops, trainings of capacity development to cope up to the
changes and conferences are very important too in this regard.
These are increasingly being focused on by the firm in order to keep up with the culture and
core values of the firm which are enlisted in detail as follows:
 The first and most important code of conduct that forms the central pillar of culture at
National Australian Bank is the professionalism and accountability with which the
employees should behave on an everyday basis
 The next core value encompasses around the concept of transparency wherein honesty,
equality, fairness and integrity are maintained in the working of the firm.
 The bank then looks after the context of solving and managing the conflict of interests
with rigorous measures and deep concentration
 The firm also highly concentrates and focuses on the area of adhering to the
responsibilities and regulatory measures and voluntary measures both internally and
externally
 The firm in the ethical management area also focuses on nurturing and respecting the
privacy and confidentiality measures of the clients and customers as well as the
stakeholders

9MANAGEMENT THEORIES (NAB CASE STUDY)
 In order to keep up to the above levels and needs of ethical functioning the firm also
carries out regular and periodical investigations and deal with any breaches or deviations
from their culture and prescribed code of conduct.
Conclusion
To conclude it can be summed up that the concept of management is a fairly flexible one and
varies from person to person and institution to institution depending on the perspective of the
individuals or the organizations. Management is more if an art than a science and should be used
as a source of balance with the help of increased opinions and interactions at different levels of
working. Sustainability management and change management are other important principles and
theories of management that are increasingly becoming important and applicable at different
working levels of the firm. Apart from these concepts the other features of management
increasingly being used in the context of bank management are the use of internet banking and
mobile banking. All of these theories of management play an important role in the internal
functioning and operational management of the external environment of National Australia Bank
(NAB). The bank uses the different concepts and theories of management together to deliver
improved and best quality services to both its customers and stakeholders simultaneously while
maintaining business ethics and sustainability.
Recommendations
The two most important recommendations that the bank can use are described as follows:
 The bank should use application of cultural improvements and technology under the
concept of mobile banking (Baptista & Oliveira, 2015). This will help in bringing the
customers and the bank closer especially across for a huge international bank like the

10MANAGEMENT THEORIES (NAB CASE STUDY)
National Australian Bank. This provides a higher level of convenience and increased
set of options for the customers. It brings to their attention the newest policies,
services and decisions that the bank provides and is involved with. The use of mobile
banking as a management option has also helped to ease the social tension and bring
about greater social influence and positive behavioral intentions and behavior in the
customers, stakeholders and employees. Most importantly, it will create a global
platform where grievances can be redressed and feedback can be shared by customers
based on which the bank can bring further options and improvements in its services
and performance.
 The next concept and practice that should be increasingly used by the bank to
improve the quality of services and promote greater connectivity is the practice of
using applications that help in easy transactions and reduces the problems related to
time and distance. Internet Banking is very important in this respect (Martins,
Oliveira & Popovič, 2014). It helps in solving issues related to networking and
corporate climate changes. It helps n developing a policy vision that is shared and
informed. In fact, this process is increasingly being used as a means to generate
pooling of funds through multi level planning and decision making. Just like the
mobile banking feature this feature helps to brings the different authorities of the
country and the bank to make decisions that improves the quality of life for the
community as whole through the delivery of perfect financial services and increased
investment opportunities in Australia.

11MANAGEMENT THEORIES (NAB CASE STUDY)
References:
Baptista, G., & Oliveira, T. (2015). Understanding mobile banking: The unified theory of
acceptance and use of technology combined with cultural moderators. Computers in
Human Behavior, 50, 418-430.
Baynosa, F. N. T. (2014). Theories on Management.
Bratton, J., & Gold, J. (2017). Human resource management: theory and practice. Palgrave.
Hayes, J. (2014). The theory and practice of change management. Palgrave Macmillan.
Hörisch, J., Freeman, R. E., & Schaltegger, S. (2014). Applying stakeholder theory in
sustainability management: Links, similarities, dissimilarities, and a conceptual
framework. Organization & Environment, 27(4), 328-346.
Hudson, J. R. (2015). Theories of management.
Martins, C., Oliveira, T., & Popovič, A. (2014). Understanding the Internet banking adoption: A
unified theory of acceptance and use of technology and perceived risk
application. International Journal of Information Management, 34(1), 1-13.
Morden, T. (2017). Principles of management. Routledge.
nab.com.au (2018). Available online at: https://www.nab.com.au/
nab.com.au (2018). Available online at: https://www.nab.com.au/personal/banking/nab-internet-
banking
Otley, D. (2015). in Management Control. Critical Perspectives in Management Control, 27.

12MANAGEMENT THEORIES (NAB CASE STUDY)