This is part of a case series. We follow Erik Luts, the responsible for Direct Channels at KBC Belgium. Together with Daniel Falque, CEO of KBC Belgium, and Johan Lema, Senior General Manager Customer Support Retail & Businesses, he has been working to get KBC ready for the digital age. They are leading an organisation-wide transformation to an omni-channel and customer-centric bank and insurance group, relying on new approaches to digitisation. Although the company has made significant progress with the execution of its strategy, there are still significant hurdles to be taken. One of the major hurdles is gaining acceptance of the strategy in the branches, still the main channel of the bank in Belgium.

ING Direct USA reinvented banking in the States and in the process rose from a crowd of over 12.000 banks to become one of the 30 largest banks by assets and deposits in the States. Since its inception in 2000, more than 7.7 million Americans have entrusted their savings with ING Direct USA. The company revolutionalised the American retail banking industry with a simple savings bank model, built around the customer. Nevertheless, the company faced a tough period during the financial crisis. What went wrong? Has ING Direct been able to recover? The case study examines why ING Direct USA had serious financial problems and examines the viability of the company's business and financial model. Unlike many other organizations, banks not only need to have a sound commercial and organisational model, they also need to have a sound financial model. Banks that do well on the commercial and organisational strategy dimension do not necessarily perform well financially.

Teaching note

This is part of a case series. The GCB Berlin cases describe a strategic transformation process of a German bank. Over a period of 3 years, GCB Berlin has transformed into a customer-intimate financial institution. The management team of the company used Strategy Mapping, the Balanced Scorecard, and a new sales-and-service approach as transformation tools to get the entire organization more strategy-focused. The (A) case, 'Bringing German Cooperative Bank Berlin back on track: Can a rural bank thrive in the city?,' sets the scene and describes the challenges Arthur Berthold faced when he entered as a newly appointed director. The (A) case provides more information on the personal background of Arthur Berthold, and on his track record with previous employers. Furthermore, the case describes German Cooperative Bank (GCB) Berlin, a subsidiary of the German Cooperative Banking Group. After working some weeks in this new organization, Arthur detected fundamental financial and cultural problems. He decided to tackle the challenges by launching a Balanced Scorecard project, but was struggling how to do it. Should he opt for a top-down approach, or is a bottom-up approach more appropriate? The case, 'German Cooperative Bank Berlin (B): Managing people, customers, and financial results,' describes the start of the change process at GCB Berlin. The (B) case describes how Arthur Berthold transformed GCB Berlin from an undifferentiated and unprofitable bank into a real customer-oriented, profitable financial institution. The top management team launched two strategy maps, one for the Retail Division and one for the Corporate Division. The (B) case describes how the strategy maps were introduced and what were the effects on the management culture and the operations of the organization. The (B) case also describes a change in the sales-and-service culture within the Retail Division through the introduction of the Cohen Brown program.

This is part of a case series. The GCB Berlin cases describe a strategic transformation process of a German bank. Over a period of 3 years, GCB Berlin has transformed into a customer-intimate financial institution. The management team of the company used Strategy Mapping, the Balanced Scorecard, and a new sales-and-service approach as transformation tools to get the entire organization more strategy-focused. The (A) case, 'Bringing German Cooperative Bank Berlin back on track: Can a rural bank thrive in the city?,' sets the scene and describes the challenges Arthur Berthold faced when he entered as a newly appointed director. The (A) case provides more information on the personal background of Arthur Berthold, and on his track record with previous employers. Furthermore, the case describes German Cooperative Bank (GCB) Berlin, a subsidiary of the German Cooperative Banking Group. After working some weeks in this new organization, Arthur detected fundamental financial and cultural problems. He decided to tackle the challenges by launching a Balanced Scorecard project, but was struggling how to do it. Should he opt for a top-down approach, or is a bottom-up approach more appropriate? The case, 'German Cooperative Bank Berlin (B): Managing people, customers, and financial results,' describes the start of the change process at GCB Berlin. The (B) case describes how Arthur Berthold transformed GCB Berlin from an undifferentiated and unprofitable bank into a real customer-oriented, profitable financial institution. The top management team launched two strategy maps, one for the Retail Division and one for the Corporate Division. The (B) case describes how the strategy maps were introduced and what were the effects on the management culture and the operations of the organization. The (B) case also describes a change in the sales-and-service culture within the Retail Division through the introduction of the Cohen Brown program.

This is part of a case series. The GCB Berlin cases describe a strategic transformation process of a German bank. Over a period of 3 years, GCB Berlin has transformed into a customer-intimate financial institution. The management team of the company used Strategy Mapping, the Balanced Scorecard, and a new sales-and-service approach as transformation tools to get the entire organization more strategy-focused. The (A) case, 'Bringing German Cooperative Bank Berlin back on track: Can a rural bank thrive in the city?,' sets the scene and describes the challenges Arthur Berthold faced when he entered as a newly appointed director. The (A) case provides more information on the personal background of Arthur Berthold, and on his track record with previous employers. Furthermore, the case describes German Cooperative Bank (GCB) Berlin, a subsidiary of the German Cooperative Banking Group. After working some weeks in this new organization, Arthur detected fundamental financial and cultural problems. He decided to tackle the challenges by launching a Balanced Scorecard project, but was struggling how to do it. Should he opt for a top-down approach, or is a bottom-up approach more appropriate? The case, 'German Cooperative Bank Berlin (B): Managing people, customers, and financial results,' describes the start of the change process at GCB Berlin. The (B) case describes how Arthur Berthold transformed GCB Berlin from an undifferentiated and unprofitable bank into a real customer-oriented, profitable financial institution. The top management team launched two strategy maps, one for the Retail Division and one for the Corporate Division. The (B) case describes how the strategy maps were introduced and what were the effects on the management culture and the operations of the organization. The (B) case also describes a change in the sales-and-service culture within the Retail Division through the introduction of the Cohen Brown program.

This is part of a case series. The GCB Berlin cases describe a strategic transformation process of a German bank. Over a period of 3 years, GCB Berlin has transformed into a customer-intimate financial institution. The management team of the company used Strategy Mapping, the Balanced Scorecard, and a new sales-and-service approach as transformation tools to get the entire organization more strategy-focused. The (A) case, 'Bringing German Cooperative Bank Berlin back on track: Can a rural bank thrive in the city?,' sets the scene and describes the challenges Arthur Berthold faced when he entered as a newly appointed director. The (A) case provides more information on the personal background of Arthur Berthold, and on his track record with previous employers. Furthermore, the case describes German Cooperative Bank (GCB) Berlin, a subsidiary of the German Cooperative Banking Group. After working some weeks in this new organization, Arthur detected fundamental financial and cultural problems. He decided to tackle the challenges by launching a Balanced Scorecard project, but was struggling how to do it. Should he opt for a top-down approach, or is a bottom-up approach more appropriate? The case, 'German Cooperative Bank Berlin (B): Managing people, customers, and financial results,' describes the start of the change process at GCB Berlin. The (B) case describes how Arthur Berthold transformed GCB Berlin from an undifferentiated and unprofitable bank into a real customer-oriented, profitable financial institution. The top management team launched two strategy maps, one for the Retail Division and one for the Corporate Division. The (B) case describes how the strategy maps were introduced and what were the effects on the management culture and the operations of the organization. The (B) case also describes a change in the sales-and-service culture within the Retail Division through the introduction of the Cohen Brown program.

This is part of a case series. We follow Erik Luts, the responsible for Direct Channels at KBC Belgium. Together with Daniel Falque, CEO of KBC Belgium, and Johan Lema, Senior General Manager Customer Support Retail & Businesses, he has been working to get KBC ready for the digital age. They are leading an organisation-wide transformation to an omni-channel and customer-centric bank and insurance group, relying on new approaches to digitisation. Although the company has made significant progress with the execution of its strategy, there are still significant hurdles to be taken. One of the major hurdles is gaining acceptance of the strategy in the branches, still the main channel of the bank in Belgium.