Global Banking: Parents and Subsidiaries

Research Problem

International businesses come in all shapes and sizes, but many have a parent company in one market and one or more subsidiaries in other markets; essentially a ‘hub and spoke’ arrangement. The client wanted to understand better the needs of both parent and subsidiary businesses in several markets and to test a number of unique proposition elements.

Approach

We conducted a series of face to face depth interviews with senior financial executives (mainly CFOs and Financial Controllers) in parent and subsidiary businesses in the UK, Hong Kong, China, Singapore, Malaysia and Indonesia (59 interviews in total). Respondents were asked about their business structure, decision making process across units and banking arrangements. They were then exposed to the proposition elements and asked to assess their value and price points.

Outcomes

Findings were required urgently (a few days after fieldwork ended) in order to support decision making within the bank. As a direct result of our recommendations, the bank took an immediate decision to offer two separate propositions to businesses, depending on a range of characteristics including turnover.

To find out more about this research please contact Richard Smith.