STRATEGIC OPERATIONS REPORT

Strategic Operations Report

Strategic Operations Report

Introduction

The operations function of a business is responsible for getting things done and producing goods and services to meet customer needs. Every business organization is concerned about the key factors to its survival and prosperity. The business strategy provides a plan to achieve the long term goals of the organization. These goals can only be achieved and the benefits realized; if the operations are working efficiently. Operations play a pivotal role in the success or failure of an organization because they comprise of the daily actions of operations, when looked in their composition constitute to set the organization to achieve its long term goals. There needs to be harmony among the business and operational strategy of an organization in order to generate value for its stakeholders and customers (Barnes 2008, 28-29). In this assignment, we will be focusing on the operations strategy employed by Santander U.K.

Company

Santander is among the largest mortgage and savings products providers in the United Kingdom and, among the largest banks in the personal financial service, sector in the country. They have started focusing on the commercial business, sector as well in order to provide a wide array of their services to businesses in the United Kingdom. Santander started off by acquiring Abbey, Alliance & Leicester and Bradford & Bingley in the country. Currently Santander is providing its services to over twenty-five million customers, employs more than 24,000 employees and has over an excess of 1.6 million UK shareholders (Santander.com).

Almost two decades ago, Banco Santander started off as a financial institution in Spain, and it was able to earn the largest profits among banks located in North American and Europe in 2008. In the same year, it was the third most profitable bank in the world. The company was able to achieve these numbers by increasing its levels of cost efficiency by introducing information systems into its business operations. This efficiency along with the internationalization strategy adopted by Santander enabled the company to achieve the number seven rank in the world in terms of market capitalization in 2009 (Botin 2009, 7).

Operations & Business Strategy

The survival of an organization is dependent on the strategy that is adopted by the business in regard to its business environment over time. The level to which these goals are met is directly related to the effectiveness of its operational strategy. The way in which an organization sets out to acquire, deploy and utilize its resources will determine the extent to which it successfully achieves its performance objectives (Jones 2012, 39).

Santander is headed by the 77 year old chairman, Emilio Botin. Santander is the biggest bank in Europe in terms of market capitalization. Botin is the strategic head of the organization and has jolted his name among the savviest bankers in the world. Botin is a gutsy risk-taker and works on the same lines as the former CEO Ken Lewis, who used to work for Bank of America. Botin has been able to grow his business from a ...