The Bank You Trusted is Busted Jana Matulovic, Jaritza Ortega, Meri Nordström & Stefanie Dennig

Together We’ll Go Far

Background One of the biggest banks in the U.S. Founded in 1852 by Henry Wells and William Fargo Employes 270,000 employees and has 70 million customers Headquarters in San Francisco but offices in 42 countries Main services: banking, insurance, mortgage, investments and financial consulting

Wells Fargo’s Cross-Selling Sales Culture Pressure-cooker cross-selling sales culture Aggressive sales goals and mantras like ‘Going for Gr-Eight’, ‘Eight is Great’ and ‘Run it like you own it’ Incentive programs: ‘Jump into January’, ‘Fly into February’, ‘March into March’

The Crisis Employees created millions of unauthorized bank accounts under existing customers’ names Total fake accounts created: 3.5 million The creation of the fake accounts generated $2.4 million between 2011 and 2015 for the financial institution Average amount taken from customers: $24 Wells Fargo ordered to pay a fine of $185 million

Meanwhile in Court...

Questions to Consider Taking on the role as part of the executive board of Wells Fargo, how should the following questions be addressed: What should Wells Fargo do to mitigate the crisis? How can Wells Fargo rebuild trust and credibility with internal and external stakeholders?

Alternatives: What should Wells Fargo do? Two alternatives: Internal reconstruction/ organizational changes Corporate rebranding Merger Board work with SW-analysis Strengths Weaknesses

Alternative 1: Internal Reconstruction Replace the CEO with someone already working for Wells Fargo Fire the employees involved in creating the unauthorized accounts Make changes to the company’s culture Create a campaign around the new changes

Alternative 2: Corporate Rebranding Replace the CEO with an executive from another reputable bank Change the name of Wells Fargo to Stagecoach or Bank of San Francisco Change the logo of Wells Fargo Align culture with their new brand and image Create a marketing campaign around the new brand

Alternative 3: Merger Merge Wells Fargo with a company with a good reputation Internal workshops between both companies Align values, mission, and vision Create shared knowledge through employee training

So what really happened?

Management Decisions Firing of 5,300 “bad apples” over the course of five years Replaced CEO John Stumpf with Tim Sloan Culture change project Commitment campaign Building better every day campaign

Building Better Every Day

Key Learnings How a crisis might be avoided: Openness with communication Internal corporate communication Transparent and healthy corporate climate Understanding the components of corporate reputation: credibility, responsibility, reliability, and trustworthiness

Thank You!