Leadership is defined as the ability to control and lead other people towards a common goal. There are various styles and theories of leadership which can be applied in various contexts. Leadership plays a significant role in the banking sector in context to adopting effective strategies and in guiding the employees of the organization to accomplish the goals. The banking sector is a very turbulent sector which is frequently affected due to various regional, national and global issues and therefore it remains the responsibility of the leaders of the banking sector organizations to devise strategies accordingly which would help in addressing various challenges. The nature and characteristics of the banking sector of different countries differ greatly and therefore a universal strategy cannot be applicable for the banking sector of all countries. This report focuses on the growth of the banking sector in Oman and the organizational structure and leadership adopted by the Oman Arab Bank in order to become more effective and competitive in nature.
Distinct cultures can have radically distinct leadership patterns. As opined by Rao (2013) even in nations where economic and political changes are recently evolving in nature, strongly established behavior and values in the cultures will discard immediate change of beliefs due to pressures from reformists, governments or transnational corporates.
For instance UK managers are diplomatic, casual and helpful in nature who are open to adjustments and seek to remain fair but at times they can be severe in nature. Sadly their compliance with traditions, equips them with an limited wilfulness that lead to failure in understanding different beliefs.
Whereas the American managers are decisive, combative, result and action focused, bold, sturdy and positive in nature and always remain willing to adapt. They are good in team work and have cooperating intention but they value their own flexibility firstly and their primary focus remains in enhancing their individual career.
Whereas in the Arab and the GCC countries, the authority of an organization is focused over chief executives and family relationships are considered to be of utmost importance along with ubiquitous nepotism.
Whereas in Indian companies, Nepotism is also evident largely in which the family members holds important positions in a company and work in close co-ordination with each other. In Indian markets it is seen that policy is dictated by trade groups who work in collaboration and often develop a close relation with each other and they tend to support each other in difficult times.
Different leadership style possesses different characteristics which impacts the performance and productivity of the employees in the organization. Each leadership style employs different techniques and ways in order to lead the employees of an organization towards the ultimate goal of the organization. As stated by Park (2016) for instance in autocratic leadership style, the leader or managers of the organization take decision of their own and directs the employees to work according to the decision and failure to do so results in punishment or termination of the employees and therefore the employees are forced to remain productive and effective in nature for their job security. Whereas in democratic leadership style, it is observed that the leaders of the organization consult with their subordinates before taking a decision which helps in increasing motivation of the employees which further helps in enhancing their productivity and performance. In case of laissez faire leadership style it is seen that that the leaders allow the subordinates to take their own decision which helps in increasing their accountability and responsibility towards a decision which help in increasing their performance and productivity.
Different leadership style has distinct features and uniqueness and therefore certain type of leadership style helps in determining who will follow and how. As stated by Li et al. (2015) it is generally observed that an individual in an organization generally becomes a leader in an organization with various followers or becomes a follower of a particular leader and it depends on the leadership style which is being possessed by the individual. In case of transformative leadership style it is observed that the employees of organization become followers on an individual who has a charismatic and charming personality and who helps in transforming the thought process of the employees and therefore the employees become the followers of the leaders. Whereas in case of laissez faire leadership style it is observed that the employees uplift themselves to the post of leaders and the initial leader becomes the followers of the employees.
According to me I possess various leadership capabilities such as motivation through which I can motivate other individuals in the workplace in order to remain focused to achieve their personal and professional goal even in the face of challenges and hardships, accountability through which I take responsibilities of whatever tasks I do even if when I am not in direct in charge of the task which helps in accomplishing the tasks in an effective manner, innovation through which I tend to develop various creative ideas and thought process regarding performing my daily tasks in order to make it more effective in nature, time management through which in can complete any task assigned to me in the permitted time period without getting delayed and team leading through I can effectively lead a team of any members in order to reach the ultimate goals of the time by utilizing the team dynamics.
In order to become a more effective and capable leader in the future I need to acquire various other leadership skills and capabilities such as leading change which will help me to effectively manage the change process and accordingly adapt myself to the change process according to its requirements and negotiation capability through I can effectively negotiate the tasks which are assigned to me or to my team members in order to achieve the best possible results.
Strategy- The main strategy which is being followed in the Oman Arab Bank is transformation strategy, which enables the bank to make a profound commitment towards retail side of the business and also enables them to adopt a customer centric approach so as to get engaged with their customers. This process falls under the yellow intelligence as it falls under the systemic flow category.
Structure- The organization structure which is being followed in the Oman Arab Bank is functional organizational structure which focuses on grouping the employees based on their skill set and function. This process falls in the blue intelligence as it falls in the formal management category.
Systems- The systems and processes in Oman Arab Bank are core banking system, net banking system, retail banking system, corporate banking system, accounting system, risk management system, electronic fund transfer system and Islamic banking processes. This process falls under the orange intelligence as it falls in the category of strategic enterprise.
Style- The leadership style which is followed in Oman Arab Bank is participative leadership style which invites inputs from the employees while taking decisions regarding the operations and strategy of the bank. This process falls under the red intelligence as it falls under the industrial power category.
Skills- The skills which are required from the employees of the bank in order to perform their daily tasks and activities are problem solving expertise, teamwork expertise, interaction ability, customer service expertise and numeracy skills. This process falls under the purple intelligence as it falls under the family tradition category.
Staffs- The staffs of the Oman Arab Bank are well trained, qualified and experienced in nature and they are fully capable of meeting the requirements of the bank as well as its customers. This process falls under the beige intelligence as it falls under the life support category.
Shared Values- The shared value of Oman Arab Bank are consistency, efficiency, innovation, motivation and commitment. This process falls under the green intelligence as it falls under the social network category.
As stated by Torku (2015) the HSBC bank follows a divisional organizational structure in which the bank organizes its business activities around geographical, market, product or service group as it allows the various divisions oversee specific product and service lines with leadership structure that assists the vital goals of the group. The divisional organization structure of the bank also allows them to build a common culture which leads to high morale of the employees and better knowledge of the product and service portfolio of the bank. The leadership style which is followed in HSBC is delegative leadership style. In this style of leadership the managers delegate the tasks and activities to the team members and allow them to take their own decisions regarding the task.
Moreover, the European banking sector has been growing in stability since 2014, under the supervision of the European Central Bank and to ensure further growth of the banking sector risk management approach was prioritized and also the automation of services and investments in technology has been considered as an important development priority. As stated by Mozammel and Haan (2016) the European banking sector is currently looking forward to develop joint ventures and partnerships in order to provide stability in the sector but as an after effect of Brexit, the banking sector in Europe and mostly in UK suffered considerable losses due to fluctuations of interest rates and exchange rates which resulted in lack of confidence among the customers and investors.
As stated by Chang, Bai and Li (2015) there are various changes which are occurring in the banking sector which is helping the banking sector of the country to overcome the challenges which are posed by increasing regulatory requirements and emerging technology in the banking sector. According to Oman banking perspective insight, the banking sector of Oman is in a quite powerful position which is supported by the strong growth of asset and through technological innovations, that provides power to the banking sector for improving their operational efficiencies, reducing risks, increasing customer experiences and augmenting revenues. This is in spite of few challenges that the Omani banks had to deal due to the evolution of new technology and new regulations. Therefore for solving the above mentioned challenges the banking sector of Oman is going through new solutions for growth and diversification of their business which includes utilizing artificial intelligence, block chain and FinTech in order to develop their bottom line.
As opined by Karoki (2016) the banking sector of Oman seems to operate in very turbulent times and therefore implementation of new legislations and rules is putting them under immense pressure in order to re-design their archetype of business. In addition to that the implementation of Value Added Tax which has been proposed is expected to affect the profit margins of the banks which therefore encourages the banks to exploit technology in order to involve and interact with customers in various new ways. The other regulatory changes which are continuing to direct how the banking sector will perform in the coming period are new International Financial Reporting Standards (9 and 16) and Basel iii/iv improvement.
The Central Bank of Oman has laid down several guidelines through a circular regarding the introduction of IFRS 9 and at the time when the renewed standards have brought in significant deep changes in various aspects of the banking sector, the existing IT systems of the banking sector in most possibility will undergo changes in order to measure and keep track of the changes which are needed by the IFRS in a cost-saving and measurable way. The 2017 Basel III changes to credit and operational risk are likely to be introduced in Oman on January 1, 2022, and hence as a result the banking sector of Oman is preparing for impacts on processes and regulatory capital provision.
The banking sector in Oman has a bright future and therefore various leading banks of the country have focused on utilizing developments in technology and meeting regulatory requirements by putting money on more developed customer experiences. The various banks of Oman are carrying it out by using social media for interacting with younger customers and have introduced smart application such as mobile wallet and other innovative digital products as they feel that they need to remain innovative in their approach for operating at their optimum level.
Increasing competition from FinTech companies- Financial technology or Fintech companies are mainly start-up companies which uses software to offer financial services to customers. The growing acceptance of Financial technology firms have disrupted traditional banking ways followed at the Oman Arab Bank and therefore it has created a big challenge for traditional bank such as Oman Arab Bank because it is suffering due to quickly adaptation to the changes not only in context to the change in technology but also in adoption of such system and technology in the bank that may disrupt the operation, cultures and other facets of the bank.
Consumer expectations- In the modern day the customers of the banking industry not only select their preferred banks owing to its unique products and services but they rather chose their preferred bank based on their experiences with the bank as the customers seek for enhanced customer satisfaction. The Oman Arab bank currently feels the pressure as the customers are demanding more from the bank in terms of new technology in order to enhance their satisfaction level and the failure to do so in an effective manner is resulting in greater customer switch from the bank to other banks.
Security issues- As opined by Suliman and Obaidli (2013) in the current scenario, the amount of data that banking organizations are required to collect, analyse, store and mine is growing in an exponential manner as the customers have become Omni-channel and use social networks which have posed challenges for Oman Arab Bank regarding protection of integrity and sensitivity of consumer information. The characteristics of speed and refinement of cyber-crime is on the rise and the hackers who operate for financial gains have posed enormous concern over customers, but the refusal of service and other attacks of large scale have more damage potentiality. One of the major hurdles for Oman Arab Bank in providing high level security to the customer data is lack of experienced skilled technicians. The other hurdle for the Oman Arab Bank regarding protection of confidential customer data is limitation due to budgetary constraints.
Regulatory pressures- According to Morton (2016) the regulatory requirements issued on the banks of Oman are increasing and therefore Oman Arab Bank require to spend a significant part of optional budget for complying and on developing systems and processes for meeting the demands of the increasing regulatory measure which has created a challenge for the Oman Arab Bank. Though the capital regulations imposed by The Central Bank of Oman are intended to promote the safety of the individual financial institutions and systematic stability, but those measures are decreasing the competitiveness of Oman Arab Bank.
Shortage of human resources- The availability of experience and qualified human resources is very essential for providing high quality banking experiences to the customers and currently the Oman Arab Bank is experiencing challenges regarding availability of skilled and experienced human resources as it is observed that most of the qualified and experienced human resources prefer to work with global banks rather than national bank and due to the high level of migration of human resources to other Gulf countries. The other reason which can be identified as one of the reason for lack of availability of experienced and current staffs in Oman Arab Bank is because skilled and experiences human resources are working in various job positions in other sectors which are non-compatible with their skills and experiences.
Diversifying the business of the company- As stated by Al Qumbarji (2016) Oman Arab Bank must focus on diversifying its business and set up a financial technology company which will be based on software applications in order to provide services to the customers other than traditional banking services which will help the Oman Arab Bank to capture significant part of the market by attracting customers who opt for financial technology services. The setting up of a financial technology company will also enable the Oman Arab Bank to increase its revenue and gain reputation among the customers of being a customer centric banking institution.
Implementing advanced technology to enhance customer satisfaction- Oman Arab Bank should focus on introducing and implementing new technological advancements in the business operations of the bank in order to enhance the customer experiences and this will also help to increase the satisfaction level of the customers. As stated by Bittu (2015) the introduction and implementation of new technology in the business operations of the bank will involve higher operational costs for the bank but the investments are bound to prove fruitful for the bank in the long run as it will help in attracting customers towards the bank which will help in driving the profitability of the bank.
Improving security measures- As opined by Louw, Muriithi and Radloff (2017) in order to protect the financial and other confidential data of their customers, Oman Arab Bank should focus on improving the data security facility of the bank by securing their own internal IT systems. Oman Arab Bank should also focus on implementing the highest quality of cyber-security measures for protecting the data of the bank by hiring IT security personnel’s from IT security firms. The bank should also focus on limiting the access of individuals to various core areas of the bank’s database and only allow authorized personnel’s to access such data. Oman Arab Bank should also increase the security features of the customer data by enabling a two-way verification and authentication process for the customers during the access of banking services from their smart phones or other devices.
Employee training and retention- As stated by Kazarenkova, Kolmykova and Ovcharova (2015) in order to address the shortages of human resources, Oman Arab Bank needs to focus on retaining their skilled and experienced employees which will help in reducing the employee turnover of the bank. Oman Arab Bank also needs to provide training to their existing employees in order to develop their skill and capabilities so that they become qualified to carry out the higher level tasks and activities of the bank which will help in reducing the shortage of staffs in the bank. Oman Arab Bank should also focus on partnering with various government organizations and educational institutes regarding conducting workshops and job fairs in order to recruit various talented human resources to the bank and then providing them on the job training so that they become specialised skilled which would ensure smooth functioning of the daily tasks and operations of the bank.
Embracing new technological approach- As opined by Belás (2013) in order to cope up with the regulatory pressures and to remain competitive in nature, Oman Arab Bank should focus on embracing new approaches to technology which will help them cope up with the costs which are associated with implementation of the new regulatory requirements and new reporting standards so that these increases the competitiveness of the bank through effective technological approaches which would even help in increasing the effectiveness of digital banking solutions.
Conclusion
From the above report it can be stated that the organizational structure and leadership followed in the Oman Arab Bank have helped the bank to become more competitive and effective in nature. It can also be observed that there is a greater power distance among the employees and managers of the bank and therefore the employees require more guidance and supervision from the managers. Further it can also be stated that the banking sector of Oman, is experiencing growth and development due to diversification of the economy and the banking sector of UAE has also experienced growth due to growth and expansion of the Dubai economy but the European economy is facing tough times as a result of the aftermath of BREXIT which has created fluctuations in interest and exchange rates. From the report it is also evident that the banking sector of Oman has underwent transformation by adopting innovative technological advancements in its operations and Oman Arab Bank is at the forefront of it as it has introduced robotic process automation system in the operations of the bank. Further it can also be stated that there are various issues which are being faced by Oman Arab Bank and therefore they must adopt innovative solutions to address those problems so that it does not affect the profitability of the bank.
The main recommendation regarding the banking sector of Oman is to facilitate partnerships and collaborations between various regulators as it will help in the effective management of the costs which are required by the banks in order to comply with the regulatory requirements and these will also help in increasing competitiveness of the sector. The main recommendation to the Oman Arab Bank is to integrate Islamic Banking in the operations of the bank. The other recommendation to the bank is to expand in other countries in order to increase their retail loan portfolio. Additionally it is recommended that the bank can acquire other banks in different countries such as Pakistan and Bangladesh in order to extend their market share so as to start operating and making profits outside own country.
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