Information gathering problems in multinational banking

There has been a tendency for many companies to develop monolithic, centralised computer-based information systems in the belief that this provides the best way of approaching the capture, management and exploitation of the information that is essential for their business needs. Whilst there are several well-documented cases where such systems have been perceived as successful, there are other situations where such approaches have proved problematic. This may be because a monolithic solution was not appropriate, and led to significant (possibly insoluble) difficulties in servicing the information needs of the business. This paper will consider one such organisation, based in the multinational retail banking sector. The context for the discussion is the extent to which the system has had difficulties in supporting business decision making. This is related to problems in gathering and maintaining relevant information. This banking sector provides an interesting focus for the problems of information provision to support decision making as it is undergoing a period of rapid intensification of competition and fundamental change where new products and services are both agents and consequences of change. Competition stems not only from other established banks, but also from non-banking organisations offering financial services. This presents an environment in which it in increasingly important to have information which is timely and is of high integrity on which to base decision making to ensure that it is in line with corporate strategy. Poor decisions, taken on the basis of poor information, may impact on the profitability of aspects of the business, particularly in a fiercely competitive market like banking. This paper will introduce the banking sector in order to 1060-3425/98 $10 provide a background for the paper and an insight into the complexities of the business area. It will then go on to briefly discuss decision making and the associated role of information and communication technologies. This will lead into a review of information that is required to support decision making and the difficulties that arise in gathering and managing this information. A related issue is the environmental pressures of the business sector which might restrict information gathering and use. Such issues will be briefly discussed before broad conclusions are