Introduction

The purpose of this report is to analyze the operational processes used at Wells Fargo Bank. To prepare the analysis, a member of the team interviewed the Seaside Park, NJ branch Service Manager. For the analysis of the operational processes, the team focuses on the implementation of total quality management, inventory, and workflow scheduling. In addition, the team will briefly discuss the history, competitive priorities, and a conceptual flow chart of the main operations of the bank. Based on the research findings and the interview with the service manager, the team will provide recommendations on how to further improve operational processes used at the bank.

         Industry and Company Overview

Wells, Fargo & Co was founded in 1852 by Henry Wells and William Fargo. The company was opened in the West during the gold rush and mainly focused on an exchange of gold for paper bank

drafts and express delivery of gold or anything valuable. The company earned a good reputation by handling customers money and investments responsibly and delivering packages on time. By 1918, the company had more than 10,000 offices nationwide. During the First World War, the national government took over the business, leaving one bank in West coast. During the 20th century, Wells Fargo rebuilds the business and introduces new banking concepts. The bank is known as one of the oldest banking institutes in the US and represents integrity and stability.

Today, Wells Fargo provides banking, insurance, investments, mortgage, and consumer and commercial financial services through more than 8,600 locations, 13,000 ATMs, online (wellsfargo.com), and mobile devices. The bank approximately employs 269,000 team members in 42 countries and serves 70 million customers. According to the company’s website as of 4th Quarter of 2016 Wells Fargo takes places among competition as: 3rd Total Deposits (2016) FDIC Data, 3rd Total Assets (2016) SNL Financial, 7th biggests public company in the world (2016) Forbes, and 27th Biggest Company by Revenue in the U.S. (2016) Fortune. Market value of stock equals $276 billion. According to Nasdaq.com, Wells Fargo is the leader in mortgage loans and holds 12.5% market share.

Retail banking is an extremely competitive industry. Technology is constantly changing and changing the way we do banking. Many customers are now utilizing online or electronic services to conduct their banking, such as the Mobile App and ATM. This makes it difficult for team members to meet, build rapport and retain customers based off of building relationships. There are also constant changes to regulations and government requirements regarding financial institutions that make the industry not only competitive but also sometimes difficult to keep up with. 

Wells Fargo builds the foundation of their strategy based on their customer demands and competitive trends. Wells Fargo team members develop a strong relationship with each and every client by offering their service anywhere, at any time and increasing customer trust through every interaction. They also aim to cater to each individual customer. Rather than product pushing, the team members take the time to get to know each client and every client's situation. Everybody's situations are different, so Wells Fargo works hard to ensure they are looking for the right solutions that will satisfy each individual customers' financial needs.

The chart on the left is a simple process map of how business strategy flows. In the case of Wells Fargo, they were a part of a big scandal, which damaged the company's reputation, image, and prestige. The company came up with a new business strategy which was to keep remaining customers and promote and improve security systems. In November 2016, Wells Fargo made an advertisement commercial in which the company announced that they were making changes to make "things right". They mentioned that all customers who were impacted or affected were going to be fully refunded, as their second priority Wells Fargo announced that a confirmation will be sent when new personal or small business checking, saving or credit card accounts are opened, and their third and final statement stated that they eliminated sales goals for retail bankers; in order to ensure the customers interest. The AD concluded with " We're renewing our commitment to you". The current priority of Wells Fargo is to gain customer trust back and be able to improve and facilitate services for new and existing customers.