DBS: Transforming the Culture of an Asian Bank

In January 2010, the new DBS chief executive officer, Piyush Gupta, was tasked to realise the bank’s vision to be the ‘Asian bank of choice for the new Asia’. The global financial crisis of 2008 had created an opportunity for DBS to fill the void left by the Western banks that were suffering from its aftermath. Gupta, a former Citibank executive, had to reconcile the harmonious yet passive local culture at DBS with the more competitive yet proactive culture he was accustomed to - without causing an outcry from the other stakeholders.

Students will learn how to discuss corporate branding using the Vision-Culture-Image framework. They would get an opportunity to understand how to build internal alignment, appreciate cross-cultural dimensions and inspire organisations. More specifically, students will identify potential transformation bottlenecks presented in the case. They will then evaluate the DBS transformation strategy presented in an in-class hand out by using the Vision-Culture-Image framework to assess how effective the strategy was at addressing such bottlenecks. This case is designed for courses that study communication and organisational change.

Inspection copies and teaching notes are available for university faculty. To receive an inspection copy and teaching note, please email cmpshop [at] smu.edu.sg with your registered faculty email ID and a link to your contact information on the faculty directory at your university as verification. An inspection copy and teaching note will then be sent to your faculty email account.

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SMU Faculty/Staff can download the case & teaching note on iNet with your SMU login ID & Password via the following links:

· The Case (SMU-14-0023)

· Teaching Note (SMU-14-0023TN)

· In Class Hand Out (SMU-14-0023HO)

For purchase of the case and supplementary materials via The Case Centre, please access the following links:

· The Case (SMU-14-0023)

· Teaching Note (SMU-14-0023TN)

· In Class Hand Out (SMU-14-0023HO)

For purchase of the case and supplementary materials via Harvard Business Publishing, please access the following links:

· The Case (SMU-19-0001)

· Teaching Note (SMU-19-0001TN)

· In Class Hand Out (SMU-14-0023HO)