Wassim Zhani Final Project Part III Bank of America.pdf

1. Bank of America III 1
Running Head: BANK OF AMERICA III
The Bank of America
Wassim Zhani
David Robinson

2. Bank of America III 2
The Bank of America
Introduction of the Bank
The history of Bank of America dates back to 1904, when Giannini established Bank of
Italy in San Francisco to provide services to the immigrants who refused to avail services from
their banks. After the San Francisco earthquake, Giannini got all the deposits of the bank out and
away from fires. Later through various transitions and progress it turned into one of the leading
banks of the world. Bank of America provides a wide range of financial and banking services in
about 28 million households. It is an American global financial services company and the largest
bank by market capitalization, and by assets. It serves clients in 150 countries and has a
relationship with 99% of U.S fortune 500 companies. The main areas it covers are the United
States. After it merged with the Boston Financial Corporation, the portfolio increased. The
banking segments are divided into commercial and consumer banking.
The current customers and services of Bank of America
The main two areas where the bank operates are:
1. Asset based lending
2. Loan syndication
The bank’s operations are divided into commercial and consumer markets. It provides a
broad range of services to the small and midsize businesses and individuals through the banking
channels and branches. Currently there are about 4,277 banking branches in 21 states and the
Columbia district. The specialized services include the issuance of student loans, insurance
services, and maintenance of mortgage, commercial loans, and cash management. Private
banking i.e. the financial solution for rather wealthy clients is one of the private banking

3. Bank of America III 3
services. Other services include the management of capital that is stock, cash, and bonds,
investment services which includes (Moscow, 2006).
The latest venture/diversification
Services and customers
The new venture will be the real estate services. The bank will diversify into this segment
to increase its customer base and capital acquisition. It will provide a sufficient amount of access
to the capital and help it build its capabilities into this area (Johnston, 2000). The service
provided will be the advice on issues including the analysis of the determination of a property’s
highest and best use, ways to maximize the real estate assets, suggestion on how to improve
property for sale or lease, and an evaluation of property’s potential of development. Other
services include,
1. Pre-development analysis
2. Property repositioning
3. Portfolio evaluations
4. Portfolio rationalization
5. Expert opinions
6. Special situation implementation and analysis
7. Lease audits
8. Financing and market analyses (Johnston, 2000).
It will provide this service for both the commercial and residential customers.

4. Bank of America III 4
Supports to the company's competitive strategy
The major competitive advantage of the bank is its direct and personal approach to the
clients. It remains in the first priority list if customers because they trust its competitiveness. Te
word of mouth and reliability of the bank is also prominent due to a large customer base. In the
banking industry, reliability is the most significant factor (Banks, 2010). This is the reason why
the new venture will combine the competitive advantage with its core business operation that is
banking. The bank will earn due to its name and business processes it currently operates in. the
existing market base will be proficient in attracting the initial customer base for bank of America
because the bank has a long term partnership with clients. Their views and perceptions about the
services will give the bank a competitive edge. This reason alone is enough to carry forward with
the new venture strategy. Beside, the financial strength of the bank is sound to pool in the initial
capital into the latest business. The bank has expertise in the financial solutions and
management, which encourages the new venture strategy. The staff’s experience and expertise
will combine with the new venture besides the hiring of new staff. All these aspects together will
make the venture strategically sound and aligned with the core business strategy and
competitiveness. Beside the new venture will help the bank raise capital and strengthen its
customer base. A diversification into this area will make the staff capable of handling the various
real estate operations. This is a major benefit for the bank in the long run because the profits in
the real estate may help in pooling into alternative investment, thus increasing the operational
portfolio (Moscow, 2006).

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Managerial positions and staffing
It is obvious that with the new venture, the new managerial positions will be required.
There will be the need of the chief executive officer, chief facility manager, chief financial
officer, legal advisor, and chief risk officer. These will be headed by the chief executive officer
in a direct hierarchical structure. On the very upper end, the managing director will oversee the
operations. The staffing needs will be solved by the job ads in the newspapers and the websites.
The recent graduate will be preferable for the executive positions since the new generation is
motivated and prone to learn. Whereas, the top positions will be filled by the transfer of several
key people from Bank of America. It will help gain from their experience and learning (Banks,
2010).

6. Bank of America III 6
The organizational structure
Managing Director
Chief Executive
officer
Chief facility
manager
Chief financial
officer
Legal advisor Chief risk
officer
Executive Positions

7. Bank of America III 7
References
Banks Russell, (2010) Dreaming Up America, Seven Stories Press.
Johnston Moira, (2000)The Tumultuous History of the Bank of America,Beard Press.
Moscow Alvin, (2006) Building a Business: The Jim Walter Story, Pineapple Press.