strategic-management

EXHIBIT 7 Wells Fargo versus Rivals
CASE 11 • WELLS FARGO CORPORATION — 2009 119
Weels Fargo Bank of America Citigroup US Bancorp Industry Average
Market Cap 130.52B 151.06B 25.89B 42.60B 19.63B
Employees 269,900 283,000 279,000 57,904 42.31K
Qtrly Rev Growth 106.20% 33.10% 68.00% -14.40% 11.70%
Revenue 42.84B 62.09B 34.69B 10.15B 7.98B
Oper Margins 21.64% 15.44% -57.85% 26.57% 23.69%
Net Income 3.58B 3.47B -23.79B 1.46B n/a
EPS 0.912 0.597 -3.651 0.820 0.91
Source: Company Form 10k Reports and www.france.yahoo.com.
banks have all but disappeared. The large national banks have become bigger while
community banks still exist to satisfy local communities. All of the larger banks worldwide
are attempting to grow globally. The lack of regulation today has blurred the products
and services banks offer. Given the lingering economic recession and changes in the
banking industry, how should Wells Fargo Bank proceed from a strategic and operational
standpoint during the next few years? This is the question facing the Wells Fargo board
and its chairman and CEO.
In July 2009, Wells Fargo announced that the firm is significantly expanding its securities
business that it largely inherited from Wachovia. Prior to the December 31, 2008,
Wachovia acquisition, Wells Fargo basically did no securities business. The new business at
Wells Fargo is to be called Wells Fargo Secuities and will begin offering merger advice,
stock and bond underwriting, loan syndications, and fixed-income trading.
Wells Fargo today has approximately 6,700 bank branches in some 40 states. It also
has more than 4,000 mortgage and consumer finance offices nationwide and is one of the
largest residential mortgage lenders in the United States.
How should Wells Fargo position itself in the future? Should it strengthen its retail
presence, grow internationally, or move into the void created by the disappearance of
investment banks? This case provides the opportunity to analyze the future of the financial
services industry and develop a plan to position Wells Fargo to better compete in this
industry over the next several years.
Endnotes
1. The authors would like to thank Alex Profis, Dr. Donald Crooks’s graduate assistant
at Wagner College, who helped tremendously with research for this case study.