QNB Al Ahli

Atheer Osama

Mariam Koura

Merna Khalil

Nadine El Ashkar

Rowayda Moataz Sara Maged

Dr.Iman Megahed Fundamentals of Management MGMT 3201-04

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Table of Contents

EXECUTIVE SUMMARY

INTRODUCTION TO QNB

HISTORY AND BACKGROUND

VISION AND MISSION:

ORGANIZATION CULTURE:

ENVIRONMENT:

STRATEGIC MANAGEMENT:

14

GOALS

15

Business Model

16

MANAGEMENT FUNCTION #1: ORGANIZING

18

ORGANIZATION STRUCTURE AND MANAGEMENT HIERARCHY:

19

ORGANIZATIONAL DESIGN:

20

MANAGEMENT FUNCTION #2: LEADING

24

MOTIVATION

FINDINGS AND RECOMMENDATIONS

28

APPENDIX

34

REFERENCES

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Executive Summary
QNB was chosen to be investigated for one particular reason, it recently
acquired NSGB Egypt, which the group perceived as an opportunity to examine
different management concepts through this transitions and how they will change,
or not, after the name of the organization has changed while the employees are
essentially the same ones. The data were gathered from several sources including the
QNB global website, QNB Egypts website, which was not very informative, and
interviews with the manager Mona Hosni and employees of QNB Abbasseya.

Generally speaking, QNB is an innovative bank that is growing at a fast pace
around the world offering financial services such as consulting, and not only
banking in order to cater personal, business, and corporate financial needs. It has a
clear mission of being the institution of choice for customers, employees, investors
and suppliers and to be the dominant market player through maintaining high credit
ratings. QNB success in Egypt doesnt only depend on its performance but also in its
ability to shatter the negative perception that was born due to political issues about
its name (Qatar).

The focuses of this report however are the organizations culture and
structure, two of the four major management functions, and their implementation in
QNB and finally how the accusation affected the organizations finances and image
to the public. In this situation the two functions of leading and organizing were
chosen. These two functions were chosen after several debates using one major
criterion; how different is that function now with QNB than it wouldve been with
NSGB. Although planning was a close contender, the two functions chosen were
leading and organizing. As for leading, the group was interested in how the same
managers would lead and motivate the same employees now that they belong to
QNB and which theories of motivation are implemented in the real world. And for
organizing, we wanted to examine the structure of QNB as an organization in Egypt
and whether the stereotypes about a banks rigidity were true.

QNB is an example of a well-established financial institution that aspires to
expand its sphere of influence and continues to capitalize on its growth potential,
which teaches a lot in management and business.

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Introduction to QNB
History and Background
Established in 1978 (NSGB) , QNB is now one of the top Egyptian Banks
serving more than 600 thousand clients through 4200 banking professionals. QNB
acquired as NSGB in Egypt. The principle role of the bank is to support Qatar to
reach its potential and compete with major banks in major cities and not just the
countries of the GCC.
QNB has been involved in several successful projects such as: industrial plants
and expansions (Al Shamal Gas Field Project, Ras Laffan); the extraction of its vast
liquid natural gas (LNG) resources; iconic towers, such as the Al Shard Tower in
London; world-class educational facilities - including Qatar Education City, home to
several international post-secondary institutions; leading health facilities and
extensive residential and commercial developments. It was also instrumental in
developing the towers that house the Qatar Financial Centre. It is a key force in the
countrys successful bid to host the Asian Games in 2006 and its forthcoming hosting
of the 2022 FIFA World Cup.
In 1976, QNB expanded its international presence with the opening of a
branch in London, UK. Two years later, it opened a branch in Paris, France. Then, in
2005, it began implementing an intensive and ambitious international expansion plan,
enabling it to extend its presence into more than 26 countries today, comprised of
associates, subsidiaries, branches and representative offices.
In 2008 QNB launched QNB Capital, offering expert advice on mergers and
acquisitions (M&A), equity, and debt and project advisory services. QNB Capital
provides a vast range of professional advice to clients looking to capitalize on

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opportunities.
QNBFS offers a range of financial services to domestic and foreign
institutional investors, high net worth individuals, retail and corporate clients
including mutual funds, brokerage services, research and advisory intelligence and
asset management.

Vision and Mission:

A. Vision:
To become Middle East & Africa Icon.
The bank visions vision requires it to keep close relationships with its
clients through offering a wide range of products serving almost every
financial need of Corporates, medium and small enterprises or individuals
along with a balanced focus on both Corporate and Retail Banking.

In Egypt:
In Egypt, to achieve this vision, QNB bank will expand its network of

branches to more than 160 branches covering 24 governorates. Moreover; the

bank keeps enhancing its multi-channels automated tools to reach its clients
through a network that reaches more than 350 ATMs, in addition to, a
dedicated call-canter available 24 hours a day, 7 days a week. In order to To
become your trusted partner for all your investment needs - QNB

B. Mission:
QNB states six main pillars of its mission:

To be the institution of choice for customers, employees, investors and

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suppliers

To be the dominant market player

Maintain the highest credit ratings

Have strong brand recognition and high brand value

Achieve sustainable profitable growth

Enhance shareholder value

QNB wants to maintain the leadership position within the Egyptian market. The
Bank will remain committed to all aspects of its strategic expansion plan, whether in
terms of network expansion or product development, to offer the best to the clients
and continue being a market leader.

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Organization Culture:
The dimensions of the organizations culture were different from the ones we were
taught in class, so we included the most suitable one along with the results of the
interviews.
1) Customer (Attention to Details): employees listen carefully to the voice of their
customers, respond with creative solutions and they also aim at setting service
standards and continuously measure their performance and the customer's
satisfaction level.
2) Quality (Aggressiveness): outstanding quality is the key element that
differentiates them from market competitors.
3) Time (Aggressiveness): their goal is to build a culture with standards of
acceleration that are maintained through cycles and projects' phases. (An action
delayed is a lost opportunity)
4) Innovation and Risk Taking: they encourage initiatives and rewards
contribution, they always try to find better way (they call it : there is always room for
improvement)
5) Attention to their inner self (Team Oriented): they work together in teams in
which each person contributing to the level of his capabilities. They believe in the
synergy of coordinated efforts. And the also create value for customers by providing
quality and excellence in all what they do and the way in which we do it. (We bring
quality to life by paying attention to being the most efficient in everything we do).

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Having said so, and knowing that those are not stated goals to the public but actual
principles that guide the culture of QNB, the team was surprised by the culture of
QNB as it doesnt, to a certain extend, follow the stereotype about banks being
bureaucratic and rigid. With such a strong culture, with values highly shared and
deeply held, management has a greater influence on the employees and this
translates into the high performance of QNB.

QNB Environmental Analysis:

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A. Specific Environment
Customers

The most important element of the microenvironment of any

company. QNB identifies two segments of customers;
Internal: Employees
External: Customers
Customers range from businessmen to youth to institutes to
regular bank customers

Suppliers

The Bank views its suppliers as strategic partners and in

return, demands that they adhere to the highest standards of
quality, service and ethics.
The Bank chooses its suppliers according to certain criteria.
The weighting assigned to each selection criterion varies
according to the nature of the product and/or service
required. The most common selection criteria are listed
below.
Quality of services/products;
Competitive prices;
Experience and competence;
Financial soundness;
Flexibility and capacity to meet the Banks
requirements, in particularly for proposed timetables;
Compliance with legal requirements (e.g., insurance,
code of ethics, confidentiality);
Professional reputation and references;

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Online procurement.
Suppliers can be for uniforms, furniture, office supplies,
secure money transfer, computers Internet and catering.
Competitors

There are almost 40 other commercial banks in Egypt.

Including
Banque Misr: founded by Talaat Pasha Harb in 1920
Barclays Bank in Egypt: The British multinational banking
and financial services is the seventh largest bank in the world
with assets exceeding 2.6 trillion USD.
HSBC: Also a British multinational banking a financial
services company headquartered in London, England. One of
the World's largest banks. It was founded in 1991 in London.
It has a dual primary listing in Hong Kong Stock Exchange
and London Stock Exchange.
CitiBank: A global US based bank with 3,777 branches in 36
countries. As a result of financial crisis in 2008 and huge
losses in the value of its subprime mortgage assets, the
American government bailed it out of the crisis.
And others like Abu Dhabi National Bank, AUDI Bank,
National Bank of Egypt, BNP Paribas...

Public
Pressure
Group

Shareholders: They care about the financial

performance of the Bank.
Environmental Groups: Not very popular in Egypt,
yet increasing in number.
Labor Unions: With the rise of the revolution and the

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rebel character in Egypt, Unions are becoming more

bold in calling for the integrity of its trade, achieving
higher pay, increasing the number of employees an
employer hires, and better working conditions.

B. General Environment
It impacts the industry as a whole and not just a particular company, however it has
a direct impact on the managers decisions, planning and strategies.

Global

The global environment that QNB operates in is facing a lot of

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emerging facts such as the global warming, scarcity of water,

rising price of energy, poor sanitation in many areas,
uncertainty of food suppliers.
Political/Legal

The deteriorating relations between Qatar and Egypt may

have been the reason behind QNB negotiating to sell the
freshly acquired NSGB just after 6 months of acquisition in
late 2013. Bank deposits have decreased by almost 25 percent
since Morsi's ouster, with a number of clients withdrawing
their savings. (Ahram 2014)

Socio cultural

QNB might be facing some challenges in Egypt because the

Egyptian culture tends to form negative perceptions about the
Qatari nation due to political tensions.

Technological

Technology is always changing and all market offerings,

including commercial Banks must out this into perspective.
People are relying more and more on technology everyday
and QNB should integrate that into its plan.

Demographics

Egypt: The current population of the Arab Republic of Egypt

is estimated to be approximately 84.55 million people.
However in Egypt, most of the population lives in poverty.
Cairo is the center and most important city in Egypt. With a
$6,545 per capita, the Egyptian Population is considered
Poor, with most of the financial recourses controlled by a
very small percentage of the finances of Egypt.

Economics

Unemployment:
12.3%
Inflation (CPI):
8.6%
FDI Inflow:
$2.8 billion
The Egyptian economy is deteriorating and Egypt doesnt

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make an attractive market to investors. With a lot of the

Egyptian investors being discouraged and pessimistic as well.

Strategic Management:
A. QNB Growth Strategy
On the 8th of December 2013, QNB convened its Strategy Conference entitled
"Shaping a MENA Icon" in Dubai. This was the first time this important Group event
had taken place in the UAE and was most timely given Dubai's successful bid for
The World Expo Event in 2020; however, the purpose of this conference is to discuss
relevant topics that will enhance the strategic development of the organization and
help secure The Bank's Vision of "Becoming a MENA Icon.

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Goals:

CFO Ramzi Mari told Reuters in an interview at the bank's Doha headquarters.
"Our goal is to be the largest financial institution in the Middle East and Africa
by 2017. So this makes us interested in some of the markets that we don't have
a presence in..

QNB obtained a new vision for the groups future to continue its sustainable
growth by a new strategy to enter into the Egyptian banking through buying a
share of 97.1% of in NSGB; because, Egypt has been one of the most important
countries in the groups expansion plans.

After acquiring NSGB, and since Egypt has always been one of the top
countries in the Groups expansion plans, due to the strategic importance of
the Egyptian market and its dynamic role that complements the Groups aim to
be the leading bank in the MENA region. The strong financial position that
NSGB enjoys, its network of branches across the country, and the capable &
highly qualified staff, all together represent an opportunity to help QNBs
group to achieve those plans.

Expansion Opportunities and Strategies:

NSGB has promising opportunities for expansion in the Egyptian market
through increasing its network of branches and ATMs across different governorates
and could see a doubling the number of the network during the coming five years.
Actually, this will require QNB group to increase the number of staff and train them
and develop their capabilities.

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QNBs strategy is to increase its presence in the Egyptian market by

cooperating between the teams of QNB and NSGB in many areas; because the team
working at NSGB have the capability to manage the banks operations in a manner

that will achieve the increase of presence in the Egyptian market which will also
achieves the QNBs strategy in expansion.


B. QNB Business Model
Competitive Advantage:
QNBs group is also building on its e banking technology by sharing its
technological capacities with NSGBs clients through various channels (internet and
smart phones), which will give the bank a competitive advantage that will help in
strengthening its position in the Egyptian market.

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Management Function #1: Organizing

QNB has a traditional functional structure. It has several branches that are divided
into retail branches and mixed branches. As a group, we focused on retail branching
(Abasseya Branch).
a) Retail branch: consists of

Retail department: it sells the products of QNB and offer services to the
customers.

Operation department: responsible for the deposits and withdrawals

transactions, foreign exchange, and the transfer of funds internally and
externally. Consists of tellers, main vaults and operations officers.

b) Mixed branch: consists of

Retail and operations

Corporate: maintain bank facilities to corporations

Functional structure:
-Departmentalization by function
Operations, finance, human resources, and technology management.
Strengths:

Cost saving advantages from specialization ( economies of scale , minimal

duplication of people and equipment) and employees are grouped with others who
have similar tasks

Weaknesses:

Pursuit of functional goals can cause managers to lose sight of what's best for the
overall organization; functional specialists become insulated and have little
understanding of what other units are doing.

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Organization Structure:

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Management Hierarchy:

Chairman
and
managing director

Deputy Managing
Director

Assistant Managing Director /

Chief Operation Ocer
Organizational Design:
A-Work specialization:

QNB has high work specialization. Each task is divided into separate jobs with each
step performed by a different employee. For example, when a customer applies a
loan, he goes to customer service, and then the application goes to branch manager
who gives approval. The approval then goes to loan center, which investigates the
customer and gives approval, which goes to customer service again to accept loan
application

B-Departmentalization:
Jobs in QNB are grouped on the basis of the function performed (functional
departmentalization)
Advantages

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Efficiencies from putting together similar specialties and people with common
skills, knowledge, and orientations

Coordination within functional area

In-depth specialization

Disadvantages

Poor communication across functional areas

Limited view of organizational goals as each department sometimes gets too

involved in its specialization, losing focus of QNB general goals.

Sometimes this specialization causes routine work, which in return causes

demotivation of employees.

C-Chain of command:

The Chain of command in QNB is structured and well defined at the top
organizational levels where authority moves from top management levels to low
levels.
The authority in a retail branch moves in descending order from:
a) The branch manager
b) Relationships manager and the operations head
c) The staff: staff under the relationships manager are, the customer service or advisor
staff while staff below the operations head are the operation officer and the tellers.

D-Span of control:
QNB has a wide span of control since a retail branch has a range of (10 to 15), while a

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mixed branch has a range of (20 to 25).

Advantages:

A wide span of control allows for empowering employees to carry out their own task.

Allows decisions to pass more quickly to employees

Less managers are required

Disadvantages:

Puts greater pressure on the existing management

Manager is responsible for large number of employees

E -Centralization vs decentralization:
QNB uses a centralized organizational design in which decision-making is
concentrated at a single point in the organization, which is the top level
management. This might be beneficial since QNB is facing political problems due to
the fact that its a bank that belongs to Qatar and therefore it might need
centralization to face any crisis that might arise. Besides, the organization is large
and employees are not empowered at all in the decision making process.

G- Formalization:
QNB has high formalization; rules apply on everyone even the chairman. Jobs at
QNB are divided among employees on basis of qualifications, years of experience
and position of employees. Jobs are also highly formalized since they depend on a
standardized job description and rules that everyone in the organization must follow
even the top-level management. Highly formalized jobs offer little discretion over
what is to be done.

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Contingency factors:
Size and Structure:
Since QNB's structure tends to have increased specialization,
departmentalization, centralization, and rules and regulations (high
formalization); thus it's more of a mechanistic organization. Also, since QNB
is growing in size it needs to be more mechanistic in structure than organic.

Technology and structure:
Since the technology used in QNB require routine work, its better for QNB to
follow a mechanistic approach.
Environmental uncertainty and structure:
Since the environment in Egypt is unstable due to the political issues that Egypt
face, QNB needs to implement an organic strategy to face the uncertainty.

Conclusion:

QNB tends to be into a mechanistic organization more than an organic organization

having a tightly controlled structure since its highly specialized, has rigid
departmentalization, narrow spans of control, high formalization, limited
information network and low decision participation.

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Management Function #2: Leading

The role of leaders is to influence others and execute decisions using their
managerial authority to achieve the goal of that certain
group/department/organization. This role is called leadership and the whole
process is done through leading.

All managers should be leaders because leading is one of the four

management functions alongside with controlling, planning and organizing.

According to the research and studies conducted by the University of Iowa,

they explored three leadership styles to find out which was the most effective
style.

Autocratic style: This kind of leader dictates methods of work and centralizes
all the decision making which as a result limits the participation of employees.

Democratic style: This leader aims to increase and encourage participation of

employees through delegating authority and responsibility and always tries to
involve employees in the process of decision making.

Laissez-faire: This type of leader gives his employees or groups the complete
freedom to make decisions and complete work in whatever manner that they
may see fit.

Through our interview at QNB, we have found out that the managers use the
democratic style as it is the most effective style of leadership and it focuses on
achieving higher member satisfaction. However, under certain circumstances and
situations, the mangers at QNB tend to use the autocratic style in order to achieve
higher performance and certain goals/deadlines. We can conclude from those
results that an effective management system doesnt employ only one style of

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leadership but addresses every situation or circumstance with the most suitable
style of leadership that would reap the best results.

The Managerial Grid

This model was developed by Robert Blake and Jane Mouton using two
behavioral dimensions i.e., concern for people and concern for production. This
model was used to evaluate the ranking of these behaviors by the managers on a
scale of 1(low) to 9(high). Only five styles were named out of 81 potential
categories. Those behavioral styles are impoverished management (concern for
production = 1, concern for people = 1), task management (9, 1), middle-of-the-
road-management (5, 5), team management (9, 9) and country club management
(1, 9).
Our interview results suggested that QNB ranked their concern for production as
a 9 i.e. high and their concern for people as an 8 i.e. high. The results show that
QNB are almost on the top right of the managerial grid where the team
management behavioral style is placed, like shown in the grid below.

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Situational Leadership Theory (SLT)

The situational leadership theory (SLT) uses the two leadership dimensions task
and relationship behaviors. This theory was developed to focus specifically on the
followers readiness; it is the followers who decide whether to follow or not follow a
leader, in other words, they decide whether to accept or reject the leader. This means
that the leaders actions arent as effective as those of the followers as the groups
effectiveness depends on the followers actions/decision rather than those of the
leaders. The four specific leadership styles that were deduced from this theory are:

Telling(high task low relationship)

Selling(high task high relationship)

Participating(low task high relationship)

Delegating(low task low relationship)

QNB was found to be implementing the participating leadership style where both the
leader and the followers have a say in the process of decision making and the main
role of the leader is to just communicate and facilitate everything for the followers.
The whole theory suggests that as the follower starts to reach new high levels of
readiness, the leader should start decreasing control over the followers activities and
also decrease relationship behaviors. Since, QNB uses the participating leadership
style, this tells us that the followers are able and are willing i.e. followers are capable
but they want to do something and they need a participating leader to give them
support and encourage them.

Path-goal theory
This is currently one of the most respected approaches to understanding leadership.
This theory states that the main role of a leader is to provide direction and ease the
path and help/assist his followers in achieving their goals and make sure that their

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goals dont conflict and are compatible with those goals of the groups or
organization.
The four leadership behaviors under the path-goal theory are:
-

Directive leader

Supportive leader

Participative leader

Achievement oriented leader

The managers at QNB were found to be achievement oriented leaders i.e., they set
challenging tasks and goals and expect the employees to perform those task and
achieve those goals at their highest level. It has also been found that QNB managers
resort to directive leadership behavior in certain situations or circumstances. Hence, it
can be concluded that managers at QNB are flexible and can be either of the four
above mentioned types of leaders depending on the situation or circumstance.

Gender differences and leadership:

Studies have showed that gender differences result in different leadership styles and
methods. Many assume that a woman who is a managers position tends to be
bossy and controlling which discourages many women from reaching to topmost
positions. However, this hasnt stopped many successful women from reaching to
positions that are male dominated. The studies showed that typically women tend to
be democratic and adopt participative style in leadership, whereas, men tend to be
the directive kind of leaders and influence the employees performance through their
position.
When the question about whether the gender differences affect leadership decisions
like hiring, performance, promotion, evaluation at QNB. The answer to this was that
gender differences dont have any effect on leadership decisions implying that there
is no glass ceiling for women and that genders are almost the same if not completely

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equal profession wise. This also implies that even though QNB is a middle-eastern
bank, the culture at the bank itself is flexible and focuses on not only competing
regionally but also internationally.

Lastly, QNB spends a huge amount of money on leadership training sessions and
development. These seminars teach managers how to command their groups or
teams, trust-building and mentoring. The managers are also taught the skills needed
to analyze and evaluate situations and the different ways of motivation and reward
systems. The money invested in such training seminars is reflected on the overall
status and performance of QNB.

Motivation:
In QNB, motivating employees is considered one of the important factors
behind the banks great success both locally and internationally. Employees have to
be motivated in order to produce their maximum effort in their jobs. There are
various examples for motivation techniques such as challenging employees on
working on a certain target like cross selling from the variety of the bank products
along with making sure that the customer is satisfied, the top 5 employees are
granted a number of rewards such as trips internal and external , getting promoted
and getting vouchers to famous stores. The different techniques that are used for
motivation are deployed to ensure that the employees are able to achieve the annual
targets of the bank on all levels.

Maslows Hierarchy of Needs:

The employees are motivated differently based on their position at the bank. Low
paid workers and most of the newly recruited employees are mostly motivated by
fiscal rewards as in bonuses both yearly and quarterly, compensations for their extra
time at job and other rewards. While middle and upper management employees are

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not only motivated financially, they are also motivated psychologically. In very
special events, the best performing employees are recognized in the presence of the
Banks upper board and they get to receive certificates in recognition for their extra
efforts and achieving the banks targets on their department level. This difference in
motivation ways in the bank can be an indirect representation of how Maslows
Hierarchy of needs theory is being applied where there are employees who are
motivated by low order needs and there are other who are motivated by high order
needs such as recognition and boosting self-esteem and confidence. Employees are
evaluated periodically based on their performance in their jobs and accordingly they
are motivated financially only or even more.

Goal Setting Theory

At QNB they use the Goal setting theory which is setting goals that are specific,
accepted, challenging, but achievable for employees, in order for them to be
motivated to work hard on it. Using the goal setting theory with employees at QNB
results in high performance and it motivates them more than not having a goal or
having a very easy goal. This keeps them motivated all the time to challenge their
own abilities of reaching a certain goal. Also giving employees a very hard and
unachievable goal will not motivate them, it will actually demotivate them to even
try to work on it. Furthermore Job enrichment theory (Vertical expansion) is also
used at QNB, which is increasing the responsibility and autonomy in a job and
increasing the degree of control the employees have over their work. Job enrichment
motivates employees at QNB because employees feel that they have a responsibility
that they have to stand up for and work hard to prove themselves. It proved that
many employees at QNB when they have more control over their own work they
work hard and properly manage their time and accomplish the task well without
pressure. Job enrichment has a positive effect on employees at QNB.

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Equity Theory:
Moreover the Equity theory is enforced therefore each and every employee at QNB
gets what he or she deserves. By this employees that work harder and perform better
than others receive bonuses, rewards and salary increases. At QNB they make sure
that all employees take what they deserve, and they have a very fair system to how
they judge the employees overall performance. All employees their must put effort
into their work (input) and receive a salary (output) that is reasonable to the effort
they put. The system is very fair and treats everyone at the bank equally, starting
from the office boy who has no authority in anything until the high level
management.

Pay For Performance:

Finally in a way, QNB they also use the theory Pay- for-Performance which is
rewarding the employees on the basis of their performance. For example if they
work very well and accomplish the goals on time and do something extra ordinary
they receive wage incentives, profit sharing, piece rates, bonuses and rewards. This
keeps the employees motivated all the time from the second they arrive to the bank
in morning to the second they leave the bank. To conclude this is the main reason
why QNB became a successful and international bank in a short period of time.
Everyone knows that one of the main factors of the success of any organization is the
motivation of the employees at the organization, in order for them to work hard and
reach the organizations short term and long term goals.

Finally, another way that QNB uses to motivate its employees is through
community service. QNB motivates its employees through philanthropic work that
makes them feel like they are a part of a group that works for an even bigger cause
for the society.

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Findings and Recommendations

Findings:

The findings carried out in conjunction with the market research agency

Markaz confirmed that QNB is the best capitalized company in Qatar; these findings
took in to consideration the current domestic economic trading conditions, the
financial fundamentals, and the business performance of the company over the past
12 years before making their final recommendations. However, QNB improved its
market capitalization standing by one place over the 2012 performance and this
reflects the ongoing strong financial fundamentals in place across The Group.

Ratings and Safety:

QNB Group is amongst the highest rated of Regional Banks with

international credit ratings of Standard & Poors (A+), Moodys (Aa3), Fitch
(A+) and Capital Intelligence (AA-).

QNB has won many awards from leading specialized financial publications
and also was ranked from the worlds 50 safest banks in emerging markets.

Profits:

The Group recorded net profit, for the nine months ended 30th September
2013, of QR 7.1 billion, up by 14.1% compared to the same period last year.

Assets:

In addition, total assets increased by 24.5% from 30th September 2012 to reach
QR 437 billion, the highest ever achieved by the Group.

Employees:

The total number of employees is approximately 13,500, locations operated

from totals over 570 and the ATM network now has over 1,200 machines.

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Consequence:

This hurried international expansion growth has been accompanied by

rigorous and best practice internal risk, governance and compliance controls
to ensure that shareholder value is maintained and well-developed.

Recommendations:

Communication:

After studying QNB in detail one realizes that it is a successful example of a financial
services institute. One of QNBs major strengths is its ability and willingness to serve
several segments of the market including the youth, which should turn into loyal
consumers in the future. However, we found some problems with QNB such as the
poor communication of its services, such as Yo! (youth visa) to its target market. We
also believe although QNB globally is a successful model, and NSGB is Egypt was a
well-established bank, QNB Al Ahli should work on not only maintaining NSGB
customers but also recruiting new customers, given the size of QNB, which cant be
achieved without QNB establishing its identity as an Ahli bank and changing the
negative perception that Egyptians hold against Qatar.
QNB should place itself as an International bank that cares about the nationalism of
Egypt in order to maintain its consumers.

Branches:
Although QNB must continue to encourage customers to route routine
transactions over Steps to Improve Customer Satisfaction through self-service
channels, they must not, under any circumstances, neglect their branches and the
service delivered through them. Even today, the branch is the preferred mode of
banking for a substantial proportion of customers. When they have to complete a
complex transaction, even regular electronic banking users feel the need to visit the
branch and consult its staff. Thus, the human element in the branch is its greatest
asset, which should be motivated by managers in order to achieve satisfaction of
consumers. Against this backdrop, if the quality of in-branch service were to suffer
because of the focus on alternative channels, it could seriously harm the banks
business and reputation. And no amount of innovation in other channels will be able
to compensate the resulting drop in customer satisfaction.

Website:
Although we recommend the focus on the human element as they are the
most influential touch points in commercial banking, we also recommend QNB to

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invest more in its website. We found difficulties in getting information about QNB
Al Ahli online. QNB should try to make its website more user friendly especially
with the growing trend in Egypt of going viral and include relevant information that
would help not only potential investors, but also day to day consumers.

Employee Development:
QNB should also focused on consolidating its succession planning and
leadership development activities throughout the year. Additional programs such as
leadership development and trainee development programs should be applied with
the participation of a large number of employees to further develop their careers and
knowledge.

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Appendix
I.

Interview Questions used to assess Organization:

1- To what degree are tasks divided into separate jobs with each step performed by a
different employee (work specialization), meaning that if there is a specific job to be
performed, is it divided into different tasks that are given to different employees?
How is work specialization applied in QNB?
2- Is dividing the departments done by function performed (grouping jobs by functions
performed) or by other means? And how ?
3- Regarding the chain of command (The continuous line of authority that extends from
upper levels of an organization to the lowest levels of the organization and clarifies
who reports to who) , is the authority placed at the top or bottom level of
management? Who reports to whom?
4- Is the span of control (The number of employees who can be effectively and
efficiently supervised by a manager) narrow or wide? Regarding the number of
employees, number of spans and number of managerial levels?
5- Is the environment surrounding the bank complex? Uncertain? Continuously
changing?
6- To which extent decision-making is concentrated at a single point in the
organizations, for example concentrated at the top or at the bottom?
7- Do rules apply on everyone? To which extent are employees behavior is guided by
rules and procedures?
8- Are jobs standardized, meaning that is there a one single way to do a job ? are tasks
divided equally among employees ?
9- Are there any constraints on how to do the work? What are they?
10- Do people in authority tell people specifically what to do?
11- Who is obliged or expected to perform (on whom does responsibility lie on) ?
12- Do you have a unity of command meaning that whether a person should have one
boss and should only report to that person?

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13- Are the employees empowered in the decision making process ?

II.

Interview Questions to assess Leading:

1. We want to know what type of leaders/managers exist at QNB? Are they

autocratic, democratic, or laissez faire? Or are they a mixture of two types?
2. On a scale of 1-10...1 being the lowest and 10 being the highest, how much are the
managers concerned for the employees?
3. On a scale of 1-10...1 being the lowest and 10 being the highest, how much are the
managers concerned for the production or achieving targets?
4. What category of leaders would the managers of QNB lie in?
a. Telling (high task -low relationship)- the leader that defines roles and tells
people what, how, when and where to do tasks.
b. Selling (high task-high relationship)- the leader provides both directive and
supportive behavior.
c. Participating (low task-high relationship)- the leader and the followers share
in decision-making; the main role of the leader is facilitating and
communicating.
d. Delegating (low task-low relationship) -. the leader provides little. Direction
or support.

5. Since QNB is from a different culture i.e. Qatar. Does that affect the way leaders or
managers operate in Egypt? Or are there specific norms and traditions that must be
followed?
6. Does the gender differences affect leadership decisions like hiring, performance,
promotion, evaluation.?
7. Does QNB provide any leadership training?

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III. To Access Motivation:

1. Is motivation important? Why?

2. What motivates your employees Are employees motivated by the same thing?
3. What do managers do to motivate employees at QNB?
4. Does Maslows hierarchy of needs is used an efficient way in motivation?
5. And if it did, are all employees get the same needs whether internal or external needs?
6. Do they apply McGregor's theory x and y?
7. Are all employees of category x? Or are they all category y? Or a mixture?
8. And how do they motivate each category?
9. Do these bank take Herzberg's Motivation -Hygiene theory as a way of motivation?
10. Are there employees that can be empowered by McClellands three-needs theory?
11. Are there any other motivation theories that are being applied form the contemporary
theories of motivation?

The manager didnt know/remember the names of the theories, but once those
were explained, the manager explained to us how they were or werent
applied in QNB.

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IV. Summary of QNB Al Ahli Stock Price

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V. Summary of Financials 2009-2013 of QNB Group

VI. Operating Income Total and Growth

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References
CBE. "Banks in Egypt." Central Bank in Egypt. Egyptian Government, Web. 17 Mar.
2014. <http://www.cbe.org.eg%2FEnglish%2F>.

QNB. "Mission and Vision." Qatar National Bank. Web. 17 Mar. 2014.
<http://www.qatarbank.com%2Fcs%2FSatellite%2FQNBIndia%2Fen_IN%2FenVision
andMission>.
QNB Official Website <http://www.qnb.com.qa/cs/Satellite/QNBGlobal/en/enGlobalHome>
QNB. 2013 Annual Report. Rep. QNB, 22 Dec. 2013. Web. 13 Apr. 2014.
<http://www.qnb.com.qa/cs/Satellite?blobcol=urldata&blobheader=application%2Fpdf&blob
key=id&blobtable=MungoBlobs&blobwhere=1355494561003&ssbinary=true>.

http://www.qnb.com.qa/cs/Satellite?c=QNBNews_C&cid=1355401056914&locale=134
4242931214&p=1344243597094&pagename=QNBSouthSudan%2FQNBLayout
Wikipedia. "Qatar National Bank." Wikipedia. Web. 17 Mar. 2014.
<http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/QNB_Group>.
Reuters. QNB Forecasts. Reuters. Web. 14 Mar. 2014
<http://www.reuters.com/article/2014/02/06/qatar-qnb-forecasts-
idUSL5N0LB3DW20140206>
"World's Strongest: Banks." Bloomberg.com. Bloomberg, 22 Mar. 2013. Web. 17 Mar. 2014.
<http://www.bloomberg.com/visual-data/best-and-worst/worlds-strongest-banks>.
Ziad, Amina. Economic Implications after Morsi. Al Ahram English. Web. 13 Mar. 2014
<http://english.ahram.org.eg/Category/1/155/Egypt/Constitution-.aspx

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