Transformation at ING (A): Agile

William R. Kerr; Federica  Gabrieli; Emer  Moloney

Case | HBS Case Collection | January 2018 (Revised May 2018)

Transformation at ING (A): Agile

by William R. Kerr, Federica Gabrieli and Emer Moloney

Abstract

In December 2017, Vincent van den Boogert, CEO of ING in the Netherlands, was reflecting upon the company’s “agile” transformation, a reorganization of work that had been critical to respond to and exceed rapidly changing customer expectations. Launched in 2015 at the head office, agile had spread to the rest of the Dutch organization, from client services to the branch network, and permeated the overall company culture. It was now time to rollout the transformation to other units of the ING Group, but some questions remained: Could agile be as successful in other countries as it had been in the Netherlands? How fast should ING roll out the transformation? How could they build on the experience acquired so far to improve their methodology?

Keywords: Organizational change; organizational management; organizational structure; workforce; Agile; transformation; change management; leadership; Transformation; Organizational Change and Adaptation; Organizational Structure; Leading Change; Cross-Cultural and Cross-Border Issues; Banking Industry;

Language: English

Format: Print

19 pages

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Citation:

Kerr, William R., Federica Gabrieli, and Emer Moloney. "Transformation at ING (A): Agile." Harvard Business School Case 818-077, January 2018. (Revised May 2018.)

Related Work

Supplement | HBS Case Collection | January 2018

Transformation at ING (B): Innovation

William R. Kerr, Federica Gabrieli and Emer Moloney

Supplement to HBS No. 818-077. Together with the agile methodology, innovation at ING was an enabler for the company’s purpose of empowering people to stay a step ahead in life and business. The case explores ING's innovation priorities and strategy as well as the related challenges ahead.

Keywords: innovation; Agile; fintech; Innovation and Invention; Strategy; Technological Innovation; Banking Industry;

Citation:
Kerr, William R., Federica Gabrieli, and Emer Moloney. "Transformation at ING (B): Innovation." Harvard Business School Supplement 818-078, January 2018. View Details

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Supplement | HBS Case Collection | May 2018

Transformation at ING (C): Culture

William R. Kerr and Alexis Brownell

In 2016, ING Group began an overhaul of its company culture, culminating in a code of conduct dubbed "The Orange Code."

Keywords: ING; company culture; cultural change; Change; Organizational Culture; Change Management; Banking Industry; Financial Services Industry; Netherlands;

Citation:
Kerr, William R., and Alexis Brownell. "Transformation at ING (C): Culture." Harvard Business School Supplement 818-121, May 2018. View Details

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Case | HBS Case Collection | January 2018 (Revised May 2018)

Transformation at ING (A): Agile

William R. Kerr, Federica Gabrieli and Emer Moloney

In December 2017, Vincent van den Boogert, CEO of ING in the Netherlands, was reflecting upon the company’s “agile” transformation, a reorganization of work that had been critical to respond to and exceed rapidly changing customer expectations. Launched in 2015 at the head office, agile had spread to the rest of the Dutch organization, from client services to the branch network, and permeated the overall company culture. It was now time to rollout the transformation to other units of the ING Group, but some questions remained: Could agile be as successful in other countries as it had been in the Netherlands? How fast should ING roll out the transformation? How could they build on the experience acquired so far to improve their methodology?

Keywords: Organizational change; organizational management; organizational structure; workforce; Agile; transformation; change management; leadership; Transformation; Organizational Change and Adaptation; Organizational Structure; Leading Change; Cross-Cultural and Cross-Border Issues; Banking Industry;

Citation:
Kerr, William R., Federica Gabrieli, and Emer Moloney. "Transformation at ING (A): Agile." Harvard Business School Case 818-077, January 2018. (Revised May 2018.) View Details

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Teaching Note | HBS Case Collection | May 2019

Transformation at ING (A), (B), & (C)

William R. Kerr and Jordan Bach-Lombardo

Teaching Note for HBS Nos. 818-077, 818-078, 818-121.

Keywords: ING; Agile; innovation; reorganization; Transformation; Innovation and Management; Strategy; Change Management; Banking Industry;

Citation:
Kerr, William R., and Jordan Bach-Lombardo. "Transformation at ING (A), (B), & (C)." Harvard Business School Teaching Note 819-136, May 2019. View Details

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Supplement | HBS Case Collection | October 2019

Transformation at ING (A), (B), & (C)

William R. Kerr

Citation:
Kerr, William R. "Transformation at ING (A), (B), & (C)." Harvard Business School Multimedia/Video Supplement 820-702, October 2019. View Details

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Irfhan Rawji (MBS 2004) launched MobSquad in October 2018 to help American tech start-ups retain hard-to-find talent, many of whom struggled with U.S. work visa issues, such as software engineers with experience in artificial intelligence, machine learning, or data science. MobSquad also helped companies fill open roles by tapping into its database of pre-vetted foreign tech workers. While there was growing demand for these specialists, the talent supply in the U.S. was relatively constrained and American companies often filled positions with foreign-born workers using a temporary visa called the H-1B. However, U.S. President Donald Trump temporarily suspended immigration in June 2020, including foreign workers on an H-1B visa during the COVID-19 pandemic. Rawji contemplated what kind of impact this would have on MobSquad and the tech industry in Canada. There was already evidence that a growing number of foreign tech workers were choosing Canada over the U.S. due to Trump’s immigration policies. Now Rawji suspected that Trump’s latest move would further accelerate this trend, and he wanted MobSquad to be ready to help companies and workers who had been counting on the H-1B.

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In the fall of 2018, Serbia found itself at a crossroads yet again. Following the Balkan Wars of the 1990s and the collapse of Yugoslavia, the country had embarked on a slow and arduous process of accession to the European Union (EU). This had been further hampered by the country’s tortuous relations to its breakaway province of Kosovo, one of several regions fighting for political independence at a time when the continent itself was seeking greater economic and political integration in the form of the EU. Support for the EU accession was falling in Serbia, however, also in light of the increasing presence in the country of Russian and Chinese interests and investments. But would the country eventually have to pick a side amidst the rapidly changing geopolitics of the early twenty-first century?

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