Mountain Bank Case

Mountain Bank is an establishment found in the northwest of the United States. There are four areas of business lines used by Mountain Bank they are corporate banking, retail estate and mortgage banking, consumer lending and retail banking. Consumer lending and retail banking has been the financially beneficial to Mountain Bank as they have 50% and 25% of the market respectively. However Mountain Bank has not been able to capture the market in the area(s) of real estate & mortgage banking as they have less than 10% of the market. They also have not been able to effectively branch out into the corporate market as they currently capturing less than 5% of the market.

Mountain Bank is attempting to use their high percentage of the retail market and carry it into the real estate & mortgage and corporate markets giving them a better standing against their competitors. I will attempt to create a competitive strategy for Mountain Bank that will strengthen their standing in the areas where they are currently limited. Using the universalistic approach and commitment strategy I will recommend several human resources practices that will be beneficial to their tellers. I will discuss the four human resource strategies that may be implemented within an organization and apply one of the strategies to that of Mountain Bank tellers.

Mountain Bank Case

[Restate the title at the top of the page beginning the body of the paper.]

The goal of any business or organization is to make money, not just make money but to have a lasting effect in their respective industries. All organization would love to have sustainability in their industry however to have sustainability an organization must have a competitive advantage over its competitors. Competitive advantage as describe by QuickMBA.com is the sustained profits that exceed the average for its industry. Competitive business strategy as defined by Stewart and Brown (2008) [Include the year of the source for in text citations.] is a "strategy that focuses on different ways to provide goods and services that meet consumer needs" (p. #). [Include the page number when citing direct quotes in the text.] To create a competitive business strategy Mountain Bank has begun to create the Strategy Formulation process. The strategy formulation process as set forth by Stewart & Brown:

1. Gathering Information

2. Analyze Information & Make Decision

3. Implement the decision

Mountain Bank is at the implementation phase of the formulation strategy. They have selected to tap into their strong retail presence and leverage that presence into gains in the real estate and corporate areas (Stewart & Brown, 2008, p. 69). Mountain bank has chosen the business level strategy which allows them to compete with other banks that offer the same four areas of business: corporate banking, retail estate and mortgage banking, consumer lending and retail banking. Within the business level strategy Mountain Bank can elect to compete with their competitors via a cost leadership strategy or a differentiation strategy. Cost and differentiation strategies are known as positional advantages since they describe the organization's position as a leader in either cost or differentiation (Quick MBA, year).

The Venn diagram below shows the resource based view organizations use to incorporate its capabilities and resources to create a positional/competitive advantage. This strategy is one Mountain Bank should utilize in differentiating their bank from others in their industry.

Differentiation Strategy allows the organization to produce services that exceed the goods and services of its competitors. Mountain Bank should formulate a strategy centered on using their exceptional retail banking and customer service and extend that into differentiating their mortgage and corporate banking.

Mountain Bank has conducted studies that have found their tellers to be one of the main reasons for success. However the turnover rate for tellers is high. The teller position at Mountain Bank is a low paying entry level position that encompasses both full time and part time employees. Tellers are seen as the point of contact for consumers when visiting a bank and often inform the consumers of the various options offered at the location. Tellers are the main handlers of cash as it flows in and out of the bank. Based on the universalistic approach a human resource professional should recommend for Mountain Bank to hold their tellers at a higher regard. The tellers of Mountain Bank should be made full time