DBS: From the “World's Best Bank” to Building the Future-Ready Enterprise
Learning Objectives
- Analyze how an incumbent bank can move beyond digitizing existing operations to building the capabilities of a future-ready enterprise (becoming “digital to the core”).
- Examine DBS’s GANDALF transformation as a way to rethink the technology core of a bank, including cloud, automation, agile delivery, DevOps, insourcing, and platform-based operating models.
- Explore how DBS embedded banking into customer journeys– the integration of "invisible banking" into the daily lives of customers– through APIs, ecosystem partnerships, mobile-only banking, contextual engagement, and data-driven services.
- Assess how DBS attempted to turn culture into a strategic capability by building a “26,000-person start-up” focused on customer obsession, experimentation, agility, learning, and data-driven work.
- Evaluate DBS’s approach to measuring digital transformation value, including its use of scorecards, digital customer economics, and business-technology platform accountability.
Abstract
The case presents the second phase of DBS Bank’s digital transformation. Upon completing the first phase of the transformation (2009–2014) that radically “rewired” the entire enterprise for digital innovation, DBS initiated its second digital push in 2015 to address ever-emerging threats from fintech companies and institutional constraints on acquisition-led organic expansion. To DBS, this digital transformation was an ongoing journey in building a next-generation enterprise. It centered on developing the core capabilities to be ready for a digital future by becoming digital to the core, embedding banking in customer journey, and creating a 26,000-person start-up.
Appropriate for the Following Course(s)
digital transformation, disruptive innovation, information systems management, business models, organizational culture, and organizational design
THERE IS NO TEACHING NOTE FOR THIS CASE STUDY.