Analysis. How to gather all these data?
Category: Branches
Give trainees 2 minutes to prepare answers on their own and then get feedback from some trainees without giving guidance on the answers but certainly give encouragement where appropriate.
Surveys on the local markets
Using databases : on the local economy, on the demography trends in a city, in a country
Meetings with local Managers, lobbying managers
Meetings with clients and local leaders
Reading newspapers and surfing on the web to search information about local markets, political environment and competitors…
They may only have a few examples so move on quickly to the next and more general issues.
Exercise — identify useful information
Invite the trainees to break into pairs (2 people) and discuss good and bad information concerning the external analysis.
What is good or bad information?
Quality of information is relative, but in banking business this means information which provides grounds for correct decision making. This does not mean perfect data, but at least information 70% to 80% reliable, to make the good decision in an acceptable time span. There is always a trade-off to make between exactness of information, time taken to obtain and check it, and the cost of acquisition of information.