Q: As is common in many change efforts, the client have moved ahead with implementing some changes PRIOR to you completing the project. Based on the changes proposed, do you believe these initiatives will help you close the gap you identified in Question 1. If yes, why will they help close the gap. If no, how will you still be able to achieve closing the gap?

Question Number 1 was:

The key first element of completing a 7S Model is to understand the overall strategy of the company.

For HSBC, please identify the strategy and identify the "current Gap" between their current position - and their proposed future position.

Information

MOVING AHEAD AND REMOVING BARRIERS SLIDE 15 Creating a simpler, more efficient andInvesting in our opportunities and areas of strength The Group will continue to invest in our growth opportunities, our customer experience and delivering value to all of our stakeholders. We intend to reinvest the RWAs saved as a consequence of our restructuring in our high-returning Asia and Middle East businesses, HSBC UK, our market-leading transaction banking franchise and the international wealth opportunity. As part of our customer experience initiatives, we plan to improve digital capabilities to improve customer satisfaction, evolve our product suite and strengthen our internal processes. As an example, we plan for the full launch of HSBC Kinetic for small businesses in the UK in 2020. We plan to continue to support the global transition to a low-carbon economy, demonstrated by our continued commitment to provide and facilitate $100bn of sustainable finance and investment by 2025.

Empowered organisation Our remodelling plans will be accompanied by a substantial cost reduction programme and a number of steps to simplify HSBC. These aim to reduce our overall cost base and to accelerate the pace of change. There are three broad parts to these plans. First, we aim to remove costs linked to discontinued activities. Second, through further investments in technology, we intend to re-engineer processes to take out costs and improve the customer experience. Third, we plan to simplify our matrix organisational structure.

As part of this, we intend to move from four lines of business to three, by merging GPB and RBWM to create one new organisation, Wealth and Personal Banking. We also plan to merge the operational support infrastructure of CMB and Global Banking, while maintaining separate frontline teams, which should improve collaboration between the two businesses. Furthermore, we intend to reduce the number of geographies represented on the Group Management Board from seven to four. In order to match the size and new structure of our organisation, we plan to reorganise our global functions and head office.