Abstract

This case discusses the problems faced by Chicago-based retail banking and credit card major Bank One Corporation (Bank One) and how Jamie Dimon (Dimon), Chairman and CEO of Bank One, steered it through turbulent times in the financial services industry. Dimon initiated a turnaround plan, which included cutting costs, tightening the standards of lending, and cutting down the number of bank branches. He also aimed to consolidate the IT systems into a single platform to ensure consistency across all its branches. Moreover, he also fixed the problems that came from Bank One's credit card division, First USA Inc. Analysts credited Dimon for his dynamic leadership style and his comprehensive turnaround plan that led to the spectacular turnaround of Bank One.

Learning Objectives

The case is structured to achieve the following Learning Objectives:

• Understand the issues and challenges in turning around a company.
• Evaluate the strategies adopted by Dimon in turning around Bank One.
• Gain an insight in the leadership qualities of Dimon.

Keywords

Turn around, Leadership, Restructuring, Financial services, Banking industry, Acquisition, Merger, Work culture, Information Technology, Retail banking, Investment management, Consumer banking, Commercial banking, Consumer finance, First USA Inc, Banc One, First Chicago NBD, Citicorp, Commercial Credit Corp, Russell Reynolds Associates, Jamie Dimon, Sandy Weill, Citigroup, Merrill Lynch, Lehman Brothers, Bear Stearns