Medici Case
The Medici Bank, Organization and Management
Insights (interrelated) * The dependency of the organization and structure of a firm on the nature of its business. * Trading and Banking : “the foundation of the firm’s business rests on trade in which most of the capital is employed” * Merchant bankers (whose business interests were international in scope) Vs Local bankers * Global nature and size of business; number of banks around the world * Centralized vs Decentralized banking firms: Medici was the latter of the two * Relationship between main office and branches * Medici resembled a holding company; it owns shares in other company, in this case its subsidiaries. The holding company does not produce goods and services itself rather its purpose is to own shares in other companies. * Partnership agreement and ownership structure * Frequency of reporting
* “Core Competency” * Picking/Hiring Managers of the subsidiary partnerships * Control of managers and its evolution * Ethos Vs Bottom Line balance * Drivers and directives, and their influence on level and rate of growth * Venturing into cloth manufacturing: risks and differences in a product based business versus banking and a holding company * Quality control of a complex manufacturing process * Importance of technical knowledge esp. as intricacy grew * Important of communication * Overseeing development of core product and competency * Core competency * Dependent on external resources for products that are related to core competency * Like with NEC, core competency can allow disparate business become coherent: * For instance, “Canon’s core competencies in optics, imaging, and microprocessor controls have enabled it to enter, even dominate, markets as seemingly diverse as copiers, laser printers, cameras, and image
Insights (interrelated) * The dependency of the organization and structure of a firm on the nature of its business. * Trading and Banking : “the foundation of the firm’s business rests on trade in which most of the capital is employed” * Merchant bankers (whose business interests were international in scope) Vs Local bankers * Global nature and size of business; number of banks around the world * Centralized vs Decentralized banking firms: Medici was the latter of the two * Relationship between main office and branches * Medici resembled a holding company; it owns shares in other company, in this case its subsidiaries. The holding company does not produce goods and services itself rather its purpose is to own shares in other companies. * Partnership agreement and ownership structure * Frequency of reporting
* “Core Competency” * Picking/Hiring Managers of the subsidiary partnerships * Control of managers and its evolution * Ethos Vs Bottom Line balance * Drivers and directives, and their influence on level and rate of growth * Venturing into cloth manufacturing: risks and differences in a product based business versus banking and a holding company * Quality control of a complex manufacturing process * Importance of technical knowledge esp. as intricacy grew * Important of communication * Overseeing development of core product and competency * Core competency * Dependent on external resources for products that are related to core competency * Like with NEC, core competency can allow disparate business become coherent: * For instance, “Canon’s core competencies in optics, imaging, and microprocessor controls have enabled it to enter, even dominate, markets as seemingly diverse as copiers, laser printers, cameras, and image