Thomson Reuters
Thomson Reuters – HBS Case analysis
David Craig joined Reuters in Mar 2007 as group strategy director when talks of merger with the Thomson Corporation were in progress. He oversaw the integration of the two firms. Craig, as the CEO of the GRC business was therefore in a unique and advantageous position of being familiar with the cultures of the two constituent firms of the joint entity.
During the global financial crisis following the bankruptcy of Lehman brothers, Craig as the group strategy officer was tasked with examining the GRC business since it was felt, that following the crisis, the regulators were bound to abandon their current laissez faire approach and come out with a slew of regulations to address systemic failures and prevent recurrence. Craig’s study and an independent research found that the GRC business was worth USD 25 billion in 2009 with financial services accounting for 55% of the GRC spending and growing at 10% per annum. Craig, in the process of examining the issues, developed a good understanding of the business and realized that the GRC business was fragmented with different activities like risk identification, risk evaluation, development and implementation of compliance policies etc all being handled separately leading to dissatisfaction among the clients. Although some of Thomson Reuters competitors were active in the GRC space, their services were not integrated and hence perceived as sub-par by potential clients.
Craig as the CEO of the GRC business, leveraged the insights he had gained as the group strategy officer to direct the firm towards employing some sound policies: (a) He organized the firm’s GRC business around an integrated approach since Thomson Reuters was already a dominant player in the data business and had the necessary technical skills in this domain. This differentiation of the firm’s offering afforded it tremendous competitive advantage.
(b) Craig recommended consolidation of the firm’s existing small
David Craig joined Reuters in Mar 2007 as group strategy director when talks of merger with the Thomson Corporation were in progress. He oversaw the integration of the two firms. Craig, as the CEO of the GRC business was therefore in a unique and advantageous position of being familiar with the cultures of the two constituent firms of the joint entity.
During the global financial crisis following the bankruptcy of Lehman brothers, Craig as the group strategy officer was tasked with examining the GRC business since it was felt, that following the crisis, the regulators were bound to abandon their current laissez faire approach and come out with a slew of regulations to address systemic failures and prevent recurrence. Craig’s study and an independent research found that the GRC business was worth USD 25 billion in 2009 with financial services accounting for 55% of the GRC spending and growing at 10% per annum. Craig, in the process of examining the issues, developed a good understanding of the business and realized that the GRC business was fragmented with different activities like risk identification, risk evaluation, development and implementation of compliance policies etc all being handled separately leading to dissatisfaction among the clients. Although some of Thomson Reuters competitors were active in the GRC space, their services were not integrated and hence perceived as sub-par by potential clients.
Craig as the CEO of the GRC business, leveraged the insights he had gained as the group strategy officer to direct the firm towards employing some sound policies: (a) He organized the firm’s GRC business around an integrated approach since Thomson Reuters was already a dominant player in the data business and had the necessary technical skills in this domain. This differentiation of the firm’s offering afforded it tremendous competitive advantage.
(b) Craig recommended consolidation of the firm’s existing small