Dr. Mahalee Goes To London

CASE 11 - DR. MAHALEE GOES TO LONDON



OVERVIEW


Dr. Mahalee, a wealthy Asian businessman comes to London on a trip that combines business and family matters. Nearing retirement age, he hopes to sell his company to the existing employees, but he needs to find an international bank that will loan them the necessary funds for a buyout. At the same time, he needs to review his estateplans in the light of the money that he will receive from selling the company. Sophia Costa, a senior account officer at the London office of Global Private Bank has been asked to step in at the last minute to meet this client. How should she proceed?



STUDY QUESTIONS

1. Prepare a flowchart of Mahalee’s service encounters.

2. Putting yourself in Mahalee’s shoes, how do you feel (bothphysically and mentally) after speaking with the receptionist at Global? What are your priorities right now?

3. As Sophia Costa, what action would you take in your first five minutes with Mahalee?

4. What would constitute a good outcome of the meeting for both the client and the bank? How should Costa try to bring about such an outcome?



ANALYSIS

1. Prepare a flowchart ofMahalee’s service encounters Mahalee’s activities can be broken down by day as follows: Before leaving Tailesia
• Talks to Li Sieuw Meng, his financial advisor, who refers him to The Trust Company and Miguel
Kim at Global Private Bank (GPB)

Wednesday

• Arrives in London

• Calls Kim’s office to arrange an appointment for “mid-morning” on Friday

Thursday

•Visits The Trust Company (nice people, very knowledgeable about managing estates, less experienced in business credit)

Friday
• Breakfasts with daughter, Leona; arrange to meet at 1:30 p.m. at Savoy Hotel prior to attending the violin concert of his grandson, Anson, at 2:00 p.m.

• Buys necklace as anniversary present for wife at Mappin & Webb (famous London jewelers)• Has problems getting taxi in unexpected snow, arthritis acts up

• Arrives at Global Bancorp at noon

• Enters retail branch by mistake, redirected by security guard to Global Private Bank offices*

• Arrives at reception of GPB reception at 12:15 p.m.

• Greeted by Kim’s secretary, learns that Kim is out to lunch, has arranged for him to meet Sophia
Costa instead*(*denotes critical incidents)

2. As Mahalee, how do you feel (both physically and mentally) after speaking with the receptionist at Global? What are your priorities right now?

Mentally, Dr. Mahalee is probably feeling embarrassed and annoyed with himself for arriving late, as well as disappointed (and perhaps irritated) that Kim is not there to meet him. The good mood he feltearlier after buying the emerald necklace for his wife has likely evaporated. Physically, he is probably feeling flustered, tired, and in some pain from his arthritis. He may also be feeling hungry and thirsty. He will have realized that he needs to be back at the Savoy Hotel by the time Kim returns from lunch at 1:30pm. He is probably starting to think about his grandson’s afternoon concert andworrying about making sure that he returns to the hotel in time to meet Leona, just 75 minutes from now.



3. As Sophia Costa, what action would you take in your first five minutes with Mahalee?

Costa has never met Mahalee and knows very little about him, except that he is a wealthy Tailesian businessman planning his retirement. It is possible that she does not know that he holds a PhDfrom the London School of Economics (a very prestigious institution) and has also been a professor of international trade and a government trade negotiator. Hence, he is sophisticated, both analytically and practically, well informed, and potentially an interesting client for GPB. These are all pieces of information for her to glean as she establishes rapport that will help her to tailor her...