in-text citations, tables, figures, and diagrams, and excluding appendices, footnotes, and references.
This assignment asks you to consider the challenges and opportunities currently faced by Barclays plc,
which can trace its roots back to 1690. Barclays operates in over 40 countries, employs over 80,000 people
and is the fifth largest bank in Europe by total assets.
Coimbatore Sundararajan Venkatakrishnan, also known as Venkat, joined Barclays as group chief executive
in November 2021. In February 2024, as part of Barclay’s Investors’ Presentation (Q423 Results and
Investor Update Presentation PDF), Venkat announced a turnaround plan to improve the bank’s
performance. This involves making the firm “Simpler, Better, and More balanced”.
Your task
In this assignment you are asked to use ideas from the course, and from other courses on the MBA, to
examine three elements:
1. Examine the issues (both external and internal) that led up to Venkat’s announcement on 20th
February 2024. Your answer may refer to as much of the firm’s history as you think is necessary to
develop your argument, but you are advised to focus your efforts on the period following the
financial crisis of 2008, and the pandemic of 2019 onwards. (This part of the question is about the
issues that made the turnaround plan necessary, not about the plan itself). Use ideas and
examples from the course to inform your discussion.
[30 marks]
2. Using the concepts and examples discussed in the course, critically evaluate the actions taken by
Venkat since taking up his post as group chief executive in November 2021, including his proposed
turnaround plan announced in February 2024, taking your discussion up to 26th May 2024.
[40 marks]
3. Writing as if you were a consultant advising Venkat on 27th May 2024, present a series of
recommendations about any further changes that the firm should make to secure its immediate
and long-term future, i.e. ignore anything that happened after this date. Use ideas from the course
to illuminate your answer.
