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Abstract

In 2013, the Dutch multinational banking and financial services company Rabobank suffered a major fallout following the LIBRO scandal. Communications expert, Leendert Bikker, was brought in to rectify the situation in 2016. He re-organized the Communications and Corporate Affairs department at the bank and launched the bank's new mission 'Growing a Better World Together'. Challenges remained, however, such as helping farmers - the banks major customers - become more sustainable in a volatile economy. Bikker continued working with the bank's senior management to address these challenges. Another crisis hit when Rabobank began to show results in mitigating external risks while maintaining its good reputation. This time, the COVID-19 pandemic. Bikker and his team had to communicate to the outside world that the bank was stable, in control and could help clients with government aid while simultaneously motivating employees to stay connected while dispersed.

Citation Note

Based on field research; 16 pages Follow the 'handle' link to access the Case Study on RePub. For EUR staff members: the Teaching Note is available on request, you can contact us at rsm.nl/cdc/contact/ For external users: follow the link to purchase the Case Study and the Teaching Note.

Objective

1. Identify the strategy used by Rabobank to develop and integrate internal and external communications around the new mission launch. 2. Evaluate the role of leadership communication in light of the restructuring of the Rabobank communications function. 3. Analyze the development of the corporate brand and identify of the organization over time. 4. Identify the approach and the communication adopted by Rabobank in terms of its approach to sustainability and how this relates to its mission. 5. Identify the characteristics of corporate communication during a global crisis and analyze the approaches Rabobank used for crisis communication.

Type
Case Study