Please write a 2 to 3 page case study about “American Express: Bank 2.0”- (Case study 2: Strategic Management: Competitiveness and Globalization 12e: Hitt, Ireland, Hoskisson (page C30))

This case describes a unique opportunity for one of the largest financial brandnames in the world, American Express, whose leaders have demonstrated a knack for identifying obscure market niches. The rapid success of Green Dot has drawn attention to American Express and creates an interesting opportunity to explore the dynamics within a company attempting to diversify its revenue stream and to discover a long-term strategy.

This case begins with the birth of Enterprise Growth. The CEO of American Express, Kenneth Chenault, named Dan Schulman to lead the group, and stated, “[t]he Enterprise Growth group is designed to extend our leadership into the world of alternative payments and to create new fee-based revenue streams for the post-recession environment.” Other leaders include Chokshi as the president and Wright as the head of the product development. The case then delves into the American Express’s primary and traditional business model, the model of exclusion for the affluent consumers. The leadership team, competitive landscape, history of prepaid products, the target customer segments, and marketing efforts are presented to justify why American Express wants to serve the unbanked and the underbanked. Financial records are also included, so that an assessment of the company’s performance and capital structure can be conducted. This case is ideal for demonstrating the importance of the business-level strategy, competitive rivalry, and the SWOT analysis. The following points are to guide a review and discussion of these important concepts.

Please use these guidelines:

1. The history, development, and growth of the company over time (intro).

2. The identification of the company’s internal strengths and weaknesses.

3. The nature of the external environment surrounding the company (competitor analysis: competitor’s current strategies, strategic intent, capabilities, core-competicies, etc…)

4. A SWOT analysis.

5. Strategy formulation: Alternatives, evaluation of alternatives

6. Strategic Alternative Implementation- Recommendation, select the action plan or strategy with the highest probabilities of helping the firm in its efforts to earn profits.