Santander acquires abbey: The jack project

The case 'Santander Acquires Abbey: The Jack Project' examines the managerial decisionmaking process in 2004 prior to the acquisition of Abbey. The primary argument highlights how the strategic management of information systems is a 'core competence' within the Santander's growth strategy based on mergers and acquisitions (M&A). Students are asked to put themselves in the position of José María Fuster (CIO Grupo Santander). Their first task is to assess the information technology (IT) strategies of Santander and Abbey, and understand their value and roles. The second task is to explore the differences between 'customer-centric' and 'product centric' IT platforms and their alignment with business and growth strategies. As a final task, students are asked to assess how this merger could be performed by leveraging the IT capacity that Grupo Santander had developed for the acquisition - despite the doubts expressed about its feasibility by financial analysts. The case was written for general management programs, as well as MBA and executive MBA degree courses in information systems strategy.