Harvard Business School Case On ING Direct

A colleague recently brought to our attention a Harvard Business School case written about ING Direct. The case (No. 9-804-167), written by James L Heskett, published in April 2004 and revised in May 2005, provides some fascinating insights into the evolution of this major direct online bank. What struck me in reading this case were the many "real world" issues that the US ING Direct management team were struggling with as they "needed to walk a fine line ... in communicating that ING Direct was an entrepreneurial, fast-growing, irreverent organization without going too far in contrasting it with the characteristics of its large, more traditional parent." If you've been interested in ING Direct's success, you'll definitely find this case makes very interesting reading.