Magnificent obsession. (Robert M. Kossick of National Community Bank )

• Published in: ABA banking journal 1987-06, Vol.79 (6), p.29
• Main Author: Waddell, Harry
• Format: Magazinearticle
• Language: English
• Subjects: Bank earnings; Bank Histories; Bank management; Bank Profitability; Banking industry; Branch banking; Branches; Business growth; Case studies; Community banks; Executives; Kossick, Robert M; Loans; Management; Organizational structure; Products; Regional banks; Stock prices; Strategic planning
• ISSN: 0194-5947; 2161-5101

National Community Bank's president and chief executive officer, Robert M. Kossick, says the New Jersey bank's single goal is to be the nation's best bank, not one of the crowd. From 1982-1986, the bank's rate of return on average assets jumped from 1.01% to 1.25%, and net income increased from $12.04 million to $28.22 million. Kossick believes in committed, enthusiastic, and ''obsessed'' management and almost every week, a special business development day is set up in some region of the state. Each member of the bank's staff is considered a ''calling officer'' and in some way contributes to an extensive program designed to establish, retain, and expand customer relationships with threshold companies -- businesses with annual sales in the $1 million-$200 million range. The bank and its 83 branches are administered in a decentralized, entrepreneurial style which is augmented by incentives tailored to each job category and individual. Emphasis on incentives and its niche among small-to-medium-sized companies have resulted in: 1. high net interest margins, 2. tight control of expenses, and 3. low loan losses. One measure of National's success has been an increase in its stock price from $7 per share in early 1982 to $28.50 at the end of 1986.