Article at a glance:

Focusing on the customer: An interview with the head of Merrill Lynch’s operations and IT

• In financial institutions, operations and technology units work together to carry on the processes of the business, as well as to develop new services. Financial-management leader Merrill Lynch has combined the two units and put them under one leader to integrate their activities more fully.
• The head of Merrill’s Global Infrastructure Services, Diane L. Schueneman, says that this integrated structure empowers the company to meet the customer’s needs more effectively.
• To transform her organization, Schueneman believes in transforming its people—through educational opportunities and an environment that supports collaboration, experimentation, and the creation of new value-generating services.