Thought diversity in banking

For a constantly evolving industry like banking where the flow of ideas between disciplines is critical to developing new insights and processes, it is essential to rely on inputs from a wide range of disciplines such as humanities, mathematics and science to innovate and provide the best solutions for clients.

“A good example is the application of blockchain and smart contracts in the area of trade finance to automate and improve manual processes,” says Mr LEE Kok Leong, Head of Lending APAC, Corporate Bank, Deutsche Bank.

He adds, “To do this efficiently, banks will need to tap on interdisciplinary knowledge to navigate complex issues such as international law, international relations and supply chain contracts.”

This is also the reason why Mr Lee feels it is critical to hire graduates from a wide range of disciplinary backgrounds as this will lead to diversity of thought and creation of new ideas that contributes to innovate high performing teams, something which Deutsche Bank values.

Mr Lee says, “We work with clients across a range of industries who are continuously evolving as well, making interdisciplinary knowledge very important.”

And while excelling in a relevant area of academia is helpful, it is also important for employees to apply his/her knowledge gained either through the rigours of academia or real-world experience beyond their domain.