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Competitiveness, resources, and capabilities: empirical evidence from retail banking

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Abstract

This research aims to identify and measure bank employee perceptions of the determinants of competitiveness in terms of resources, skills, and capabilities within the retail banking sector. All the 40 branches of a leading Portuguese bank—the Caixa Geral de Depósitos—operating in two Portuguese districts were surveyed. Our results show that bank competitiveness differs according to performance evaluation, human resource (HR) planning, the system of incentives, and managerial motivation. They also demonstrate that human capital is a source of success in the business of banks, which relies heavily on stable and enduring relationships with customers. The study also provides recommendations for retail bank managers seeking to refine their HR strategies as a means of improving their competitiveness.

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Notes

  1. Games theory emerged in the 1930s especially after the 1944 publication of The Theory of Games and Economic Behavior. It is a branch of applied mathematics that studies situations where players choose different actions in efforts to obtain the best result (Neumann and Morgenstern 2007).

  2. An important aspect in the characterization of the competitive dynamics of capitalism is the discussion on the process of decision making under uncertainty with its origins in the study of Keynes, and the implications in terms of the dynamic company strategy. This is approached as the of strategic commitment dilemma by the Theory of Resources and Capabilities, a key element to explaining the difference in performance between firms over time (Eisenhardt and Martin 2000).

  3. Unlike the Pearson correlation coefficient, analysis by the Spearman correlation coefficient does not require either the assumption that the relationship between the variables is linear or that the class interval variables are measured. Correlational analysis indicates the relationship between two variables and values will always be between −1 and +1. The sign indicates the direction of whether the correlation is positive or negative, with the size of the variable testifying to the strength of the correlation. 0.70 is understood to approximately represent a strong correlation: between 0.30 and 0.7, whether positive or negative, suggests a moderate correlation with 0–0.30 displaying a weak level of correlation (Malhotra 1993).

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Authors and Affiliations

  1. Department of Management and Economics and NECE, Research Unit, University of Beira Interior, Pólo IV – Edifício Ernesto Cruz, 6200-209, Covilhã, Portugal

    João J. Ferreira

  2. Department of Economics, Sociology and Management and CETRAD, Research Unit, University of Trás-os-Montes e Alto Douro, Av. Almeida de Lucena, 1, 5000-660, Vila Real, Portugal

    Carla S. Marques

  3. University of Beira Interior, Covilhã, Portugal

    Carlos Azevedo

Authors
  1. João J. Ferreira
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  2. Carla S. Marques
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  3. Carlos Azevedo
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Correspondence to João J. Ferreira.

Appendix

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Table 6 Dimensions, variables, and indicators
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Ferreira, J.J., Marques, C.S. & Azevedo, C. Competitiveness, resources, and capabilities: empirical evidence from retail banking. Serv Bus 5, 313–337 (2011). https://doi.org/10.1007/s11628-011-0117-7

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