Influence of Strategic Leadership Practices on Competitive Advantage of National Bank of Kenya

Abstract

The environment is evolving and this has forced firms to look for ways to remain competitive in the market place. Human and social capital has been considered as a source of sustainable competitive edge for firms and thus must be nurtured and developed. It has however been noted that lack of strategic leadership is a key hindrance towards successful strategy adoption and firm’s competitive advantage. This study was set out to determine role of strategic leadership practices on National bank of Kenya’s competitive advantage. The study implemented a case study research design where primary data was collected with the help of an interview guide. Data collected was analyzed using content analysis. The study concluded that the most popular strategic leadership practices implemented by NBK were setting strategic direction (targets), maintaining core competencies, regular training and development, organisational culture and a code of ethics. Implementation of all these practices was considered to be important by NBK. The study found that strategic leadership practices strengthened the unity of the employees in working towards the same direction. Decisions were made faster and this improved value for bank products and services and this contributed to a reduction in customer complaints. It is recommended that NBK should make consideration to pool more funds to invest in advanced technologies and research and development in order to maintain competitiveness and overall bank performance. The bank should sponsor its human assets to a continuous training programme to expose them to specialized skills and competencies to improve their creativity. The major limitations faced by the researcher include time and cost constraints that led a case study of NBK. The other limitation is that this research limited itself to open-ended questions. These types of questions are highly exposed to bias and this might affect the accuracy and reliability of findings. The study recommends that a similar study should be conducted to include all commercial banks in Kenya. This will enable the researchers to compare some of the strategic leadership practices implemented by commercial banks and the extent of the bank’s commitment to their implementation. Another study could also be conducted with the help of a descriptive study design to test hypothetical relationship between strategic leadership practices and its contribution towards competitive advantage.