Customer Learning Strategy and Product Innovativeness of Barclays Bank of Kenya

Abstract

The environment is constantly evolving this is forcing firms to devise survival strategies. Firms and businesses have realized that the customer is the most important asset to any business. Thus, firms are investing huge amount of resources to try and understand their customers through research and development, and in so doing, satisfy their needs and remain competitive in the market. This study was set out to determine the influence of customer learning strategy on product innovativeness strategy at Barclays bank of Kenya. To achieve this important goal, the study adopted a case study research design that allowed the researcher to collect raw data by interviewing four heads of departments at Barclays bank of Kenya using an interview guide. Data collected was analyzed with the help of content analysis. The study found that customer learning strategies utilized by Barclays bank of Kenya were commitment to customer learning, being open-minded and having a shared vision. The bank had a products department for gathering customer information and developing products. The bank also had a complaints department to deal with all forms of customer complaints, and a net promoter survey as well as social media platforms such as Facebook and Twitter to respond to customer feedback. Customer learning strategy was found to improve the customer relationship with the bank, enhance decision making processes, lower customer complaints and boost value addition. It would be recommended that Barclays bank should consider investing more in technological advances, product innovation 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 Barclays bank of Kenya. 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 customer learning strategies implemented by commercial banks and extent of the bank’s commitment to customer learning. Another study could also be conducted with the help of a descriptive study design to test the link between customer learning strategies and its contribution towards enhancing product innovativeness.