Digitalization reshaping strategizing in banks: A strategy-as-practice approach
No Thumbnail Available
Journal Title
Journal ISSN
Volume Title
School of Business |
Master's thesis
Author
Date
2019
Department
Major/Subject
Mcode
Degree programme
Management and International Business (MIB)
Language
en
Pages
84 + 7
Series
Abstract
Digitalization is currently reshaping the financial industry in many aspects, positing significant challenges and opportunities for banks. Recent advances in digital technology are claimed to have the potential to radically transform business organizations, including strategic level activities such as complex decision-making. Incumbent banks are facing new types of competition, as new technological solutions together with regulation changes have allowed new players to enter the markets traditionally dominated by banks. Moreover, the adoption of new digital technologies changes strategists’ working habits as individuals. This study explores the impacts of digitalization on strategizing in banks and takes a strategy-as-practice perspective to understand what digitalization actually means in the activities through which the organization’s strategic trajectory takes its shape. The theoretical framework of the study is built on central themes of digitalization identified in literature, and the strategy-as-practice framework, which puts the focus on human activity and enables combining both micro and macro level aspects in interpreting the studied phenomenon. The theoretical framework enables constructing an overall understanding of digitalization’s impacts on doing strategy and examining concrete issues of digitalization. The empirical research was done as an interview study with discourse analysis as the methodological approach. Semi-structured interviews were conducted with six banking professionals working in Finnish banks, and the interview data was analyzed using discourse analysis, after which the findings were reinterpreted through the theoretical lens of strategy-as-practice. The study captures an understanding of the current state of digitalization’s effects on strategizing in banks, identifies the most central aspects of digitalization that reshape strategy practices, and contributes to understanding the human activity and the strategists’ professional identities in these ongoing developments.Description
Thesis advisor
Koveshnikov, AlexeiKeywords
digitalization, strategy-as-practice, banking, digital technology
