A Critical Examination of Information Technology Strategic Variables from Developing Countries' Perspective

This descriptive, cross-sectional, survey research examines the degree of impact that the strategic application of information technology (IT) on competitive rivalry, customer acquisition/retention, products/services, cost reduction, alliances/mergers, and government requirements could likely have in making Nigerian banks domestically and globally competitive. A survey was conducted among all the solvent banks in Nigeria using a questionnaire instrument, which was a hybrid adapted from models constructed by Mahmood and Soon in 1991 and Palvia in 1997 to measure the impact of strategic IT-variables on a domestic/global firm. The analysis was broken down into large, medium, and small-sized banks and a ranking methodology developed for the analysis. The findings suggest that the variables competitive rivalry, customer acquisition/retention, cost reduction, and alliances/ mergers could likely have the greatest impact on competitive advantage through the strategic application of IT for small-sized banks. The findings further reveal that the variable products/services could likely exert the greatest impact on competitive advantage for medium-sized banks, while the variable government requirements could likely have the greatest impact on competitive advantage for large-sized banks.