Competitive Intelligence Strategies the Fulcrum of Corporate Sustainability in the Fintech Industry in Zimbabwe

Purpose. The purpose of this paper was to explore how competitive intelligence strategies could enhance the corporate sustainability of the fintech industry in Zimbabwe. Design. A sample of 44 managers from 22 fintech firms in Zimbabwe were interviewed and the firms’ annual financial and corporate sustainability reports were analysed. A qualitative, descripto-explanatory, multi-case research design was employed to answer the research question, “How could competitive intelligence strategies enhance corporate sustainability in the fintech industry in Zimbabwe?”. Data was collected using audio-recorded semi-structured interviews and desktop research on annual financial and corporate sustainability reports (document analysis). The ISO31000 risk management (RM) framework, the sustainability balanced scorecard (SBSC), and the competitive intelligence (CI) cycle were combined into a conceptual framework to anchor the study. Data analysis followed a thematic data analytical approach using the Latent Dirichlet allocation-based topic modelling algorithm (LDA). Findings. The outcome of the study was that inadequate active strategy implementation management resulted in missed or failed strategic objectives where some CI strategies resulted in negative CS impacts. Additionally, it was revealed that CS goals that were not incorporated into corporate strategic goals were difficult to track and achieve. Moreover, risk management strategies were observed to be a corollary strategy to all the other CI strategies. Furthermore, the negative impacts of some CI strategies on CS could be remedied through active strategy management where strategic fit analysis continues to be performed during strategy development and implementation including simulations, stress and scenario analytics, what if analyses, and predictive analytics to assess potential impacts of strategies before and during implementation to enable appropriate strategy implementation adjustments to achieve desired positive CS impacts. Additionally, the McKinsey Model 7S was necessary to scope organisational arrangements and resources required for CI strategies to positively impact on CS. In addition, the D’Aveni’s 7S framework for behavioural and cultural norms required in a hypercompetitive environment were key enablers for making CI strategies enhance CS. Finally, a new pragmatic CI-RM-SBSC framework was revealed as a pathway to enhance corporate sustainability using competitive intelligence strategies.