CHAPTER ONE
INTRODUCTION
1.1 BACKGROUND OF THE STUDY
Strategic management is a field that deals with the major intended and emergent initiatives taken by general managers on behalf of owners, involving utilization of resources, to enhance the performance of firms in their external environments (Nag et al,2007). It entails specifying the organization’s mission, vision and objectives, developing policies and plans, often in terms of projects and programs, which are designed to achieve these objectives, and then allocating resources to implement the policies and plans, projects and programs (Johnson and Scholes, 2008). A balanced scorecard is often used to evaluate the overall performance of the business and its progress towards objectives. Recent studies and leading management theorists have advocated that strategy needs to start with stakeholders expectations and use a modified balanced score card which includes all stakeholders. Strategic management is a level of managerial activity under setting goals and over tactics.
Strategic management provides overall direction to the enterprise and is closely related to the field of Organization Studies. In the field of business administration it is useful to talk about “strategic alignment” between the organization and its environment or “strategic consistency”. According to Arieu (2007), “there is strategic consistency when the actions of an organization are consistent with the expectations of management, and these in turn are with the market and the context.” Strategic management includes not only the management team but can also include the Board of Directors and other stakeholders of the organization. It depends on the organizational structuredified balanced scorecard Strategic management is an ongoing process that evaluates and controls the business and the industries in which the company is involved; assesses its competitors and sets goals and strategies to meet all existing and potential competitors; and then reassesses each strategy annually or quarterly to determine how it has been implemented and whether it has succeeded or needs replacement by a new strategy to meet changed circumstances, new technology, new competitors, a new economic environment., or a new social, financial, or political environment (Lamb, 1984) which includes all stakeholders.
According to Bracker (1980), “although different definitions of strategic management have been proposed there appears to be a common focus among scholars about the key aspects or elements that form the current structure of strategic management”. Thompson, et. al. (2008), and Dobes and Starkey (2006) propose the elements of strategic management to include strategic analysis, strategic choice and strategy implementation. Dess and Miller (1993) and Lynch (2000) argued that strategic management involves environmental and capability analysis, strategy formulation and strategy implementation and control on an on-going basis. Boyd and Reunning – Elliot (1998) identify mission statement, trend analysis, competitor analysis, long-term goals, annual goals, short-term action plans and on-going evaluation as the key indicators that can be used to measure the strategic planning and management construct.
Banks have a strategic role to play in the nation‘s economic development. This is hinged on their basic function as financial intermediaries, mobilizing vital savings from surplus economic units and channeling same to deficits units. An efficient financial system is widely accepted as a necessary condition for an effective functioning of a nation’s economy. The state of development of the financial market in a country serves as barometer for measuring the stage of development of the economy. The mix of these financial intermediaries varies from country to country, reflecting the stage of development and the degree of sophistication of the country’s economic agents (Abdullahi, 2003). Thus, it is imperative that the banking system be healthy in order to fulfill its many expectations, chief among which is the provision of the financial catalyst for the attainment of economic progress, reduction in poverty and general improvement in the living standard of the people (Eboreime, 2009)
A review of developments in the Nigerian banking and financial system indicates that the banking sector has undergone remarkable changes over the years, in terms of the number of institutions, ownership structure, as well as the scale of operations driven largely by the deregulation of the financial sector in line with the global trend (Ogunleye, 2005). As at the end of 2004, insured banks stood at 89 with various sizes and degrees of soundness. The sector generally enjoyed a stable operating environment until the July 6, 2004 announcement of the CBN which introduced a major policy initiative affecting the sector.
1.2 INTRODUCTION OF BANKING SYSTEM IN NIGERIA