الثقافة كمدخل لتحقيق ميزة تنافسية في الخدمة المصرفي ة دراسة عينة من البنوك في الجزائر

Abstract

his study aims to investigate whether the compatibility of banking services with the consumer culture contributes to enhancing the competitive advantage of banks. The study relies on Islamic banking as an independent variable, as it is the most important model for adapting banking services to culture. Islamic banking is a product and a real example of adapting banking services to one of the most important components of culture, namely religion. Since adaptation does not only affect the element of banking service, the study relies on the elements of the banking mix as dimensions to measure the contribution of the compatibility of banking services with the consumer culture in enhancing the competitive advantage. The study measures the competitive advantage based on its dimensions, which are: efficiency, quality, innovation, responsiveness, and delivery time. To achieve the study's objective, a questionnaire was distributed to a sample of employees of the banks under study (BNA, CNEP, CPA, BADR, Al Baraka, and Al Salam), who are responsible for providing Islamic banking services. The primary data were collected between November 1, 2022, and February 20, 2023. The sample consisted of 153 employees. The data were analyzed using the Statistical Package for the Social Sciences (SPSS) software. The study found that the compatibility of banking services with the consumer culture (Islamic banking) contributes to enhancing the competitive advantage of the banks under study to a medium extent. This is through the medium contribution to enhancing quality, creativity, responsiveness, and delivery time. The contribution to enhancing efficiency (cost reduction) was weak. This is mainly due to the contribution of the distribution and people, and to a lesser extent the service element. The contribution of the service element was limited because banks focused on the Shariah aspect of the service, neglecting the beneficial aspect and the characteristics that distinguish Islamic banking services from their traditional counterparts. This is confirmed by the lack of contribution of the other elements of the marketing mix to enhancing the competitive advantage and its dimensions, especially the pricing, which did not contribute to enhancing any dimension of the competitive advantage, despite being the most important element, along with the service element, that distinguishes Islamic banking services from their traditional counterparts.