Exploring how competitive intelligence strategies could enhance corporate sustainability of the fintech industry in Zimbabwe

Abstract

Inadequate competitive intelligence threatens corporate sustainability by creating knowledge gaps, shocks, and surprises, leading to poor strategic choices, thereby making firms vulnerable to competition. The research gap from the literature review was that no current study had directly explored how competitive intelligence strategies could enhance corporate sustainability in the fintech industry. The purpose of the study was to explore how competitive intelligence strategies could enhance corporate sustainability in the fintech industry in Zimbabwe. A sample of 44 managers from 22 fintech firms in Zimbabwe were interviewed and the firms’ financial and corporate sustainability reports were analysed. A QUAL quan, sequential, descripto-explanatory, multi-case, mixed methods 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 financial and 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. During the qualitative phase, data analysis followed a thematic approach using the Latent Dirichlet allocation-based topic modelling algorithm (LDA). During the quantitative phase, R programming and probit regression analyses were employed. The outcome of the study was a pragmatic CI RM-SBSC framework that provides business leaders with a pathway to enhance corporate sustainability through competitive intelligence strategies. From a professional business practice perspective, CI could improve corporate sustainability performance by anchoring all fintech decision-making on CI, using risk management for risk-based thinking and practice in all fintech decision-making, processes, practices, and systems, embedding corporate sustainability goals into corporate strategic objectives, and using individual performance contracts, charts of authority, and SBSCs to drive active strategy implementation management. Moreover, regulatory agencies could adopt the study's recommendations to influence policy and regulatory changes. From a social perspective, the use of CI and risk management by fintechs to enhance corporate sustainability promotes a sustainability culture in society through knowledge diffusion from fintechs to communities. From an academic perspective, the results encourage further research on evaluating the effectiveness of the proposed new CI-RM-SBSC framework for using CI to enhance corporate sustainability in the fintech industry.