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Building a Sustainable Bank: The Case of GTBank of Nigeria
Author(s) -
Maklan Stan,
Knox Simon,
Antonetti Paolo
Publication year - 2014
Publication title -
thunderbird international business review
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
SCImago Journal Rank - 0.553
H-Index - 37
eISSN - 1520-6874
pISSN - 1096-4762
DOI - 10.1002/tie.21637
Subject(s) - profitability index , sustainability , business , order (exchange) , balance (ability) , sustainable development , financial sector , finance , sustainable business , political science , medicine , ecology , law , physical medicine and rehabilitation , biology
GTBank of Nigeria has, in just 20 years, developed into one of the most profitable and sustainable financial institutions in Africa. The case identifies the choices that helped the bank emerge successful from several shocks to the Nigerian financial sector and has implications for other financial institutions trying to balance sustainability and profitability. On the basis of eight years of research on the bank, we illustrate six factors that have characterized its success: (1) effective leadership, (2) a focus on people rather than strategy, (3) adopting a simple and focused strategy, (4) a culture of sustainable banking, (5) confronting effectively the external environment, and (6) exploitation of technology to accelerate the business. GTBank ’s story raises questions about what makes a company sustainable and analyzes the decisions that executives need to make, often in challenging external circumstances, in order to preserve the long‐term sustainability of an organization. © 2014 Wiley Periodicals, Inc.