Adoption of Call Centers as a Source of Competitive Advantage by Commercial Banks in Kenya

Abstract

The purpose of this study was to determine the competitive advantage offered by call centers, casing on commercial banks in Kenya. This study was guided by the following research objective: to establish whether call centers give the commercial banks a competitive advantage. The research design was a survey focusing on commercial banks in Kenya. The study was conducted within Nairobi and involved all the commercial banks in Kenya. Three customers and one manager from each bank were interviewed. Data was collected using a questionnaire developed and administered by the researcher. Data was analyzed using Statistical Package for Social Sciences (SPSS) and result presented as per research objective. This study finds that availability of employees in a timely manner, good presentation of product/services and courtesy were of great importance in call centers if the banks have to use call centers to gain competitive advantage.. This study therefore benefits management in commercial banks and academicians looking at the adoption of call centers as a source of competitive advantage. The study will also benefit customer serving organizations who may not realize the advantage of improving customer accessibility as a means of retaining existing and attracting new customers.