Internationalization of the Co-operative bank of Kenya limited in The East African region

Abstract

In existing international business literature and theories, mature multinational corporations play a dominant role, whereas banks and their internationalization processes have only recently attracted broader interest from researchers. This is evidenced in several countries, particularly those that have experienced a balance of payment deficits, have attempted to increase the international business activities of their banks. The theoretical framework ha studied several mainstream internationalization theories, mainly from the perspective of banks: models, early internationalization theories and international business. Internationalization in the banking industry is of considerable relevance owing to the observed growth effects and their demonstrated capacity to drive the economy at national, regional and global levels. Banks are using internationalization as a tool for growth and sustainability. Banks are diversifying into foreign markets to spread risk. The main reason for banks going international is the need for them to stay competitive in their respective environment. The study incorporated government related issues for example tax regulation, labor laws and regulatory framework in the countries where banks expanded greatly and how the regulations affected the internationalization process. The study recommends that banks seeking to internationalize need to consider some factors prior to embarking on the internationalization process as well as evaluate the legal and regulatory frame work within the region in which they are to expand.In order to better understand and help to describe banks internationalization process, the methods by banks internationalize have also been studied and contrasted. The source of data was an interview guide. An interview guide was employed as the sole research instrument. The researcher used the interview guide to aid in obtaining information from the respective respondents who were the top management staff that were well conversant with the banks’ operations. Qualitative research analysis was used which is fundamentally interpretive and interpretation which represents personal and theoretical understanding of the phenomenon studied. The study incorporated data display, including graphs and charts.