Bank's Management Performance and IT as a Strategic Tool for Retail and Super-Banking

소매금융 및 대형화 전략 도구로서의 정보기술과 은행의 경영성과

This study examines whether expenditures in information technology (IT) are associated with increases in Tobin's q ratios, a measure of management performance, in the banking industry. The association between IT expenditures and Tobin's q ratios is different, depending upon the banks' size (national vs regional) and strategic orientation (wholesale vs retail), in the Korean commercial banks for the period studied 1990-1996, For national commercial banks which have more clients and electronic banking systems than regional banks, IT expenditures appear to increase Tobin's q ratios. This may indicate that IT is linked to the ability to achieve economies of scale or network effects when large banks use IT as a strategic tool. The association between IT expenditures and management performance measures is also positive and statistically significant for retail-oriented banks. This research makes two important practical contributions with respect to financial reform. First, the evidence suggested that Korean commercial banks need to apply IT strategy in conjunction with restructuring strategy to be a super-bank and, hence, reap substantial competitive advantage from IT applications. Second, since the government recently encouraged commercial banks to increase credit loans as a means of financial reform, most banks tend to focus on retail banking. IT used in the retail banking sector contributes to improve management performance as the evidence suggested.