DIGITAL ARCHIVING UTILIZATION AND SUSTAINABLE COMPETITIVE ADVANTAGE OF COMMERCIAL BANKS IN RIVERS STATE, NIGERIA

Abstract

Commercial banks in Rivers State, Nigeria, are increasingly finding it important to have sustainable competitive advantage. The study focused on the relationship between the use of digital archiving and sustainable competitive advantage of commercial banks in Rivers State, Nigeria. Organizational culture was used as a moderator. This paper was based on Diffusion of Innovation Theory. The researchers defined digital archiving utilization as an enabler for retrieval efficiency, digital storage and information system reliability, and the measures of sustainable competitive advantage are service quality superiority, organizational resilience and financial performance. The research design used was the cross-sectional survey design that allowed for effective data collection from the respondents and analysis. The population of this study comprised of the twenty-eight (28) commercial banks operation in Rivers State, Nigeria. The researchers used census sample and sampling size technique. The sample size comprised of 184 staff of the records management, information technology and operations departments of twenty eight (28) licensed commercial banks in Rivers State, Nigeria of which 168 questionnaires were returned representing 91.3% response rate. The study finds that the utilization of digital archiving is an important technological competence that can be used to enhance sustainable competitive advantage of commercial banks. Among others, the study suggests strengthening the digital archiving systems by enhancing retrieval mechanisms, secure storage infrastructure and reliable information technology systems to ensure the organization's performance and competitive advantage.