A framework for benchmarking the strategic position of bond markets in the competing environment

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to develop a benchmarking framework for identifying different indicators and their importance in forming the strategic position of Thai bond markets in competitive economies using Strategic Position and Action Evaluation (SPACE) matrix framework. Design/methodology/approach The Delphi approach is deployed for indicator selection and the framework validation. A questionnaire survey is then used to assess the importance of different factors determining the strategic bond market development and competitiveness using the Analytic Hierarchy Process (AHP) model. Findings A group of experienced bond market experts assign different levels of importance for each key factor under a given dimension to reach consensus. The results reveal that there are 17 factors affecting the strategic development and competitiveness of the bond market. Among four aspects under the framework, the financial strength dimension is considered by the experts as the most dominant aspect to strategic bond market development, followed by competitive advantage, industry strength, and environment stability, respectively. Practical implications The benchmarking framework developed in this study is useful for guiding measurement and assessment of the strategic position of bond markets in the competing environment. Originality/value The author proposes for the first time a conceptual framework based on macro-level data to assess the strategic bond market development and competitiveness using SPACE matrix method. The study employs the Delphi’s technique and in-depth interview with bond market experts to build indicators for each dimension under the framework. Second, this paper also applies the AHP to discover the order of relative importance for the indicators identified by the experts through pairwise comparison to reach consensus, which has never been conducted before.