How to turn crisis into opportunity: perception and reaction to high level of uncertainty in banking industry

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to identify banks' strategies in turning uncertainty into opportunities. Design/methodology/approach – Longitudinal analysis from 1990 until 2009 has been conducted to evidence factors affecting environmental uncertainty in the European banking industry and how banks have perceived and reacted to it. Findings – The paper evidences banks' strategies in situations of low and medium levels of uncertainty and suggests some behavior to face a high level of crisis. Practical implications – The paper defines a general framework, based on banks' perception and reaction to uncertainty, that can help banks to become champions in facing the current level of uncertainty. Originality/value – The paper presents a critical analysis of how to face the enormous increase of uncertainty that the financial sector is experiencing.