The old, the young and the restless : A comparative analysis of the impact of environmental change on training in four Greek banks

Purpose – The purpose of this paper is to present and analyse the changes that took place in the Greek banking industry in the last years, their impact on strategy and the role of employees' training and development for strategy implementation and success. Design/methodology/approach – Using four case studies attempts to investigate the effect of the environmental changes on these particular banks and the role of their training and development strategies in adjusting themselves to the changing industry environment. Findings – Changes in the external environment have reshaped the banking industry environment. Responding to that Greek banks have adopted new strategies. Differentiation on the basis of quality offered and diversification were the main focus of their competitive strategy. The rapid growth and products diversity engendered by a changing internal and external environment fostered by deregulation created a need for additional and more focused training and development. The beneficial effects of training were expected in terms of skills, cultural and role changes, homogenisation and decrease of tensions and insecurities, motivation, commitment, customer satisfaction, reduction of conflict in the workplace and finally quality improvement. Originality/value – Shows that the changes in the external environment have initiated an emphasis on more strategic and integrated training and development effort for Greek banks.