Strategic Alignment and Consensus in Digital Innovation: Evidence from Retail Banking

This study investigates how integrated strategic communication influences the process of consensus building and organizational readiness during digital innovation in the retail banking industry. Although many institutions adopt digital technologies, innovation performance often remains limited due to weak employee alignment and ineffective communication systems that fail to bridge the gap between strategy and execution. A multiple case study design was employed, comparing a public retail banking organization (Company A) and a private retail banking organization (Company B) that both implemented large-scale digital innovation projects. Data was collected through document analysis, semi-structured interviews, and surveys structured around Lancefield’s (2022) five principles of strategic communication: comprehensiveness, personalization, timeliness, transparency, and consistency. Findings indicate that although Company A recognized the importance of digital transformation, significant gaps were observed between the perceived importance and the actual implementation of strategic communication mechanisms. Employees rated the importance of communication dimensions highly (means ranging from 5.70 to 5.98 on a seven-point scale), while the current level of implementation was evaluated considerably lower (means between 4.08 and 4.38), revealing gaps of approximately 1.5-1.9 points. The largest gap was found in terms of timeliness and transparency, which indicates a lack of efficiency and openness of communication processes. Strategic communication functions as a critical mechanism linking technological innovation with cultural and psychological alignment within organizations. The study provides valuable theoretical and practical implications by presenting a communication-based framework for optimizing and successfully improving digital transformation outcomes in financial institutions. 

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