Sustainability and Readiness for Change: Insights from a Banking Case Study in Serbia

This paper examines the issues of sustainable banking and readiness for change using the mixed methods research approach. The research setting consisted of an international bank which operates in Serbia. Serbia is one of Western Balkan countries. The concept of sustainability is well explored in developed countries. The financial institutions from Serbia have not been included in those studies. This paper suggests key issues which need to be addressed related to the sustainability and change in the banking sector in Serbia. The main aim of this study is to assess sustainability and readiness for change in transition environment. This paper contributes to the existing literature by assessing readiness for change in selected bank. Regarding different characteristics of national cultures, the construct validity of research methodology developed in one society will be investigated for a Serbian sample. The qualitative data about sustainability were sourced from publicly available information about bank. The Organizational Diagnosis Questionnaire (ODQ) developed by Preziosi (1980) is used to assess the bank's readiness for change. The sample consisted of 137 managers different socio demographic variables from bank. The research findings revealed possible practical implementation of ODQ in Serbia. The sustainable attitude of the bank is rewarded by different organizations in Serbia. The results revealed that changes in the bank should be led top down. The findings add to the existing literature on factors causing organizational effectiveness in cross-cultural organizational contexts. The practical implementation and study limitation are suggested.