The Role of Strategic Intelligence in Boosting the Financial Performance: Evidence from the Egyptian Banking Sector

Abstract

The financial institutions face stiff competition due to rapid and continuous changes within the financial environment. But strategic intelligence provides strong support in dealing with these changes in its internal and external environment through predicting opportunities and threats and then taking preventive action rather than acting blindly. So, this study aims to investigate the effect of strategic intelligence on the financial performance of the Egyptian banks. Strategic intelligence was analyzed across five key dimensions: foresight, future vision, system thinking, motivation, and partnership. The financial performance was assessed using the CAMEL model (capital adequacy, asset quality, management efficiency, earnings quality, and liquidity). This study employs a mixed-method approach, distributing a structured questionnaire to staff across Egyptian banks (specifically the National Bank of Egypt and Banque Misr) to collect quantitative data, resulting in 155 valid responses. The triangulation approach was employed by integrating perception-based survey results with objective financial performance indicators to ensure the reliability and depth of the findings. Statistical methods, including Friedman tests, Pearson correlations, and multiple regression analysis, were applied to analyze the relationships between variables. The findings revealed that there is a significant and positive effect of strategic intelligence on financial performance, especially through foresight, system thinking, and partnership. However, the motivation component demonstrated a negative relationship with certain financial metrics, indicating a potential misalignment in existing motivational strategies. The future vision dimension does not show statistical significance, implying that it does not contribute meaningfully to explaining variation in financial performance. Based on the previously mentioned insights, the study recommends investment in employee training, adoption of AI for risk management, enhancement of transparency, and stronger alignment between strategic vision and performance systems.