Douglas N. Hales, Y.T. Chang, Jasmine Siu Lee Lam, Olivier Desplebin, Nikhilesh Dholakia and Adel Al-Wugayan
The purpose of this paper is to empirically test a new theory called the balanced theory of port competitiveness.
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to empirically test a new theory called the balanced theory of port competitiveness.
Design/methodology/approach
Data were collected from multiple respondents in 72 of the largest container ports. The instrument was translated into English, Simplified Chinese, Korean, and French. The data were collected through online and paper-based surveys. The data were analyzed using analytical hierarchy process.
Findings
The theory was shown to explain the behavior of port stakeholders in improving competitiveness by balancing the need to attract new customers with that of attracting new investors when making decisions, which can often be contradictory. The analysis showed significant effects for the five variables of volume competitiveness (VC) and the five variables of investment competitiveness.
Research limitations/implications
This study is limited in that it only tested the balanced theory on the largest container ports. The decisions by port managers may differ at smaller ports or those that do not handle containers.
Practical implications
Port stakeholders now have a ten-variable model of the factors needed to attract new customers and investors. These variables, and their tradeoffs, can evaluate the impact of managerial decisions on port competitiveness.
Originality/value
This study informs the literature by being the first to test a new theory that explains a greater level of port stakeholder behavior when improving competitiveness. Prior to this study, VC and investor competitiveness had only been studied separately, although they were related in practice.
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This paper aims to investigate the conceptual and empirical effects of corporate social responsibility (CSR) on affective and behavioral inclinations of financial service…
Abstract
Purpose
This paper aims to investigate the conceptual and empirical effects of corporate social responsibility (CSR) on affective and behavioral inclinations of financial service representatives (FSRs) in faith-expressive (FE) banks and financial institutions in non-Western markets.
Design/methodology/approach
Drawing upon recent CSR research findings, this study proposed a conceptual model of the association between FSRs’ perceptions of the firm’s CSR toward stakeholders with FSRs’ affective attachment, work engagement and proactive work inclinations using survey data (n = 175). Pre-analysis procedures were applied followed by structural equation modeling to test the hypotheses.
Findings
FSRs were more emotionally attached to the firm when CSR initiatives were directed at them or toward social organizations, but were generally ambivalent to CSR directed to suppliers or competition. As firm attachment becomes stronger, propensity to engage in work and proactive work behaviors increases.
Research limitations/implications
This paper improves management understanding and sensitivity to managing the service salesforce in FE firms as emerging organizations. Future research can focus on actual measures of job performance and on comparative results when applied to traditional financial firms.
Practical implications
Marketing managers relying on CSR to motivate FSRs should realize its limitations when applied to FE firms. Qualitative approaches to solicit stakeholders’ input are encouraged to improve CSR performance.
Originality/value
In non-Western FE firms, strategizing CSR initiative spending should include its potential impact on service employees dealing with customers with particular attention to firm attachment, and inclination to excel in service providing.
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The purpose of this paper is to investigate the extent to which customer experience and relationship marketing (RM), as two widely used service management approaches, can…
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to investigate the extent to which customer experience and relationship marketing (RM), as two widely used service management approaches, can effectively determine satisfaction and commitment as two relational quality constructs, and their impact on loyalty and word-of-mouth (WoM) as relational outcomes for retail bank services in Kuwait. This country is chosen as an exemplar of an Arabian Peninsula culture with a predominantly Islamic heritage and a capital-surplus economy.
Design/methodology/approach
The relational benefits scale and customer experience quality were used as independent measures to collect data using multiple methods (interview, paper and pencil, online) from 1,013 customers of local and international banks. Standard translation procedures, CFA procedures and parallel analysis were employed to examine the dimensionality of all scales. SEM procedures were applied for each approach to assess its impact on the four indigenous dependent constructs using a multitude of fit indices, examination of validity and reliability measures for all constructs as well as structural paths.
Findings
Results show the factor structure of both scales differed from their original conceptualization, with fewer items forming each latent factor when applied in Kuwait. The explanatory and predictive power of the EXQ model performed slightly better than RBS, although both explained substantial variance on dependent measures, confirming their relevance despite the lack of noticeable correlation between most factors contained in both scales.
Research limitations/implications
This study underscores the importance of establishing the validity of measures prior to their cross-cultural application, with particular focus on the content validity of scale items to measure the intended construct properly. It also shows how two approaches can complement each other rather than compete to effectively manage bank services. As is the case with all cross-sectional research paradigms, longitudinal analysis linking expressed loyalty/WoM with actual behavior can better assess tested relationships than the current research.
Practical implications
Retail banks’ marketing strategy should simultaneously address customer relationships and customer experience to reduce attrition and enhance customer life-time value.
Originality/value
Effects of service experience and RM are examined in a Middle-Eastern market, where internationalization of banks has created strong competition, leading customers to view bank services as less differentiated. Caution and examination of service quality measures are needed before using them as metrics in annual reports and performance reviews.