Search results

Explores the relevance (practice) of strategic HR (employee development) to the financial service arena and the extent to which it may be possible to use it as a means of retaining external customers. There is at present little understanding of the way employee development is practised within specific industries and particularly its impact on instilling a service and customer orientation aimed at achieving external customer retention. Presents some of the findings of an exploratory study carried out in the UK retail bank sector with the aim of shedding light onto the principles and practice of employee development within business units at a branch level. The study produced some interesting findings structured in the form of relationships. Two of the six emergent relationships form the subject matter of this paper. The study revealed that the strong competition and homogeneity that characterize the industry have put pressure on banks to raise their competitiveness by investing in their personnel. The quality of staff and its impact on the quality of customer service are vital in gaining a competitive advantage in the bank industry. Employee development is used to motivate staff to become truly dedicated to delivering high service quality in order to achieve customer satisfaction and retention.

Is it in corporations' long‐term interests to exceed their social and environmental obligations and deliver a superior ethical performance? This is one of the key questions raised in the debate launched by the European Commission's green paper last year regarding the concept of corporate social responsibility (CSR). It is clear that the commercial world must rise to the challenge of building the confidence and trust demanded by stakeholders worldwide. There is a broad consensus on the need for businesses to take the social, economic, and environmental impact of their actions — the ‘triple bottom line’ — into account. Businesses are an integral part of the society (local and international) and they have to consider the impact their behaviour has on it. Many businesses highlight the links between CSR and their wider sustainable development agenda. Corporate reputation or image depends on how the company conducts or is perceived as conducting its business. Today the ability to build a sustainable corporate reputation is more important than ever before as stakeholders are more educated, more knowledgeable, and more demanding. The Cyprus Popular Bank, the second largest banking organisation in Cyprus, has developed and launched ‘Radiomarathon’ in support of children with special needs, which has won a place in the Guinness World of Records as the most successful charitable event in the world on the basis of per capita contribution, and was chosen among the top five charity events worldwide by the Chartered Institute of Bankers for 2003. Radiomarathon has been used in order to build a strong corporate identity and corporate reputation: “With the Radiomarathon we have hit a vein of gold…our corporate reputation is stronger than ever before! In such a turbulent climate, a positive corporate reputation can play a vital role in ensuring that the organisation is on a solid footing. ” (Yiannos Pissourios, Cyprus Popular Bank). The bank realised the importance and need for corporate social responsibility in their efforts to build a good corporate reputation and achieve competitive differentiation.

This paper discusses findings from an exploratory study concerning internal marketing in the UK retail bank industry. In order to enhance efficiency and provide motivation to employees many UK banks have adopted internal marketing. The paper adopts the approach of first defining the generic research area, and then describing the research approach. It is concerned with first identifying the rhetoric of internal marketing as employed in UK banks, and second with exploring the practice of reality of internal marketing as practiced within UK banks. The paper is grounded in Mason's view that theoretical positions or data explanations move from the particular context of internal marketing views and expand within banks to the general theoretical contribution to be made. Findings are explored via two extant relationships and three anomalies based on the data analysis. Evidence from the study suggests that internal marketing is being taken seriously but in such a way as to be managerially, not employee, oriented. At best, internal marketing within this industry is regarded as a form of window dressing or part of the trappings of marketing, rather than having any substantive base or rationale insofar as employees are concerned.

The paper seeks to consider the findings that emerged from a preliminary study into Cypriot businesses and their attitudes and behaviour towards corporate social responsibility (CSR). The overarching aim of the discussion is to explore whether Cypriot businesses have realized the opportunity of using CSR to build a strong reputation, a practice “embraced” and adopted by many successful and profitable corporations, or whether they ignore their social responsibilities and do it at their peril.

A total of 4,000 questionnaires were given to the Employers Federation in Cyprus to mail to its members. Two issues were addressed: one dealing with philanthropic and the other with the stewardship CSR projects, covering social responsibility not only towards customers and society at large but also towards employees, suppliers, investors, and the environment.

It appears that local corporations primarily emphasize the importance of meeting their responsibilities and obligations towards their employees and customers. The majority of respondents postulate that their philanthropic donations are made to approved organizations for tax deduction. So, financial gain appears to be a key motive for the adoption of social responsibility by the business sector in Cyprus.

The study was characterized by a low response rate, which has implications to the generalization of the research findings. Perhaps future research can focus on certain sectors and their approach to the practice of CSR instead of exploring several sectors in the Cypriot economy, which was the approach adopted in this study.

The paper reports findings from the first nationwide study carried out in the area of CSR.

Starting from the premise that there are critical issues that should drive brand success, this study seeks to investigate the way the UK retail banking industry has sought to build and sustain a strong brand by launching an internal marketing (IM) programme throughout its branch network. Also aims to shed light on the themes of branding in the financial services industry and the relationship between IM and branding.

The study was qualitative and exploratory in nature, since the aim was to explore branch managers' and employees' views and experiences of IM within the UK retail bank industry. Data were collected by carrying out in‐depth qualitative interviews with organisational members working in different positions within 35 business units that represented seven different UK retail banking organisations. The qualitative data were analysed by using the grounded theory approach developed by Strauss and Corbin in 1990.

The data analysis revealed four core themes as constitutive of IM, namely: internal customers; training and education; quality standards; and rewards systems. These four themes are enacted on a constant basis in order to construct a certain sort of organisational reality, one that sets the foundation on building and sustaining a strong corporate brand by changing the organisational culture to one which is more “people”, service‐ and customer‐oriented.

The study focused on one industry, the UK retail bank industry, in order to enhance one's understanding and knowledge regarding the IM theory and practice. This needs to be taken into consideration in generalising the findings to other sectors and geographic markets.

The research shows that the banks studied have adopted IM due to realising that employees represent a valuable source for building and differentiating the corporate brand, since they have a powerful impact on consumers' perceptions of both the brand and the organisation. The IM perspective has the potential to integrate all staff in the branding process and create an organisational culture that sets the foundation for building a strong corporate brand.

The current literature on IM has revealed that there is no universally accepted and adopted IM programme and that those organisations that have adopted IM have developed their own “custom‐made” approaches. The paper reveals the IM implementation approach adopted by the UK retail banks studied.

Adding to competitive dynamics and sustainability literature, this paper aims to examine the implementation of environmental protection and sustainability initiatives within the European fast-fashion clothing industry from the perspectives of Generation X and Y consumers. The study primarily investigates whether consumers’ level of environmental consciousness impacts their purchase decisions and consumption behaviour and the consequent strategic competitiveness effects on businesses.

The methodological approach relied on multiple data collection methods. In the first stage of the study, the researchers analysed the content of the official websites of two of Europe’s leading fashion firms. In the second stage, a quantitative research approach was aimed at revealing the perceptions, attitudes and purchase behaviour of Generation X and Y consumers towards the two fashion houses and their brands.

Although European fashion manufacturers invest in sustainability and engage in environmental protection, their marketing efforts need to be more effectively managed and targeted towards their target consumer markets. The level of engagement and sensitivity of each generational group towards sustainability issues varies. Each group’s environmental consciousness, motivation and response is shaped by distinct characteristics, which, in turn, create implications for the effectiveness of sustainability efforts towards differentiation and competitiveness. Overall, consumers engage in environmental initiatives but ignore the corporate initiatives pursued by the two fashion firms and did not view them as sustainable brands.

The study explores the effectiveness of sustainability and environmental protection orientation as business competitive strategies in the light of environmental turbulence and social changes impacting the fast-fashion clothing industry and its relationships with its consumer markets.