Mark G. Durkin and Barry Howcroft
Having finally embraced the concept of marketing, banks enter the new millennium in a increasingly competitive and fragmented marketplace, consisting of financially literate…
Abstract
Having finally embraced the concept of marketing, banks enter the new millennium in a increasingly competitive and fragmented marketplace, consisting of financially literate consumers and direct low cost competition from recognised high street brand names. As customers increasingly interact with banks through remote technological channels (e.g. phone, Internet, etc.) the implications for bank‐customer relationships are important. This paper, accordingly, reports on an international research study which explored the perceptions of senior bankers in the UK, Sweden and the USA with regard to the use of the Internet as a relationship marketing tool. There was unanimous agreement that the Internet had a key role to play in relationship management but there was far less agreement about the rates of customer adoption and the extent to which this could or should be influenced by bank strategies.
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Pauric McGowan, Mark G. Durkin, Lynsey Allen, Colette Dougan and Sheena Nixon
This article explores the competencies needed by the entrepreneurial small firm (ESF) owner/manager for the effective use of the Internet in managing customer relationships. The…
Abstract
This article explores the competencies needed by the entrepreneurial small firm (ESF) owner/manager for the effective use of the Internet in managing customer relationships. The research reviews a theoretical model of appropriate competencies and presents the findings of an empirical research programme designed to establish the value of this model. The article goes on to propose a strategy for developing competencies in the use of the Internet.
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Aodheen O’Donnell, Mark G. Durkin and Danielle McCartan‐Quinn
Technological advances have made a significant impact on the banking sector in recent years, with a key development being the introduction of technological and remote channels of…
Abstract
Technological advances have made a significant impact on the banking sector in recent years, with a key development being the introduction of technological and remote channels of interaction. While some research has been undertaken to establish the level of acceptance by customers of these channels, most of this research has examined retail banking customers’ attitudes to, and adoption of, remote interaction channels. This paper reports the findings of a study which has investigated channel preferences amongst corporate customers of a leading retail and corporate bank in the UK. Specifically, it seeks to differentiate between smaller business customers and larger customers. The key findings are that all customers prefer personalised interaction and that smaller customers, who are generally less profitable for banks than large clients, show relatively less willingness to embrace technological means of communication and to insist on personal interaction with their bank.
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Hadyn Bennett and Mark G. Durkin
While the concept of relationship marketing has attracted increasing academic and practitioner attention in recent years, issues relating to the practical and context specific…
Abstract
While the concept of relationship marketing has attracted increasing academic and practitioner attention in recent years, issues relating to the practical and context specific implementation of relationship marketing cultures have been less well developed. Indeed, recent literature points up the many difficulties associated with the implementation of relationship marketing. This paper addresses a number of key issues associated with the implementation of a relationship culture in the context of a leading and long established retail banking institution. Specifically, the form which such a culture should take is discussed, together with a critical review of how successful the case bank has been in its establishment. In light of this analysis a conceptual model is proposed for the development of relationship cultures within the banking industry.
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Geoffrey J. Simmons, Mark G. Durkin, Pauric McGowan and Gillian A. Armstrong
As evidence mounts on the importance of small to medium‐sized enterprises (SMEs) to national and international economies and the opportunities presented to them by the internet…
Abstract
Purpose
As evidence mounts on the importance of small to medium‐sized enterprises (SMEs) to national and international economies and the opportunities presented to them by the internet, it becomes important to understand the key issues which determine internet adoption and utilisation. With literature on SME internet adoption fragmented and incoherent, there is also a need for conceptual framework development and testing to provide more focused research in this important area. Several researchers have also highlighted a need for research which concentrates more on specific industrial sectors rather than taking a more generalist approach to SME internet adoption. Within this evolving research context, the agri‐food industry makes a particularly relevant area of study, which this paper aims to study.
Design/methodology/approach
This paper addresses this purpose by conducting a study of 50 Northern Ireland SME agri‐food companies. The study utilises and tests a conceptual framework derived from the extant literature in relation to the determinants of SME web site adoption and utilisation.
Findings
The findings of this study point to the need for SME agri‐food companies to develop an awareness of the internet's efficacy for their business and a subsequent dynamic strategic approach in adoption and utilisation. However, the lack of marketing ability and negative industry norms prevalent within developed economy agri‐food industries will contribute negatively to internet adoption and utilisation. These will need to be addressed if the internet, and web site adoption and utilisation in particular, are to provide an effective business tool. The research findings support the conceptual framework's usefulness as a research tool. The findings point to the importance of marketing ability and industry norms in relation to their impact on the central determinants of internet adoption by the SME agri‐food companies studied.
Originality/value
In this paper it is contended that a lack of marketing ability and negative industry attitudes towards internet adoption and utilisation will constrain levels of awareness of the efficacy of the internet as a business tool for the individual businesses researched. The findings reveal that this will subsequently contribute to a lack of strategic web site development and subsequent utilisation.
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Paula Durkan, Mark Durkin and Jenny Gillen
The Internet presents many possibilities by which small firms can better identify and exploit marketing opportunities. A prerequisite to successful on‐line firm‐customer…
Abstract
The Internet presents many possibilities by which small firms can better identify and exploit marketing opportunities. A prerequisite to successful on‐line firm‐customer interactions is the existence of a trusting bond between the network players. This research study examines the extent to which key informants perceive on‐line trust‐mark branding as important in this trust generation process. Results from in‐depth interviews with government support agency staff and other key informants are reported. Findings indicate a general perception among respondents that the generation of on‐line trust is not an area of great importance and the use of trust‐mark brands is a longer‐term consideration.
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Elaine Beaumont, Gillian Rayner, Mark Durkin and Gosia Bowling
The purpose of this paper is to examine pre and post outcome measures following a course of Compassionate Mind Training (CMT). Participants were students enrolled on a Post…
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to examine pre and post outcome measures following a course of Compassionate Mind Training (CMT). Participants were students enrolled on a Post Graduate Diploma in Cognitive Behavioural Psychotherapy (CBP). The aim of the research was to explore whether CMT would increase self-compassion, compassion for others, dispositional empathy and reduce self-critical judgement.
Design/methodology/approach
In total, 21 participants who had enrolled on the CBP programme took part in the study. Data were collected using the self-compassion scale, interpersonal reactivity index, and the compassion for others scale.
Findings
Results reveal an overall statistically significant increase in self-compassion scores and statistically significant reduction in self-critical judgement scores post training. There was no statistically significant difference post training on the interpersonal reactivity index or the compassion for others scale.
Research limitations/implications
CMT training may help students develop healthy coping strategies, which they can use to balance their affect regulation systems when faced with organisational, placement, client, academic, personal and supervision demands. Further research and longitudinal studies, using larger sample sizes are needed to explore if cultivating compassion whilst on psychotherapy training helps students build resilience and provide a barrier against empathic distress fatigue, compassion fatigue, secondary traumatic stress, and burnout.
Practical implications
Incorporating CMT into a CBP programme may bring changes in student levels of self-compassion and self-critical judgement.
Originality/value
This inaugural study examines whether incorporating CMT into a CBP programme impacts on students levels of compassion, dispositional empathy and self-critical judgement. The findings from this preliminary study suggest the potential benefits of training students in compassion focused practices.
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This chapter examines the strengths of the Compassionate Positive Applied Strengths-based Solutions (COMPASS) model in the context of desistance capital, using historical case…
Abstract
This chapter examines the strengths of the Compassionate Positive Applied Strengths-based Solutions (COMPASS) model in the context of desistance capital, using historical case studies to illustrate how the model's principles have facilitated successful desistance and recovery journeys. By integrating research on compassion and positive psychology within offender populations, this chapter underscores the effectiveness of the COMPASS model. Through detailed examples, it aims to validate the model's approach, offering insights and recommendations for future practices in the justice system.
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Mark Durkin, Gwyneth Mulholland and Aodheen McCartan
While technology continues to make a dramatic and profound impact in service industries and radically shapes how services are delivered relatively little is understood about the…
Abstract
Purpose
While technology continues to make a dramatic and profound impact in service industries and radically shapes how services are delivered relatively little is understood about the impact of advancing technology on customers; their expectations, perceptions and behaviours. As banking enters an increasingly digitised world this study reports on the views of 667 e-banking customers with respect to the perceived potential of social media to add value in retail banking relationships. The purpose of this paper is to propose that in order to realise this opportunity requires the case bank to embrace the second-order level changes required within socio-technical theory (STT) in order that such value can be co-created between the relational parties.
Design/methodology/approach
Using the lens of STT to interpret the findings drawn from the case bank’s e-banking customer base (n=5,500), it is argued that social media has the potential to fundamentally change customer-bank relationships and to add value to the way in which the parties interact with each other into the future. A survey methodology was adopted.
Findings
The findings presented indicate a wide spectrum of customers actively using transactional e-banking solutions in the case bank. The findings showed that those in the 15-30 age group saw “real-time/up-to-date information” as the main gain of their bank being on Facebook while their older colleagues in the 31-60 age group had a desire for different returns (“competitions, events”). That the analysis showed that age was the only significant determinant of Facebook appropriateness for the case bank, and in the context of the age-related preferences outlined above, the issue of segmentation is strongly highlighted.
Originality/value
This study contributes to the academic domain through a rare application of STT in a service context, offers implications for practice and highlights important areas for future research, inter alia; the role for new media in banking relationships, the impacts of new media on bank staff roles, where value now accrues in bank-customer communication, where social media fits in the promotional mix and relational strategies of banks and what are the issues emerging at the social-technical interface between both customers and staff and new technology and media.
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Whatever views may be held with regard to the question of the total prohibition or otherwise of chemical preservatives in foods, there can be little doubt that the broad theory…
Abstract
Whatever views may be held with regard to the question of the total prohibition or otherwise of chemical preservatives in foods, there can be little doubt that the broad theory underlying the recommendations of the Departmental Committee is perfectly, sound and consonant with the best interests of the public and the honest manufacturer. The use of chemical preservatives of any kind is undesirable, and if permitted at all, such preservatives should be restricted to substances which are not foreign to the human body. Referring to the various articles and letters which have recently appeared in The Times, Professor F. Gowland Hopkins, D.Sc., F.R.S., F.I.C., observes:—