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Gulf Bank’s service excellence “scorecard” was developed to support the Bank’s delivery of superior service in its market sector. The “scorecard” provides focus for a “service excellence” program, setting standards and measuring performance against customer focused objectives. The approach identified the “drivers” of customer satisfaction, related these to the Bank’s service delivery channels, set performance standards, and implemented measurement and reporting systems embracing external customer feedback and internal process measurements. Performance was measured against 16 key “drivers” of customer satisfaction identified independently by the local industry institute and related to the Bank’s delivery channels (branches, ATMs, telephone, Internet). Key measures were: customer satisfaction, complaints, comments and attrition, plus internal process delivery performance for critical products (consumer loans and credit card services). Reports were produced weekly and monthly with “drill downs” from bank to individual branch and/or employee levels. Reports are reviewed by management from chairman down to branch manager level. Results are incorporated in business KPIs and have become factors in employee incentive schemes. The approach adopted by the bank demonstrated that a practical, comprehensive service quality management system could be implemented and used to drive service improvement. The approach can be adopted by other banks and financial institutions and adapted to the needs of other service industries. The process implemented by Gulf Bank is believed to be unique in the Kuwait banking community and has scope for application in many similar environments outside the local area.

When MSAS decided to improve further the processing of freight forwarding and tracking transactions by the introduction of new information technology (IT), the need for an effective and efficient training programme emerged as one of the key determinants of the project′s success. Describes the implementation of an information technology solution from the training perspective in Australia, Singapore and the UK. Also examines the key operator concept used to support training in each of the regions and the employee reaction to the training methodology, computer‐based training (CBT).

This paper examines organizational climate and organizational culture within a hotel industry framework. An argument is put forward that there is a causal link between good organizational climate and the level of service quality in a hotel. Organizational climate is also examined within the service quality framework to explore the effects of its integration into quality initiatives. A conceptual model of organizational climate and service quality and performance is presented that provides an explanation of the linkage between organizational culture, organizational climate, service quality, customer satisfaction and hotel performance.

This paper begins with a comprehensive review of the management literature on culture, and demonstrates close parallels with research and writings on organisational climate and values. The paper then reports the findings from an empirical investigation into the relationship between the organisational culture, climate, and managerial values of a large Australian public sector agency. The relative strengths of four dimensions of culture in this organisation were measured using Hofstede’s instrument. Added to this were items from a questionnaire developed by Ryder and Southey, derived from the Jones and James instrument measuring psychological climate and providing scores across six specific dimensions of organisational climate. Measures of managerial values, drawn from a questionnaire by Flowers and Hughes, were also incorporated. Results show that levels of culture within this particular organisation are at variance with those reported by Hofstede from his Australian data. Findings indicate a strong link between specific organisational climate items and a number of managerial values dimensions. Additional relationships between particular dimensions of culture, climate and managerial values are also reported. From this, a hypothesised, predictive model of linkages between the constructs is presented.

This study has sought to examine the issue of 'brand image' and its potential impact on sports sponsorship. In particular, brand personality of a sports event and sponsor are considered in relation to sponsor-event fit and image transfer. The study proposes that if there are strong links in terms of brand personality between the Ryder Cup and IBM brands, then the stronger will be the shared 'brand image' and impact of the sponsorship relationship in the minds of consumers. For the purposes of this study it is assumed the sports event of The Ryder Cup is perceived as a 'brand' in its own right.

This study aims to identify the underlying dimensions of hospitality organizational climate and then measure the influence of it on employee turnover tendency.

Data were obtained from 504 employees across 18 upscale hotels in India. Factor analysis was adopted to identify the organizational climate dimensions and its influence on turnover tendency was measured by SEM. One-way ANOVA tested the hypothesis related to the perceived differences among the employees regarding turnover intention.

Result supports the hypothesized relationship between the constructs that the identified organizational climate structure have strong inverse relationship with employee turnover tendency and its dimension “leaders facilitation and support” was found to influence turnover intention the most, followed by “cohesion, clarity and objectivity of system,” “esprit of profession, organization and workgroup” and “job challenge, variety and feedback.” Results also determined differences among the hotel employees of different job levels and gender regarding turnover tendency.

Study reveals that employee turnover tendency is predominantly influenced by the identified factors of organizational climate and more among the male frontline employees and attrition reduces with age and position. This knowledge will help the hotel's management in designing strategic HRM to control attrition.

This study is the first to establish an organizational climate measure of hotel industry in India and opens scope for future research. It also draws attention to the relationship of organizational climate with turnover tendency.

The purpose of this paper is to present a biographical review of the career of the late Caroline Robinson Jones (1942‐2001) in order to understand her challenges and contributions to the advertising profession. Prior to her death, she was considered the foremost African‐American woman in the advertising business. She was the first black woman to serve as a vice president of a major mainstream advertising agency and also established a respected agency bearing her own name. This paper focuses on Jones' contributions to marketing practice and her experiences as a woman of color in the advertising industry.

This paper uses a traditional historical narrative approach largely based on archival materials housed in the Caroline Jones Collection at the Archives Center of the National Museum of American History at the Smithsonian Institution. Relevant secondary literature was also employed to provide appropriate context.

While the advertising industry has historically been noted for its lack of diversity among its professional ranks, Jones made significant contributions to the industry. Yet, despite her trailblazing accomplishments, findings suggest her efforts were constrained by structural oppression in the industry concerning gender and race.

Scholarly literature reflecting the contributions and experiences of women of color in the advertising business is nearly non‐existent. This paper provides an analysis using sources which are valuable in understanding career opportunities and challenges for women of color in advertising professions.

The UK's financial watchdog, The financial services authority (FSA) took over prudential regulation and control of credit unions on 2nd July 2002. The purpose of this paper is to assess the impact of the new regulatory framework and its impact on the continued poor perception of credit unions among users of financial services products. It also aims to assess what the future may hold for the direction of the UK credit union sector.

An assessment is made of the impact of the new regulatory framework and its impact on the continued poor perception of credit unions among users of financial services products. Also, an assessment is made of what the future may hold for the direction of the UK credit union sector.

The paper finds that credit union membership is growing, as are members’ deposits and loans, however at the same time the numbers of individual credit unions are falling. Overall, with supervision and regulation passing to the FSA, the outlook for credit unions in the UK is better than at any time in their history. The result of the new regime will ultimately lead to a strong, secure and professional credit union sector, capable of meeting the credit needs of a wide range of persons.

The paper provides a useful overview of the history and present status of UK credit unions, and the effects of recent legislation and regulation.

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