Search results

Places the branch bank manager in a central position in the business in respect of the marketing efficiency of the banks at the local level. States that recently increasing pressure has been brought to bear on the manager to carry out tasks not previously required of him/her. Posits that the manager is being encouraged to devote more of his time and energy towards a deeper understanding of and become more actively involved with his/her customers, existing or potential, but few managers understand or realise the full potential of their changing role. Sums up that managers lack knowledge of the principles of marketing and commitment to implementing the principles in practice. Identifies three reasons which underlie the lack of marketing orientation: motivation, ability and time, and says that banks need to move quickly to ensure that the individuals in these positions can speedily meet the challenge.

This chapter investigates voting decisions by mutual funds in a variety of management-sponsored proposals in Israel. Our main findings are that mutual fund managers tend to vote with management and oppose only about 30 percent of all potentially harmful proposals. Larger equity holdings by the fund manager and better prior performance by the firm are found to be negatively associated with the odds of voting against management. Also, mutual funds managed by banks are found to exhibit better monitoring than mutual funds managed by private investment companies. We find that bank fund managers are more likely to vote against management than other mutual fund managers. We further find that non-bank funds tend to increase equity holding following the meeting regardless of their vote, whereas bank funds tend to follow the “Wall Street Rule” and reduce their equity holdings after voting against management.

So you want to be a bank manager. Well, why not? but why do you want to be a bank manager?

One of the most important developments in banking is the increased emphasis on marketing a wide array of financial services. This emphasis has led to the adoption of the product management system in one form or another by many large, full‐service commercial banks. The transition to a product management system has required banks to change how they organize and manage their operations. Examines several of the major challenges and issues faced by product managers in the banking environment, namely, the identification of the product managers’ task responsibilities; the role of organizational support in facilitating product management; the influence of organizational culture; and the impact of power and conflict on product managers and the product management system. Also examines how product managers assess their job performance, work satisfaction, and the performance of the overall product management system in their bank. Develops directions for future research as well as several managerial recommendations to improve product management performance in banking.

This article sets out to draw on new empirical research to illustrate how the process of technological change is shaped by a combination of contextual elements that relate to the political and social history of Sudan. The developments in infrastructure, relationships with economically powerful industrialized countries, and the attitudes and perceptions of key decision makers are discussed

Primary data were collected from fieldwork conducted in Sudan for six months, and this was combined with secondary data that were collected from several conventional sources. The design adopted a dual methodological approach that comprised a combination of quantitative and qualitative techniques. This article draws mainly on the qualitative data set, although a summary is provided of some of the main results from the questionnaire survey.

The findings highlight the need for bank general managers and IT managers to collaborate in the establishment of IT strategies and in ensuring that there are sufficient staff and budgetary resources for successful implementation. There is also a need to develop comprehensive banking policies in Sudan in order to support the replacement of traditional manual methods of banking with more advanced computer‐based systems. Managing this process is not simply a technical issue, but a complex socio‐political challenge that requires management sensitivity to the context within which change is taking place.

Fieldwork in Sudan was constrained by both time and limited financial resources, and further frustrated by a number of unanticipated access difficulties. Some of the survey findings may have been affected by missing data, and some of the interview data may have been affected by translation from Arabic into English. However, the multi‐strategy research employed in this study did prove effective in generating useful data.

In the case of developing countries, the data sets and literature available are in short supply, and as such the findings contribute to this limited knowledge base in presenting new empirical evidence and analysis. The study highlights the importance of three broad categories – social‐political context, business economic and technological environment, and the historical and cultural climate of Sudan and the banking industry – in shaping the uptake and introduction of new technology in the Sudanese banking industry.

In today′s world businesses function in a marketing environment. The banking industry is no exception. However, the changing world situation always requires bankers to reassess their strategies in order to stay competitive. As part of the banking establishment, bank branch managers play a very important role. This article examines the new roles and functions of bank branch managers through their own experiences in this ever‐changing marketing environment. The research results shed some new light on how to successfully manage these full‐service branch offices in today′s marketing era.

Banks’ structural re‐organisation with centralised units for increased efficiency, technological advances, product diversification, and strategic initiatives to provide multiple products through “deep” multi‐channel access, have challenged the relationship banking model at the heart of bank‐company interaction. Paradox‐ically, while improving the quality of transactional service, the “deep” relationship interface has under‐mined the relationship manager role and caused confusion and antagonism among customers. The negative result is that customers have a more aggressive, trans‐actional approach to purchasing decisions. The banks need to compromise between trans‐actional and relational effort, and the “deep” multi‐channel service delivery interface must have a re‐invigorated relationship manager if banks are to retain their competitive advantage.

Personal conceptions of what constitutes a “successful manager” are important, as they influence an individual’s personal development and subsequent careers. This study investigates profiles of “successful managers” held by male and female managers working in ten European banks operating in Luxembourg. Respondents completed the personality attributes questionnaire (PAQ) and took part in semi‐structured interviews. Results are presented from the 66 managers as a group, and by gender. Next, responses are considered from individuals within three of those banks, chosen by position of the owning/originating country on Hofstede’s masculinity/femininity scale, to see whether differences in perceived successful leadership styles exist between the banks in accordance with Hofstede’s research. Results indicated that gender differences were more significant than nationality of the bank in determining perceptions of “the successful manager”.

Commercial banks are the major source of external finance for small firms in the UK. Describes a study which was carried out to investigate how bank managers make decisions on lending to small firms. The study looked at adverse selection (i.e. where a manager turns down a good proposal which turns out to be a success) and its effect on small firm liquidity constraints. The researcher took on the role of an entrepreneur and presented a business plan based on an actual lending proposition to bank managers in Scotland. Compares the study with an English study. Findings suggest a more favourable treatment of the proposition by the Scottish bank managers. However, there was variation among banks in the way managers assessed the proposition. There was an emphasis on financial information, gearing and security which reflects the capital‐based approach to bank risk assessment in the UK. Considers policy implications for risk assessment and small firms/banking relationships.

Discusses the changing role of the branch bank manager in relation to the bank services marketing, and describes results of research carried out into the bank manager's role, and its re‐evaluation. Says that there is a need for a more positive approach to the challenges of marketing at the branch level. Recognises that personal communications between managers and customers is of major importance. Posits that the bank manger has basically a similar role to a salesman (one‐to‐one situations) although still some way apart. Maintains that in order to accomplish all the tasks discussed there are three basic requirements to be fulfilled: time, ability, and motivation. Attempts to establish a view of the role of the bank manager in personal communication processes. Concludes that the manager must possess the resources in order to perform effectively in the marketing role, although, sometimes, financial ability is lacking and the absence of total motivation towards marketing has already been discussed.