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Currently, one of the most important dilemmas facing mankind is environmental degradation and natural resource shortage. The adoption of Green Banking practices has been identified as a solution to the growing environmental problems all over the world. However, an important issue being faced by both the conventional and Islamic banking industry is the creation of stakeholder engagement in Green Banking practices. The purpose of this paper is to propose the use of Islamic principles in developing an emotional attachment between Green Banking practices and the Muslim consumer market to facilitate Green Banking adoption.

Based on the theory of self-congruity, the authors have proposed a framework to analyze the congruity between Islamic principles and Green Banking. The argument is built on secondary data by identifying the Environmental, Social and Governance (ESG) dimensions of Green Banking and proving its congruence with teachings of the Holy Qur’an and Sunnah.

It is observed that the doctrine of Islam established for mankind 1,400 years ago consists of the same principles that are now being implemented in the shape of Green Banking. The dimensions of Green Banking are in line with Islamic teachings and, thus, can easily be adopted and marketed by banks, especially Islamic banks, targeting the Muslim consumers. The congruence of Green Banking with Islamic principles can play a major role in fostering the growth of this imperative ideology for the Green Muslim consumers. Islamic banks can market green products and services on the basis of religious congruity to the Muslim consumer market and create greater acceptability and loyalty.

The proposed model has not been empirically tested.

Limited research exists in the area of Green Banking adoption, especially in Muslim countries. Up until now, academic research has not been conducted on the congruity between the principles of Islam and Green Banking dimensions. This paper attempts to add to the unsaturated research area of Green Banking adoption by Islamic banks and how Islamic banks can gain a competitive advantage by building on the congruity between Green Banking and Islam.

This paper uses the case of Islamic banking in Amman, Jordan, to assess the wide moral range of expectations, levels of satisfaction, and means of evaluating banks’ “Islamicness.”

The information is gathered from interviews conducted during over 21 months of ethnographic research and one month in participant observation and research access as an intern at the Middle East Islamic Bank (MEIB) in Amman, Jordan.

I found three modes for evaluating “Islamicness” when actors decide whether or not to become customers of Islamic banks.

These modes demonstrate that Islamic banking is no longer the cultural protectionism of a relatively homogeneous community of Muslims. Rather it is a fraught and tense field for actors’ debates about types of moralities in the markets and modes of moral assessments of “Islamicness.”

The amplification of the individual and individual choice and authority in the moral assessments of Islamic banking may ultimately serve to unseat prior dichotomous theoretical framings of morality’s presence or absence as “Islamic” or “not Islamic” and “good” and “bad.” By unleashing to individuals the construction of morality in the markets, moral rights and wrongs, and moral evaluations, fragmentation of moral consensus in market practices will occur.

The case discusses Islamic Banking Principles and Products (Banking), Business Strategy for Niche Markets (Strategic Management) and Segmentation and Marketing Strategy (Marketing Management).

Undergraduate Graduate Training – Executives at junior level.

This case is about the dilemma faced by Azhar Mehmud, a newly recruited Marketing Manager, Islamic Products (MMIP) in Bank Islam on six-month probation. Prior to Bank Islam, Azhar had an MBA degree from the UK and about 15 years of experience of business development in a multi-national bank in Indonesia. Looking at his experience, he was awarded to promote Islamic banking (IB) products in Malaysia where the competition was very intense. After his interactions with customers for about six to seven months, he prepared a report for his boss, General Manager, Consumer Banking (GMCB). In this report, he had summarized the challenges of marketing IB products in a market meant for conventional banking. When he presented the report to GMCB, he met with unfavorable reactions. GMCB was not convinced that IB products had any competition from conventional banking. He gave Azhar one additional month to either revise his thinking or quit the organization.

The expected learning outcomes are as follows: to enhance the awareness of IB products, principles and differences from the conventional banking products; to introduce the concept of business strategies for niche markets; to make students realize the importance of segmentation in view of niche market like IB.

Teaching notes are available for educators only. Please contact your library to gain login details or email support@emeraldinsight.com to request teaching notes.

The objective of this study is to undertake a qualitative study to examine the influence of religion, specifically Islam, on corporate governance statement disclosure in the annual reports of three major Malaysian banks, both conventional and Islamic banks. It has been argued that given the characteristics and values espoused by Islam, there is an expectation that in Malaysia, an Islamic organization ‐like the Bank Islam ‐ should make additional governance disclosures that would set it apart from conventional banks. The evidence thus far seems to suggest that the role of Islam has not been as expected. Specifically, being an Islamic organization (by virtue of label attached to and/or the nature of its operations) and/or having Malays/Muslim directors leading such Islamic organization have not resulted in better corporate governance practices and disclosure relative to other secular banking institutions that have fewer Malay/Muslims directors. Possible implications of these findings are proffered in the paper.

The purpose of this paper is to argue that if reconcilability between Islam and the West exists in the field of finance and if the two systems can co‐evolve in a mutually productive way, then we can be optimistic about the ability of the two systems to co‐exist. Clearly they involve different attitudes, but this paper argues, on the basis of significant compatibility issues, these are resolvable under the tradition of tolerance that has existed in Western and Islamic societies. This paper also examines Islamic finance as an alternative financial system and a potential long‐term solution to financial instability.

The paper presents descriptive, analytical and comparative analyses.

The paper provides insights into the Islamic and international financial system. It highlights an alternative and a solution to this dilemma in the form of Islamic finance and stresses the stability of the Islamic finance system.

The findings presented in this paper can be used by policy makers, regulators and practitioners in both the Islamic and conventional financial sector as it provides an understanding to Islamic Finance. However, to expect a wholesale transformation to an Islamic financial system is idealistic.

This paper contributes to the understanding of Islamic finance principles and its value as revolutionary departure from the current global financial system and a solution to the current and any future financial crises. The findings of this research will be of interest to Western and Islamic financial practitioners, policy makers and academicians.

The purpose of this paper is to explore the purposeful actions of key actors who corroborated the emergence and institutionalisation of Islamic banking practices in Indonesia.

A documentary analysis approach is used in the paper, with the analysis being guided by insights from institutional work perspectives.

The emergence and institutionalisation of Islamic banking practices were influenced significantly by the changing dynamics of the institutional field and the social and political context in Indonesia, especially the Islamic revival in the 1980s and later on the political accommodation of Islam. These were then leveraged by various key actors through their institutional works. These actors, with their own specific roles, worked independently and later on together to establish Islamic banking practices in Indonesia. The findings also show the shifting priorities of the actors from compliance with religious edicts to promoting avenues for Muslim participation in economic activities.

This paper is mainly based on documentary data; hence, the findings would be richer with primary data.

This research provides further understanding of how the Islamic banking idea can be pursued through the specific work of certain actors.

Islamic banking industry with all of its exponential growth and global recognition has been under criticism for the past two decades. However, the problem signifies further when such criticism is made from within the organization and is well supported by outside (the customers). The purpose of this study is to provide a coherent exploration to investigate the factors that polarize its employees and customers across many parts of the world.

To investigate the phenomenon, a total of 30 responses were taken through interviews 15 each from customers and employees. Afterwards, the data was analysed and summarized into two categories. In doing so, the top five Malaysia’s Islamic banks were shortlisted to collect data from employees and customers.

A detailed thematic analysis resulted in six themes (Contradiction between theory and practice, Islamic banking knowledge and awareness, inadequate Shariah training, employees’ background, Shariah compliance, Islamic banking benefits) for employees and five (Islamic banking benefits, applying Shariah in Islamic banking, knowledge of Islamic banking, Islamic banking promotion, Islamic banking employees’ behaviour) for customers, respectively.

The results have stronger implications for both practice and theory as organizations can assess stakeholders and their perceptions about Islamic banking. Another implication is the comparative examination of employees and customers which can potentially affect decision and policy making in Islamic banks. Islamic banks can also address employment-related issues related to employees’ behaviour vis-à-vis marketing-related problems faced by its customers that will ultimately improve its global market share and strategic positioning.

The study is based on the importance of Islamic banking in Malaysia and explores the factors that potentially create a positive or negative insight into Islamic banking – both in employees and customers.

This study aims to examine consumer perception of introduction of Islamic banking (IB) in Ghana, which is a new and emerging form of banking in many non-Islamic countries.

Empirical field data were collected from a sample of 975 respondents using self-administered structured questionnaire. Descriptive analysis was conducted using SPSS version 16.

Muslim respondents have significantly positive perceptions of IB compared to non-Muslims and have stronger intentions to adopt IB in Ghana than non-Muslims. Non-Muslims have high perceived benefit of IB. Non-Muslim respondents do not perceive potential threat of violence associated with the introduction of IB in Ghana. Although non-Muslims perceive IB that would make Islam popular, they do not perceive it as a means of Islamizing bank customers. Relatively, non-Muslims appear to have low knowledge of IB, unfavourable attitude towards IB, are reluctant to comply with Sharia law and consequently have weaker intentions to adopt IB.

This study was limited to descriptive analysis and to only Ghana. Future research should quantitatively model IB adoption and switching factors using samples from other developing countries.

IB institutions could focus on attracting a niche of Muslim consumers at its initial stages. Moreover, to facilitate the introduction of IB, the Bank of Ghana and other relevant stakeholders, in addition to establishing effective governance structures, must promote consumer education to enhance consumer knowledge of IB and correct misconceptions about IB among consumers, particularly non-Muslim customers.

One unique contribution of this study is that it provides an initial empirical exploration of consumers’ attitude and perceptions of IB in Ghana, which is an under-researched area.

This study examines social reporting by Islamic banks with special emphasis on themes related to social justice. By using critical theory and “immanent critique”, the study attempts to explain and delineate reasons for disclosures and silences in Islamic banks ' annual reports and web sites vis-à-vis social justice.

The approach taken was a content analysis of annual reports and web sites of 19 Islamic banks.

Islamic banks ' disclosures emphasise their religious character through claims that they adhere to Sharia ' s teachings. Their disclosures, however, lack specific or detailed information regarding schemes or initiatives vis-à-vis poverty eradication or enhancing social justice.

Limitations associated with content analysis of annual reports and internet web sites apply. This study focuses on Islamic banks ' social roles. Further studies of banks ' social roles in society in general are of interest.

Drawing attention of Islamic banks and other stakeholders to the gap between the rhetorical religious and ethical claims of Islamic banks and their activities (as depicted through their disclosures) opens up the possibility of a positive change in Islamic banks ' actual social roles.

The study fills a gap in both social accounting and Islamic accounting literatures with its emphasis on social justice and poverty eradication. The study contributes to the very scarce literature linking religion (especially Islam), critical theory, social accounting and Islamic accounting. It goes beyond previous research in Islamic accounting literature by exposing contradictions in the Islamic banking industry ' s rhetoric regarding their social role in society.