Search results

This paper aims to review the latest management developments across the globe and pinpoint practical implications from cutting-edge research and case studies.

This briefing is prepared by an independent writer who adds their own impartial comments and places the articles in context.

Firms looking to improve relationships with their customers can look to improve customer value ratings, and therefore customer-based brand equity, through customer engagement.

The briefing saves busy executives, strategists and researchers hours of reading time by selecting only the very best, most pertinent information and presenting it in a condensed and easy-to-digest format.

This study aims to identify European positioning on the use of remote customer onboarding solutions in combating financial crime.

This study is a desktop research that examines European Banking Authority (EBA) policy statements relating to the use of innovative solutions in combating financial crime.

Technological advancements in biometric data and software tools provide a unique opportunity to address potential paper customer onboarding process deficiencies. Electronic remote customer onboarding solutions equip credit, financial institutions and investment firms with an alternative FTE cost-saving solution, in their pursuit of revenue generation. Whilst the EBA and Financial Action Task Force have provided approval for the utilisation of innovative solutions and AML technologies in combatting financial crime. Hesitancy remains on the ability of credit and financial institutions to use technological solutions as a “magic solution” in preventing the materialisation of money laundering/terrorist financing related risks. Analysis of policy suggests a gravitation towards the increased use of the aforementioned technologies in the interim.

Capitalisation of European banking authority.

This article examines customer satisfaction in using banking services through Artificial Intelligence (AI) in India. It addresses two questions: first, will customers perceive AI technology as a reliable and efficient alternative to traditional banking practices; second, will AI save customers’ time.

The quantitative research method based on regression analysis models was adopted for hypothesis testing, with data collected from a survey of 189 banking customers from four banks, i.e., State Bank of India, Axis Bank, Punjab National Bank, and HDFC Bank in India.

AI improves banking customers’ experiences by making banking more accessible and enjoyable. Satisfied customers are quick to use cutting-edge AI tools. However, human service is more satisfying than digital service. AI has great potential but works alongside humans rather than replacing them. Even though AI’s novel architecture is helpful, human bank tellers are still needed in enhancing customer satisfaction.

AI’s integration in Indian banking, propelled by customer satisfaction, foresees a transformative landscape. This study uncovers AI’s role in saving time and improving customer satisfaction. While AI revolutionizes financial processes, its harmonious coexistence with human expertise emphasizes personalized and efficient services. This study provides insights for optimal AI utilization in shaping the future of banking.

The purpose of this paper is to unravel the specific service quality dimensions that significantly influence startup survival, providing actionable insights for service managers and entrepreneurs.

Empirical data were collected from 372 service startups over a period of seven years. The Cox proportional hazard model was used to analyze the data.

The results indicate that the tangible dimension of service quality emerges as the most critical determinant of startup survival. Additionally, the reliability and responsiveness of the service also significantly affect startup survival. Furthermore, the assurance and empathy dimensions have a positive, albeit modest, influence on the survival prospects of service startups.

This study contributes to the service literature by investigating the relative importance of each dimension of service quality in relation to the survival of service startups.

The empirical findings empower service startups to make informed decisions, allocate resources judiciously and prioritize aspects of service quality that have a significant impact on their survival and success.

The social implications indicate the significance of service quality dimensions not only for the success of service startups but also for the overall well-being of customers, local economies and the competitive landscape of the service sector.

This study contributes to service science by uniquely highlighting the critical role of tangibles in startup survival, challenging conventional beliefs about the primacy of service reliability.

As consumer debt can substantially impair subjective well-being, it is crucial for research to gain insights into how consumers can be motivated to improve financial planning. This paper aims to investigate how frontline employees in financial services can help consumers regulate their financial planning behaviors and how financial service providers can effectively support their frontline employees in this effort through leadership and organizational climate.

We incorporate regulatory focus theory and conservation of resource theory to develop a conceptual model that we test in a triadic study with a unique dataset collected from consumers, frontline employees, and managers in the banking sector.

We find that frontline employees must pay attention to the details of consumers’ needs and customize the service to those needs to trigger consumer promotion focus and stimulate consumers’ financial planning behaviors. Moreover, our results emphasize that the organization must act as an integrated entity. Thus, a manager’s servant leadership and an organizational climate of customer stewardship are crucial for frontline employees to transform consumers’ financial planning behaviors.

The study highlights frontline employees’ key role in motivating consumer financial planning behavior, offering a new perspective in transformative service research on enhancing financial well-being.

The findings provide financial service providers with actionable implications for enhancing consumers’ financial planning. This benefits both consumers and financial institutions, as customers with greater spending power can buy more financial products.

This study advances transformative service research on consumer financial planning behavior, which has largely focused on consumer-related or society-level variables, by exploring the role of frontline employees and organizational support in terms of leadership and climate.

To build long-term relationships and gain a competitive edge, marketers need to provide customers with unique and distinct experiences that they cannot find in other companies. According to the literature, after-sales service helps to achieve these goals. By modeling the linkages between after-sales service, service quality, customer attitude and purchase intention, this study aims to understand how customers perceive after-sales service in decision-making in kitchen appliance industry.

Through purposive sampling, 324 respondents, primarily female, answered a structured questionnaire about their perception of after-sales service for kitchen appliance products. Previously well-established, validated scale measures from the extant literature were used. The responses were gathered using a seven-point Likert scale.

According to the findings, after-sales service quality is vital in kitchen appliance buying decisions. Accordingly, the higher the quality of service perceived by the customer, the more favorable the brand's attitude and purchase intention will be. Additionally, brand reputation was found to be an essential moderator between customer attitude and purchase intention, suggesting that the reputation of the kitchen appliance brand plays a positive and significant role in consumers’ purchase intentions.

It is well known that after-sales service plays a crucial role in current business scenarios, but empirical research on kitchen appliances has been scarce. This study aims to fill a void in the existing literature by investigating the relationships between after-sales service, after-sales service quality, customer attitude and purchase intention in the domain of kitchen appliances.

This study aims to explore challenges and opportunities in the digitalization of the business-to-business (B2B) customer journey in different buying situations. It also investigates where in the customer journey digital marketing is most efficient.

This research adopts a single case study approach to examine a B2B company that implemented digitalization in its customer journey in different buying situations. Data were collected through semistructured interviews, complemented by internal documents and information from the company’s website and social media, to identify reasons for and against the decision to digitalize the B2B customer journey.

Digitalization can offer firms a cost-effective and value-creating way to interact with customers in a B2B context. The B2B buying situation, however, plays a significant role in decisions on how to implement digitalization. Moreover, in the prepurchase phase, digital marketing is more effective in building awareness; in the purchase phase, personal selling is more effective in addressing customers’ needs.

The use of a single case study cannot produce results directly generalizable to other contexts. However, the findings are applicable to the digitalization of B2B customer journeys in similar industrial contexts.

To successfully implement digitalization in the customer journey, B2B firms should choose digital tools according to different buying situations and phases in the customer journey, segment buyers by their needs rather than individual characteristics and integrate the sales and marketing functions.

This study contradicts prior research that claims that digital marketing can be used in a similar way in both B2B and business-to-consumer contexts. It further shows that the relevant demarcation is not between personal sales and digitalization but between automated digital marketing and individualized personal sales, regardless of medium.

This study aims to examine the influence of dimensions of the psychological contract on strengthening customers' switching barriers through the mediating role of service brand love.

The study used a cross-sectional survey research design to collect data from 406 respondents from commercial banks in the banking industry. A quantitative approach using structural equation modeling was used to analyze the data collected through structured questionnaires.

The findings revealed that dimensions of the psychological contract, namely, ideological, transactional and relational psychological contract, significantly influence the strengthening of customers' switching barriers when mediated by service brand love.

Managers should consider adopting high-intensity relationship approaches that go beyond mere customer satisfaction to ensure customer retention.

While customer retention remains the primary avenue for establishing competitive advantages, there remain unresolved issues regarding what determines customers’ intentions to stay or switch. This study represents one of the initial endeavors to explore the psychological contract within the context of the service industry. It contributes to the existing knowledge by enhancing the understanding of the mechanisms that can impact customers' switching barriers and complements the literature on customer retention in the service domain.

The present research sought to analyze the effects of customer delight on both internal and external financial structures of publicly traded, service firms.

Primary (i.e. survey) and secondary (i.e. financial records) data sources were gathered. A total of 685 participants responded to one questionnaire focusing on hotels and another one focused on restaurants, both of which measured levels of customer delight and satisfaction. Financial data were gathered from Center for Research in Security Prices, CRSP/COMPUSTAT.

Results of MANOVA revealed that there was a significant difference in the net profit margin (NPM) based on customer delight. Canonical correlation results exposed a significant correlation between satisfaction and delight combined and the financial performance measures (net profit margin, cash flow margin, return on assets and b-beta) combined.

By delighting their customers, managers will achieve higher profit margins. However, these are not likely to result in improved cash flow margin or return on assets. The effects of COVID-19 can alter yearly returns; thus, longitudinal research is needed to continue testing for the effects on delight on financial performance.

The relationship between delight and financial measures had not been previously determined (notwithstanding a few studies using substitute measures for financial performance). The present study uses actual data from the financial filings to empirically test their relationship to customer delight.

Subscription offerings are being hailed as the next service growth engine for companies in both business-to-consumer (B2C) and business-to-business (B2B) markets. The study analyzes how a manufacturing firm can develop and implement a scalable service-based subscription business model for B2C and B2B customers alongside its existing product-centric model.

A longitudinal case study is conducted, drawing on 25 in-depth interviews with company executives and dealers in key European markets.

The study outlines an iterative process model for subscription business model innovation. It reveals key events and decisions taken in developing, implementing, and scaling the new business model and how internal and external tensions involving intermediaries arose and were mitigated during the four stages of the process.

The findings highlight the dynamics of business model innovation processes and underscore the importance of organizational learning, collaborative relationships with channel partners, and strategic talent acquisition during business model innovation.

The findings suggest how product-centric firms can implement new service business models alongside existing product models and what this means for partner and customer journey management.

While servitization research predominantly concerns B2B manufacturers, B2C research focuses on digital subscription contexts. The study bridges this divide by investigating the move to subscriptions in both markets.