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This study aims to investigate the institutional changes brought about by the COVID-19 pandemic on the Bahraini insurance sector. This study also examines how those changes affected the risk management practices.

This study deploys a qualitative methodology with a case study design. The data are collected from multiple sources such as semi-structured interviews, documents and website analyses.

The COVID-19 pandemic has resulted in an institutional change in the Bahraini insurance sector. Pre-COVID-19, the professional logic was the dominant institutional logic. Then, the COVID-19 pandemic and its related uncertainties made the economic logic the most dominant logic. Accordingly, risk officers are currently responding to the crisis by being more risk-averse than risk managers. This study presents an inclusive institutional understanding of risk management as informed by the professional logic and socio-political and economic logics.

This study has implications for regulators and insurance customers by giving a snapshot of how insurers’ risk officers respond to the COVID-19 pandemic, which can help envisage their plans and actions.

This study contributes to risk management and institutional logics literature by illustrating how changes in risk management practices in emerging markets are an operational manifestation of sustaining profits and maintaining the positions of risk officers. This extends the risk management literature by bringing early evidence from an emerging market regarding risk officers’ behaviours and control plans during the COVID-19 pandemic. Moreover, this study extends the institutional logics literature by exploring the micro-level impacts of logics in an emerging insurance market.

The purpose of this paper is to examine the relationship between intellectual capital (IC) and profitability of insurance companies in Ghana.

Data on 36 life and non-life insurance companies from 2007 to 2011 are employed to estimate the value added intellectual coefficient of Pulic (2004, 2008). Using return on assets and underwriting profit as indicators of profitability, the ordinary least squares panel corrected standard errors of Beck and Katz (2005) is used in estimating the relationship in the presence of serial correlation and heteroskedasticity. Leverage, underwriting risk and insurers’ size are used as control variables.

Non-life insurers have high IC performance comparative to life insurers. This study finds a significant positive relationship between IC and profitability of insurers in Ghana while human capital efficiency is the main driver of insurers’ IC performance.

The study discusses relevance of IC for management of insurance companies in Ghana and other emerging insurance markets in Africa.

This appears to be the first study to examine the impact of IC on profitability of a developing insurance market in Africa.

Introduction: The world is passing through a technology explosion phase where one technology is being replaced by another very quickly. Emerging technologies play more important roles in the insurance sector directly or indirectly. These technologies have a high potential to change the insurance paradigm.

Purpose: In this chapter, we discuss emerging technologies such as artificial intelligence (AI), big data, blockchain, the internet of things (IoT), mobile technology, predictive analytics, social media, telematics, chatbots, low codes, and drones in the context of the insurance industry.

Methodology: To carry out our analysis, we searched for data using the keywords for each technology from the Web of Science (WoS) coral database. Certain inclusion and exclusion criteria were followed to select the articles for further analysis. R-studio was used for the data analysis and visualisation.

Findings: It was found that the highest number of research articles published are related to big data, followed by AI and social media. The first article on AI in insurance appeared in 1975. Social media is the highest cited new technology, whereas the low codes are the undiscovered paradigm for the insurance sector with no published research. Research on the impact of chatbots, drones, and mobile technology in the insurance industry is still at a nascent stage. We also noticed that the United States is leading the research on emerging technologies in the insurance sector.

Implications: This chapter audits the emerging technologies in the insurance sector and identifies technological areas with the highest, least, or no research, dominant journals, authors, and countries. This holistic overview empowers managers and academicians to decide the future course of action.

This case study is intended to supplement postgraduate business learning with the facilitation of an academic practitioner. The case draws on a culmination of subjects, and the participants are encouraged to juxtapose the case information with their professional experiences; however, the primary focus of the case material will be centred on strategy, innovation, and entrepreneurship.

The primary audience for the teaching case is management education programmes including: Master of Business Administration (MBA), Postgraduate Diploma (PGDip), specialist Masters in Management, and certain Executive Education programmes.

This case is about protagonist Ndabenhle Junior Ngulube, the cofounder of an innovative technology-enabled insurance intermediary company called Pineapple. The company has identified an opportunity to resolve the inherent conflict of interest within the insurance industry, as well as the grudge association of non-life insurance purchases. While the competitive landscape of the sector is traditionally dominated by a few large incumbent market participants, Pineapple's digital distribution strategy is more effective at converting ‘clicks-to-clients’, at a fraction of the typical customer acquisition cost. The peer-to-peer business model also allows for superior risk-selection, greater affinity, and lower incidents of fraudulent claims. Ndabenhle and the team develop the company's customer acquisition strategy by drawing on technological trends, reputation drivers, and a concentrated social media approach that focusses on trust, access, product, and value. But, as 2020 begins, Ndabenhle faces choices about the means and methods of scaling the business operation. The case documents the first few years of Pineapple's operations, with a strong focus on business model innovation, distribution, scalability, and technological integration.

To analyse the role disruptive technologies play within sectoral business model innovation

To evaluate the industry-specific competitive business landscape and complexities of building and maintaining a sustainable competitive advantage within a niche market segment

To assess the strategic growth opportunities for an emerging market Insurtech disruptor

To critically appraise the entrepreneurial complexities faced by decision-makers when looking to challenge incumbent market leaders

Introduction: All countries are interested in attracting foreign direct investment (FDI) as it provides for productivity gains and modernisation for attaining sustainable development goals. Multinational corporations (MNCs) collect a vast volume of structured and unstructured big data when seeking international expansion by the FDI route in the insurance sector, but concluding these data may not be practically feasible. So nowadays, for finalising their FDI ventures, MNCs depend on machine-based algorithms for quick analysis of big data sets.

Purpose: This chapter explores how emerging big data analytics and predictive modelling fields can scale and speed up FDI decisions in the insurance sector.

Methodology: The author used a descriptive study based on secondary data from sources like World Bank, The Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development (OECD), World Trade Organisation (WTO), and International Finance Corporation (IFC) data repositories to identify variables such as risks, costs, trade agreements, regulatory policies, and gross domestic product (GDP) that affect FDI movements. This chapter highlights the process flow that can be beneficial to convert big data sets using statistical tools and computer software such as Statistical Analytics Software (SAS), IBM SPSS Statistics.

Findings: The application of artificial intelligence-based statistical tools on FDI variables can help derive time-series graphs and forecast revenues. The authors found that foreign investors can narrow their prospect search for industry or product to manageable from varied investment opportunities in host countries. Advancements in big data analysis offer cost-effective methods to improve decision-making and resource management for enterprises.

The purpose of this chapter is to provide a description of the integration of Takaful in the domestic market, based on experiences in regional markets, focusing on the explanation of factors that could enhance the position of Takaful in certain areas.

The chapter describes the evolution of Takaful insurance in international and regional markets, and explains the articulation of this product in these markets. The chapter also provides an analysis of the Algerian market characteristics related to the Takaful product.

This work will be based on an analytical research of emerging markets and their success factors; then it will be necessary to provide an overview of the product containing Takaful; and finally we will try to follow the experience of the national insurance market with the new product, supplied by the Salama Company, and determine the potential of Algeria in this area.

This work offers an opportunity to understand the mechanisms needed to activate the local market and opens the prospects for effective integration of Islamic financial products gradually, in order to prepare for changes that would provide more financial products suited to the requirements of social development in the Algerian economy.

The purpose of this paper is to fill a gap in the foreign exchange rate exposure management literature as the existing literature has focused only on developed economics, and also the current literature on foreign exchange rate exposure of cedant insurance companies is very limited. As Egyptian insurance companies deal directly with foreign exchange rates, they face exposure to exchange rates through their international reinsurance operations.

Martin and Mauer (2003, 2005) three-stage model is used to estimate foreign exchange rate transaction exposure for the sample of 23 Egyptian insurance companies over the period 2002-2009. However, the author has two innovations to this method. The author's first innovation is that instead of looking at the unanticipated operating income for each cedant company (as in both previous papers), this paper looks at the unanticipated operating income on an aggregate level. The author's second innovation is that instead of the model used in previous papers the author uses a model from the actuarial field that was proposed by Blum et al. (2001) for modelling foreign exchange rates with their relevant constituents (inflation and interest rate).

The central finding of the study is that the foreign exchange rate exposure across the Egyptian insurance industry is not significant (at the 10 per cent level) and investigates this result.

This study has made considerable contributions to the existing academic literature, but the findings also illustrate the limitations of the research undertaken. These limitations, however, provide important directions for future research. This thesis focused exclusively on the transaction exposure that Egyptian insurance companies experience to fluctuations in the US dollar exchange rate in relation to their international reinsurance operations. As a result, investigating both translation and economic exposure was beyond the scope and purpose of this study.

The findings of this research provide meaningful implications for industry practitioners. As Egyptian insurance companies are not immune from exchange rate risks, efforts must be made by each insurer to approximate and quantify their individual foreign exchange rate transaction exposure. Additionally, as Egyptian insurance companies increasingly operate worldwide (through the international reinsurance industry), this research and its results are significant for practitioners not only in Egypt, but also further afield. Finally, it is believed that this research will highlight greater implications for international financial players active in Egyptian financial and non-financial sectors, including banks not exposed singularly to US dollars, but to multiple currencies. One recent Egyptian example is Egypt Air, which lost an estimated US$600 million in 2013 due to foreign exchange rate fluctuations.

Since Egyptian insurance operates worldwide, the results of this paper are of significant not only for Egyptian insurance managers but also to practitioners beyond Egypt.

Many markets are conceptualized as a stratified low- and middle-income “pyramid” of consumers. Emerging markets are sites of rapid consumer mobility, and thus the middle class there is connected to, and often supports, low-income relatives and employees. Therefore, this paper aims to establish that African income groups are not insular, but rather interrelated and have strong social ties reinforced with longstanding communal values, such as ubuntu.

Using a between-subjects experimental vignette design, the propensity of the middle class to cover low-income individuals on an insurance product was assessed.

Income strata are interrelated and can inform value propositions, which is demonstrated in this paper with insurance, where the middle class are willing to include others, depending on their social proximity, on their insurance cover.

The context for this study was personal home insurance; hence, the generalisability of the results is circumscribed. Other more tangible forms of cover, such as medical, funeral or educational insurance, may engender far stronger effects.

Marketers tend to view low- and middle-income consumers as independent. A view of their interrelation will change the design of many products and services, such as a service catered to the poor but targeted at their support networks. An example of such a service is insurance, which is traditionally hard to sell to the poor. A less atomistic approach to income strata could have implications for vicarious consumption, as well as a reconsideration of the disposable income of both groups.

The pyramid is an interconnected network of social and economic ties.

The objective of writing this case study is to allow management students to engage with the complexities of mergers and acquisitions (M&As) in the insurance sector in an emerging economy like India. Upon completion of this case study, the students will be able to critically evaluate the business environment of the insurance sector of a developing economy like India, analyse the impact of M&As on the insurance industry of India, appraise the post-merger consequences and strategies to deal with these consequences, assess the applicability of market power and growth theories in the context of M&As and develop a strategic action plan for handling post-merger challenges.

On 3 September 2021, the Insurance Regulatory and Development Authority of India (IRDAI) approved the “Scheme” related to the merger of the non-life insurance division of Bharti AXA General Insurance Company Limited (“Bharti AXA”) with ICICI Lombard General Insurance Company Limited (“ICICI Lombard”). Earlier, on 21 August 2020, the boards of the companies had approved entering into definitive agreements through a scheme of arrangement. The merger received approvals from different regulatory bodies as mandated (Gandhi et al., 2023). Bhargav Dasgupta, managing director and Chief Executive Officer of ICICI Lombard, stated, “This is a landmark step in the journey of ICICI Lombard, and we are confident that this transaction would be value accretive for our shareholders” (FE Bureau, 2020). However, the merger posed a dilemma for Dasgupta and the management regarding crop insurance owing to its impact on profitability. Crop insurance historically had high claim ratios nearing 135% for ICICI Lombard for financial year 2018. The company ceased to underwrite this product from 2019 onwards (TNN, 2019). However, ICICI Lombard had to fulfil the three-year commitment made by Bharti AXA to the state governments of Maharashtra and Karnataka towards crop insurance. It was a scheme initiated by the Government of India, covering farmers against losses due to cyclonic rains, rainfall deficits and other unforeseen calamities. Dasgupta faced a challenge in managing the interests of the farmers and the company’s shareholders while balancing profitability, which had already been impacted by the COVID-19 pandemic. This case study delves into post-merger complexities in the financial sector non-life insurance industry in emerging countries like India.

This case study is suitable for undergraduate and post-graduate management students and executives from the insurance industry.

Teaching notes are available for educators only.

CSS 11: Strategy.

The purpose of this paper is to examine the enablers and barriers influencing international knowledge transfer at the team-level in the context of product innovation within an emerging-market multinational enterprise (EMNE) in the insurance industry.

The research applies an exploratory case study design considering an emerging-market multinational insurance company headquartered in Colombia. Four subsidiaries (El Salvador, Chile, Argentina and Colombia) and the Corporate Office (headquarter) served as the research sites. It also adopts an interpretive research approach providing a grounded theory framework linking international knowledge transfer and product innovation.

The empirical findings emphasize the central role played by the enablers (i.e. shared vision, empathy and knowledge sources) in facilitating international knowledge transfer, which, in turn, enhances product innovation. More important, however, is the detailed explanation that the paper provides regarding the enablers’ microfoundational antecedents in terms of key activities that are performed at the team-level.

The grounded theory framework was constructed using data collected in a single firm associated with a particular industry and regional context. The study only considered a single aspect of knowledge management (i.e. knowledge transfer). Other aspects of knowledge management systems, such as knowledge creation and knowledge application, should be used for explaining product innovation in EMNEs more comprehensively.

The study suggests a set of enabling conditions and activities that should be adopted by managers of EMNEs to improve international knowledge transfer with the aim of triggering product innovation. This includes the design of strategies for strengthening empathy among geographically dispersed teams by providing opportunities for regular live videoconferences among team members aimed at building close bonds, fostering trust and creating a sense of belonging in which participants get to know each other better and to establish a shared vision and a set of guiding principles and commitments for how the team will work. These suggestions are particularly important today when several multinational enterprises (MNEs) have been forced to rearrange their workplace by replacing face-to-face interactions with virtual work dynamics due to the COVID-19 crisis.

Previous studies have confirmed that international knowledge transfer positively influences MNEs’ innovative performance. However, no studies have been conducted linking both variables in the context of EMNEs in Latin America in the service sector. The research tries to fill this gap. Besides, the paper introduces empathy as a novel enabler for international knowledge transfer and a moderator able to diminish the negative effect that cultural differences and geographical barriers have on the knowledge transfer process.