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This paper aims to emphasise the theory of adaptation in the analysis of banks' ability to meet the needs of their SME customers. This analysis involves examining the interaction process between the two parties, determining how the role of bankers is perceived and studying how banks as organisations function.

In the study a total of 60 interviews are conducted, of which 45 are conducted with SME owners. For this specific study, data drawn from in depth interviews conducted with SME owners and with bankers are presented.

The following main factors affect the adaptation process and can help explain the difficulties of banks to adapt to their SME customers: the lack of communication and contact in the interaction process, the lack of knowledge and competence of individual bankers as regards their customers' specific businesses and the centralised and standardised system that prevails within the banking organisation. Also, in this study it is found that the organisational structure influences how individual bankers perceive themselves and their ability to adapt to the needs of SMEs, which in turn affects the individual bankers' adaptability when interacting with their SME customers.

To the best of the authors' knowledge, adaptation has not been examined in relation to the concepts of interaction, role and organisation, or within the banking industry.

The purpose of this study is to investigate the influence of the technical and functional dimensions of service management on customer satisfaction in the bank‐SME relationship.

An ordinal logistic regression analysis is used to examine a total of 221 responses to a questionnaire distributed to small and medium‐sized enterprises (SMEs) in Sweden.

Both the technical and the functional dimensions of service management were shown to correlate with customer satisfaction. Thus, SMEs seem to evaluate their banking relationship not only on the basis of the effectiveness and quality of banks' service outcomes but also on the care and manner in which the bankers deliver services.

The study shows that relationship variables, such as personal interaction is a strong determinant for customer satisfaction in the bank‐SME relationship. Hence, there is a need for banks to focus training on understanding the issues of SMEs on a broader scale rather than solely on the sale of individual products.

The study examines both the technical and functional dimensions of service management in the bank‐SME relationship. Because most researchers treat ordinal scales as continuous variables, stronger conclusions can thus be drawn from the ordinal regression analysis performed here.

The United Kingdom Financial Services Authority's treating customers fairly initiative has drawn attention to a current trend that involves regulators using regulatory principles to enhance the relationship between financial institutions and customers. The term corporate fairness is introduced to facilitate the understanding of the construction of fairness. The purpose of this study is to investigate corporate fairness as a means of achieving customer satisfaction.

This study is based on a sample of 359 small and medium‐sized enterprises (SMEs) in Sweden. LISREL, a structural equation modelling technique, is used to analyse the empirical data.

The present study emphasises the importance of treating customers fairly in the financial sector. By being embedded in the strategy and structure of the bank organisation, corporate fairness enables individual bankers to act in a relational manner towards their customers, thereby resulting in higher customer satisfaction.

Corporate fairness is a topic usually reserved for consumer research, this study shows the impact of corporate fairness on the SME community. The study shows how corporate fairness is linked to customer satisfaction, and how perceived fairness can be improved.

This study analyzes the nature of relationships between banks and small and medium‐sized enterprises (SMEs) by drawing on the theory of relationship marketing (RM) and the concept of corporate image (CI). More specifically, the main purpose of this study is to investigate the relationship between a bank and its SME customers and to examine how the bank's management of customer relationships influences its CI.

A dyadic approach was adopted in this study. Hence, data were gathered via interviews with three bank managers employed in the same bank. An additional 17 interviews were performed with the case study bank's SME customers.

This study indicates that the bank's image will be dependent on the way the bankers manage the relationships with their SME customers. The ability of bankers to understand and meet the SMEs' specific needs highly influences their relationships, which subsequently affects the image of the bank as perceived by their SME customers. Hence, CI reflects the SMEs' overall perceptions of how well the bank has been able to manage the relationship.

Although there is a clear theoretical and practical understanding of the importance of RM strategies within banking and the effect of CI on the performance of banks, few studies have taken into consideration the dynamic link between these two concepts and their effect on bank‐SME relationships.