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An updated version of the original (1985) text, the book covers all aspects of marketing and selling bank services: the role of marketing; behaviour of customers; intelligence, planning and organisation; product decisions; promotion decisions; place decisions; price decisions; achieving sales. Application questions help to focus the readers' minds on key issues affecting practice.

This study aims at product development in Syariah banking, using the theory of Pyramid of Maslahah. Product development are important aspects of Islamic banking to realize Maqasid Al Shariah and to better serve the real economy.

To understand the needs of the customers, this study uses qualitative approaches and collects primary data from semi-structured interviews of 25 banking customers in Indonesia.

The study found that the group of respondents who have similar characteristics in age, marital status and number of kids tend to have similar financial needs. Some of the needs that have not been fulfilled by Sharia banking are the needs for investment in banking products, the needs for pension plan products and the needs for travelling-related financial products.

This study proposed that Islamic banking should provide financial products that cater to three needs of the society, including the needs for necessities/essentials (daruriyat), the needs of complementary requirements (hajiyyat) and the needs for beautifications or embellishments (tahsiniyat), to be able to better serve the real economy.

Financial needs and the life cycle approach can be used for product development in banking industry. However, this approach has not been widely used for consideration in the development of Sharia banking products in Indonesia. This study provides some novelty in Islamic banking customer behavior, especially in understanding financial needs based on the theory of Pyramid of Maslahah.

The purpose of this paper is to identify how zakat institutions in Brunei can facilitate financial inclusion into their practices and assist to fulfil the saving motives of zakat recipients, notably upon creating financial products/solutions for the poor and destitute.

Using mixed methods approach, structured interviews were conducted with 431 individuals (215 welfare recipients and 216 non-welfare recipients) and semi-structured interviews were conducted with 39 welfare recipients.

This paper highlights the need for bank accounts and credit facilities that meet the needs of welfare recipients, to fulfil their daily needs, as well as saving for children/grandchildren’s education, and for welfare recipients who save.

Limitation includes non-random sampling.

The implications of these findings point out how zakat and other social institutions in Islam can adapt to contemporary challenges in personal finance, notably in facilitating financial inclusion and understanding saving motives of recipients.

This paper provides a perspective and contention for zakat institutions to adapt to contemporary aspects of personal finance, through facilitating financial inclusion and the saving motives of zakat recipients.

This monograph covers a number of key articles and presentations by the author over the last decade. The points contained in them reflect a clear belief based on experience of creating significant cultural change so that banks become more market‐driven and customer‐orientated. Many of the forecasts made in the articles have become a reality in the marketplace. This monograph begins with a description of changes over the last decade: the introduction of the marketing function into banks, consumer responses, new competitors, technological developments, and the impact of Government. Marketing has faced many difficulties in the banking industry and competitive breakthroughs have not been easy to achieve. Many leaders in the industry believe in business/marketing strategy evolving in close association with IT planning – this is the second topic, IT support may be crucial. The importance of advertising and management of agency relationships is the subject of Chapter 3 – how can it be effectively used? Chapter 4 looks at the ways in which the consumer is presently getting a better deal; Chapter 5 describes the marketing success of the NatWest Piggy Bank within the context of a changing marketing culture. A wider repertoire of marketing techniques are used in the USA (Chapter 6) but if they are to be used in the same way here then the situation will need to approximate more closely to that of the USA – credit and credit cards are the particular focus and the US market is more aggressive. Chapters 7‐9 look at the future of financial services marketing from the retailer′s perspective – the retailer′s detailed approach to a possible new business has distinctive strengths, but their actual opportunities in this market may be restricted to an extent by, for example, inexperience and so lower credibility as vendors of some specialised services like investment management. Chapter 10 appraises the value and strategic nature of market research. Chapter 11 considers the movement of building societies into the wider personal financial services marketplace, the product′s role in the marketing mix, and the impact of the Single Market in Europe. Chapter 12 singles out the cost‐effective technique of automated vetting of customers′ creditworthiness from the special viewpoint of the building society. The monograph concludes with a discussion of the changing market and future prospects: the world of finance is no longer simple; money is no longer the common denominator; the consumer is now the focus; competition to provide services is fierce; the future is exciting!

Public information disclosure is a manifestation of transparency and contributes to governance-by-disclosure. Also, better financial reporting can improve the credibility and integrity of public finances and contribute to a better management of public resources. A survey was carried out in Cyprus of users’ of public financial reports concerning an expectation gap about the types of information included in such reports (information needs expectation gap) as well as the quality of such information (information quality satisfaction gap). The paper aims to discuss these issues.

Two focus groups of users and preparers of public financial reports were used to construct the questionnaire. Users of such reports, who belonged to all three categories of public sector financial reporting identified by IPSASB, were surveyed. The quantitative data obtained was analysed using SPSS and quadrant analysis to answer the research questions posed.

Data from 101 respondents confirmed that each of the information needs identified in the IPSASB Consultation Paper (2008) was rated as being a significant information need. Data analysis also showed that both types of expectation gap exist, especially as far as local authority and semi-public organisations are concerned.

The response rate in the self-administered survey was admittedly rather low but it was not unexpected mainly due to the survey’s very specialised nature and the tendency by people in Cyprus not to critique public bodies.

Deficient financial public sector reporting means the auditor general is not able to adequately express an opinion on public spending at the local government level. This, in turn, means taxpayers do not get the quality of services they pay for. At the same time, the lack of information transparency means corrupt practices are not eradicated. One answer to the problem would be legislating the content of public financial reports.

The lack of governance-by-public exposure means that services to the local community cost a lot more, due to corruption and inefficiency. In addition, it contributes to lowering market confidence and eventually contributes to financial crisis at the national level.

The survey conducted was the first of its kind in Cyprus to investigate financial public sector reporting and document both manifestations of the expectation gap. In addition, information needs identified in the IPSASB Consultation Paper (2008) was rated as significantly needed and this is the first time it has been done in Eurozone member state and in a country facing a financial crisis.

This paper aims to develop a conceptual framework of inclusive Islamic financial planning (IFP) by combining the traditional Islamic institutions of zakat and awqaf with contemporary notions of financial planning, financial inclusion and financial literacy that caters to the short-term and long-term financial goals of the poor.

Being a conceptual article, an inclusive IFP framework is described, analyzed and developed by integrating modern notions of financial inclusion, financial planning and financial literacy with the concepts of zakat and awqaf.

Using the notion of a hierarchy of needs and a financial planning model, an inclusive IFP framework that can be used by the poor is outlined. The complementary role of the non-poor households who provide funds for zakat and awqaf is also identified.

The applicability of an inclusive IFP would require Islamic financial instruments and products, institutional development and existence of a social planner who can integrate zakat, awqaf and financial planning to serve the financial needs of the poor.

Application of an inclusive IFP that can mitigate poverty would necessitate integrating financial planning skills and knowledge with traditional institutions of zakat and awqaf to provide holistic financial advice and services to the poor households.

Discussion of financial planning in financial inclusion literature is scant. The paper explores and offers a novel approach of poverty mitigation by utilizing the full spectrum of IFP that considers the financial needs and allows for the creation of a personalized financial plan for low-income households.

This study aims to verify whether non-financial disclosure in the construction industry (CI) responds to stakeholders’ information needs and explores the most frequent topics disclosed in terms of the environmental, social and governance (ESG) pillars.

This study uses a bag-of-words method and latent Dirichlet allocation to match stakeholders’ expectations with information disclosed by companies. This paper assesses the publicly available non-financial disclosure of the 46 European CI companies covered by the Refinitiv database with ESG scores.

This study provides two main findings. First, it shows the mismatch between stakeholders’ information needs and what they get in non-financial reporting. Despite non-financial information in CI disclosure, the information disclosed by many CI companies does not meet their users’ information needs. CI companies commonly focus on their sustainable products and health policy while omitting other topics of interest – the circular economy, unethical business behaviour, migrant policy and human trafficking. Second, this study indicates the defects of simple disclosure analysis based on keywords and highlights the importance of context in information analysis.

The proposed novel approach to text analysis offers several practical applications. It is a more effective tool for evaluating companies’ sustainability performance. It may be especially important to ESG rating providers. Additionally, the results may be of interest to companies wishing to improve their communication, and, in particular, to regulators and standard setters in two matters. The first is the need for more pressure to increase awareness among issuers to shift from disclosing large amounts of non-financial information to disclosing good quality non-financial information, which would be appropriate for meeting stakeholders’ expectations. The second is the necessity for deepening issuers’ understanding of the diverse stakeholders’ information needs, considering the substantial differences among industries and improving communication to meet them.

This study introduces text analysis that, apart from keywords, considers the context of these keywords’ appearances in a report’s narration. It allows a significantly improved understanding of the information disclosed and a more stable grounding for reasoning, leading to better and informed decisions. Moreover, this study verifies how the information disclosed matches stakeholders’ needs. Finally, it enriches the literature on sectoral analysis concerning non-financial disclosure.

This paper aims to explore the common ethical decision-making challenges faced by financial advisers and how they meet these challenges. The purpose is to identify successful decision-making tools used by investment advisers in doing business ethically. Additionally, the authors uncover common challenges and offer decision-making tools to provide support for supplemental ethics training in the future.

Questions were analyzed through a qualitative approach using individual interviews to examine a range of experiences and attitudes of active financial advisers. The sample was represented by 11 practicing financial advisers affiliated with US independent broker-dealers: six women and five men, each with 10 or more years of experience, ranging in age from 35 to 75. Grounded in four ethical decision-making models, this research examines individual ethical decision-making using individual (internal, personal) and organizational (external, situational) factors.

The method used uncovered struggles and revealed strategies used in making ethical decisions. Two research questions were examined: what are the common ethical decision-making challenges faced by financial advisers in the US financial industry? How do financial advisers handle ethical decision-making challenges? Four themes emerged that impacted ethical decision-making: needs of the individual, needs of others, needs of the firm and needs of the marketplace. Financial advisers identified moral obligation, self-control and consulting with others as major considerations when they contemplate difficult decisions.

A limitation of this review is its small sample size. A more robust sample size from investment advisers with a broader range of experiences could have widened the findings from the study.

Investment advisers can use the findings of this study as a tool for improving their own ethical decision-making or designing training for their employees to be better decision-makers.

The study explores the decision-making experiences of investment advisers to reveal multifaceted, often private struggles that qualitative methods can uncover. The study provides support for the development of additional training in ethical decision-making specific to investment advisers.

The purpose of this exploratory paper is to define the characteristics of foster youth, discuss the impacts of trauma on their lives, present results from a foster youth survey conducted at a university in the Midwest to assess the needs of former foster youth and discuss the ways universities can support this vulnerable population of students. Several themes emerged from the study. The financial need emerged at the top. The number of essential needs was striking. For example, more than half of the respondents did not have their basic needs met. These needs included food, medical/dental services, clothing and transportation needs.

Faculty researchers who were part of a university task force developed a survey to assess the needs of former foster youth who were enrolled in classes at the time that this research was conducted. The survey was developed and disseminated through Qualtrics, a software that distributed survey links via email in a confidential manner. The survey consisted of a variety of general questions related to participants’ background and demographic information, as well as the specific needs and services that they were interested in receiving. The survey was sent out one-time peer week for three weeks in the late fall semester.

Findings indicated that 9% of respondents (n = 4) ranked the greatest areas of need as being financial assistance for school supplies, medical/dental care and financial aid advice. Similarly, 7% of respondents (n = 3) expressed the greatest needs as being affordable housing, housing during semester breaks, financial support for a laptop, financial counseling, counseling services, emergency financial assistance and internship and career counseling.

Limitations of this research include the use of a small and homogenous participant sample size, with data collected from one university campus. Therefore, results do not necessarily generalize elsewhere and replication is necessary for other geographical regions that include additional participants from varying backgrounds. Because data were not collected from a control group of nonfoster students, it is also unknown whether the identified student needs from this research substantially differ from the general population.

All students do not need the same support, so a menu of services should be provided. These services could include care packages that include basic academic necessities (e.g., laptops, school supplies, book vouchers, health and beauty supplies), financial literacy training, mentorship opportunities, a one-credit course on independent living skills, providing connections to community resources (e.g., childcare, housing, employment) and targeted advising for this specific student population, many of which who are from the first generation and low-income backgrounds. Another opportunity is to provide, possibly mandate, professional development for faculty and staff on the characteristics and needs of these vulnerable students.

Institutions have an opportunity, and arguably an obligation, to identify these students as early as possible. This can be done through collaboration with state human service departments, high school counselors and using demographic data found in the Free Application for Federal Student Aid form. Recruiting, retaining and supporting this population of students are critical because many have needs similar to other marginalized populations that the authors are so intensely focused on.

This paper aims to examine the perceptions of owners and accountants of small- and medium-sized entities (SMEs) on the users and their financial information needs of SME financial reporting.

Postal questionnaire surveys with owners and accountants of SMEs were used to identify users and their financial information needs. In total, 1,498 questionnaires were sent to SME owners and accountants. A total of 358 questionnaires were returned, generating 323 useable questionnaires. The management branch of stakeholder theory is used for the study which asserts that company management is expected to meet the expectations of those stakeholders who are more powerful than others.

The users of Sri Lanka SME financial information were limited to owners, banks and Department of Inland Revenue. Users and financial information needs of owners varied in relation to the size of the SME. Financial information are useful for making capital investment and planning decisions for owners regardless of the size of the SME. By sharing information with outside parties, disclosures can diminish information asymmetries between the firms and its stakeholders. The top three reasons for which owners use SME financial information are for planning purposes, estimating income tax liabilities, and taking marketing and pricing decisions.

Since the study focuses only on the views of owner-managers and accountants of SMEs, the holistic understanding of uses of SME financial information by other user groups cannot be achieved.

The results of this study provide international and local standard setters with an indication of future direction for SME financial reporting.

This paper extends existing knowledge on users and their financial information needs of SMEs in developing countries. Consequently, the findings of this paper make a valuable contribution to the work of practitioners such as local and international standards-setters and regulators who may be considering developing/revising financial reporting framework for SMEs either worldwide or in developing countries.

Although SME financial reporting has attracted enormous attention in the recent accounting literature, academic research into SME financial reporting is scant. This paper extends existing knowledge on users and their financial information needs of SMEs in developing countries. The general purpose financial reporting model and the accounting standard IFRS for SMEs in particular would not be applicable to Sri Lankan SMEs unless it modifies to reflect the financial information needs of users of Sri Lankan SME financial information.