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1 – 10 of over 37000Introduction: The internet of things (IoT) is the emerging technology of interconnected objects that can be termed as ‘things’ used to exchange data, connecting with different…
Abstract
Introduction: The internet of things (IoT) is the emerging technology of interconnected objects that can be termed as ‘things’ used to exchange data, connecting with different devices on the internet. It is the future where connected devices are controlled remotely. The insurance sector is one of the leading industries providing financial protection services to their customers to recover losses. Like others, the insurance industry uses the services very efficiently to solve their customer-centric problems and provide the best services to them. IoT in insurance is enhancing customer services.
Purpose: To determine how the insurance industry utilises the different IoT technologies to provide the best services and solutions to their users. The insurance sector is working on other areas of expertise to offer outstanding facilities to their clientele.
Methodology: We reviewed published material covering five years on IoT and insurance and customer services in the media, newspapers, journal publications, and the web. We determined how the insurance sector adapted the new terminology to contribute its best services to the users.
Findings: We observed that IoT services and technologies benefit the insurance industry and the clientele. This shows excellent results in the growth of the sector and heightened facilities for the consumers.
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Erny Arianty, Tuti S.B. Utami, Syanni Yustiani and Rizqi Haniyah
This study aims to analyze the effectiveness of the spin-off policy which includes clarity of objectives and criteria, implementation and monitoring and evaluation functions.
Abstract
Purpose
This study aims to analyze the effectiveness of the spin-off policy which includes clarity of objectives and criteria, implementation and monitoring and evaluation functions.
Design/methodology/approach
The method used is a qualitative method with a theme approach and the analytical hierarchy process (AHP). Data were obtained from the results of focus group discussions and AHP questionnaires with informants from Indonesian Sharia Insurance Association (AASI), the sharia life and general insurance industry, the Sharia Supervisory Board, the government and regulators.
Findings
The results of the research are the effectiveness of the clarity of goals and criteria has not been realized optimally, the effectiveness of increasing profitability has not been realized, and the effectiveness of the monitoring and evaluation functions by the government and regulators has been realized. The supporting factor that has the highest level of importance is the role of the government and regulator.
Research limitations/implications
The limitation of this research is that it has not used a wider range of profitability test tools and projections. The theoretical implication of this research is as a reference for robust research in identifying spin-off success factors because this study uses a mixed method where qualitative methods are used in the study using data from theory and expert informants from three parties: regulatory parties, associations (AASI) and the insurance company (life insurance and general insurance). These results form the basis for compiling a questionnaire with a quantitative method so that the data is become relevant based on theory (design) and practical side.
Practical implications
Practical implication of the study is that the Islamic insurance industry has to prepare to achieve condition of Tabarru funds and the investment reaches 50% of the main insurance fund. AASI, as the sharia insurance industry organization, continues innovating the most suitable form of spin-off that can be achieved by the Sharia business unit and also continues to coordinate with regulators to discuss existing problems. The government and regulators also support the implementation of the spin-off by providing convenience in various aspects such as spin-off period relaxation and government incentive and relaxation to enhance sharia insurance industry.
Originality/value
The contribution of the results of this research for the government and regulatory agencies is as input in setting policies and regulations related to spin-offs, for the industry is expected to be more prepared in terms of resources, commitment and strategy.
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Yayun Yan and Sampan Nettayanun
Our study explores friction costs in terms of competition and market structure, considering factors such as market share, industry leverage levels, industry hedging levels, number…
Abstract
Our study explores friction costs in terms of competition and market structure, considering factors such as market share, industry leverage levels, industry hedging levels, number of peers, and the geographic concentration that influences reinsurance purchase in the Property and Casualty insurance industry in China. Financial factors that influence the hedging level are also included. The data are hand collected from 2008 to 2015 from the Chinese Insurance Yearbook. Using panel data analysis techniques, the results are interesting. The capital structure shows a significant negative relationship with the hedging level. Group has a negative relationship with reinsurance purchases. Assets exhibit a negative relationship with hedging levels. The hedging level has a negative relation with the individual hedging level. Insurers have less incentive to hedge because it provides less resource than leverage. The study also robustly investigates the strategic risk management separately by the financial crises.
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The purpose of this study is to find out the awareness, attitude and career preference of commerce students (undergraduate (UG) and post-graduate (PG)) for the insurance industry…
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this study is to find out the awareness, attitude and career preference of commerce students (undergraduate (UG) and post-graduate (PG)) for the insurance industry in India.
Design/methodology/approach
The data were collected from 800 commerce students (400 male students and 400 female students) through a structured questionnaire. The questionnaire had 18 items related to awareness, attitude and career preference for insurance. The reliability of the tool was assessed by Cronbach’s alpha. To establish the relationship between variables, cross-tabulation techniques that involved Chi-square tests were used. The conclusion was drawn based on probability values (p-value) taking the critical as 0.05 (Bivariate). The data was analyzed using SPSS.
Findings
The results revealed that commerce students-UG and PG were aware of the basics of insurance, irrespective of their gender and family income. The students have a positive attitude toward insurance, but lack awareness regarding career options in the insurance industry.
Research limitations/implications
This study included only UG and PG commerce students of Allahabad University and its constituent colleges, hence its findings cannot be generalized for the entire country.
Practical implications
This study can be beneficial to insurance companies in framing their policies as India has a huge young population. There is a need to make the students in higher education aware of the benefits of insurance to cover any unforeseen economic loss and also to make them aware of the career options in the insurance industry.
Originality/value
The present study bridges the gap between existing studies regarding awareness, attitude and career preference of students with gender and family income. To date, no study has been done to find the awareness and attitude of students toward the insurance industry, neither in terms of their becoming prospective customers nor in terms of career preference.
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Graham King, Clive Smallman and Michael van Weegen
Notes that the insurance broking industry is unattractive and subject to long‐term change. Cites factors contributing to this such as industry saturation, low entry barriers and…
Abstract
Notes that the insurance broking industry is unattractive and subject to long‐term change. Cites factors contributing to this such as industry saturation, low entry barriers and low product differentiation. Notes expected responses to such conditions, including those from the large, medium‐sized and provincial or high street brokers. Suggests that the latter are likely to decrease in number, faced with the increasing efficiency of direct writers and attempts by medium‐sized brokers to enter their market to offset losses in the upper levels of the market. Notes that this pattern is reflected in other areas of financial services.
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Joseph Oscar Akotey and Joshua Abor
The purpose of this paper is to examine the risk management practices of life assurance firms and non‐life insurance firms.
Abstract
Purpose
The purpose of this paper is to examine the risk management practices of life assurance firms and non‐life insurance firms.
Design/methodology/approach
Through a comparative case study methodology, the study assesses the state of risk management in both life assurance companies and non‐life insurance firms to determine whether they exhibit different or similar risk management practices. The results of the survey were also analyzed and compared to the principles of good practices in financial risk management.
Findings
The findings of the study revealed some differences and similarities in the risk management practices of life and non‐life insurance firms. Almost all the life companies have stated their risk appetite levels, which enable them to identify which risks to absorb and which ones to transfer. But non‐life insurance firms have not laid down their risk tolerance levels explicitly. The results further revealed that the industry lacks sufficient personnel with the requisite risk management skills and that the sector does not manage risks proactively, rather they do so in a reactive response to regulatory directives.
Practical implications
Effective management of risks by insurers will increase the penetration of insurance in Ghana.
Social implications
Risk management is a crucial issue, not only for the survival and profitability of the insurance industry, but also for the socio‐economic growth and development of the whole economy. As major risks underwriters, insurance companies need to adopt good practices or quality measures in the management of financial risk. This is important, more so, as the industry prepares to re‐position itself to underwrite the risks in the emerging oil and gas industry of Ghana.
Originality/value
Research into financial risk management in the insurance industry from the Ghanaian perspective is rare. This study is therefore timely and its findings are invaluable for the efficient management of financial risk in the insurance industry.
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Matthew C. Mitchell, Jeffrey A. Kappen and William R. Heaston
This paper aims to compare the emergence and evolution of organizational fields through an analysis of the life insurance industries in two large emerging markets. Using…
Abstract
Purpose
This paper aims to compare the emergence and evolution of organizational fields through an analysis of the life insurance industries in two large emerging markets. Using institutional theory as a conceptual framework, we compare the regulatory, cognitive and normative dimensions of the life insurance industry in China and India.
Design/methodology/approach
The authors introduce a qualitative variation of the country institutional profile (CIP) that has been traditionally implemented as a quantitative analytical tool used to describe differences in national environments. This newly proposed methodology captures the socially embedded aspects of the phenomenon more completely than commonly employed survey-based methodology.
Findings
This analysis leads to a three-dimensional typology of constructs and themes within each national environment. These themes include the importance of regulation and protectionism, the domestic savings culture, family support structures and human capital development within the industry. The authors conclude by comparing these typologies to consider the implications for studying change in organizational fields across contexts.
Originality/value
As the authors reflect on the evolution of organizational fields, they demonstrate how the interplay of historical factors and new global norms results in a negotiated stance between compliance with new norms and allegiance to local interests. In terms of methodological contribution, we show how the socially embedded aspects of the examined phenomenon are explored more completely by the proposed qualitative CIP than through its quantitative variation. This approach and the analysis illustrate a complex interplay of local and global norms within a selected industry that may be missed by other research methods.
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Joseph Oscar Akotey, Frank G. Sackey, Lordina Amoah and Richard Frimpong Manso
The aim of this research is to assess the financial performance of the life insurance industry of an emerging economy. In particular the study delves into the major determinants…
Abstract
Purpose
The aim of this research is to assess the financial performance of the life insurance industry of an emerging economy. In particular the study delves into the major determinants of the profitability of the life insurance industry of Ghana. The study also examines the relationship among the three measures of insurers' profitability, which are investment income, underwriting profit and the overall (total) net profit.
Design/methodology/approach
The annual financial statements of ten life insurance companies covering a period of 11 years (2000‐2010) were sampled and analyzed through panel regression.
Findings
The findings indicate that whereas gross written premiums have a positive relationship with insurers' sales profitability, its relationship with investment income is a negative one. Also, the results showed that life insurers have been incurring large underwriting losses due to overtrading and price undercutting. The results further revealed a setting‐off rather than a complementary relationship between underwriting profit and investment income towards the enhancement of the overall profitability of life insurers.
Practical implications
The policy implications of this study for the stakeholders of the life insurance industry are enormous. For instance, insurers must have well‐resourced actuary departments to perform price validation of all policies in order to prevent over‐trading and price undercutting by insurance marketing agents. In addition, the intention of the NIC to adopt a risk‐based approach in its supervision is not only timely but a very significant move that will improve upon the accounting and records keeping standards of the industry as well as the governance and risk management structures of the sector.
Social implications
Being too obsessed with premium growth without adequate price validation can lead to self‐destruction such as huge underwriting losses. Large underwriting losses can lead to insurance insolvency during periods of cluster claims.
Originality/value
This study fulfills an urgent need to investigate the things that are crucial for the survival, growth and profitability of life insurers in an emerging economy.
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Steven J. Kahl, Gregory J. Liegel and JoAnne Yates
Purpose – The broader aim of this research is twofold. First, we aim to better understand how the business computer was conceptualized and used within U.S. industry. Second, this…
Abstract
Purpose – The broader aim of this research is twofold. First, we aim to better understand how the business computer was conceptualized and used within U.S. industry. Second, this research investigates the role of social factors such as relational structure, institutional entrepreneurs, and position in the formation of conceptualizations of new technologies.
Design/methodological/approach – This paper is theoretically motivated in the sense that it responds to the lack of attention to the failure of institutional entrepreneurs to change belief systems. Through detailed archival, network, and descriptive statistical analysis, the paper shows how the failed institutional entrepreneur fits conventional explanations for success. The paper then analyzes two matched cases, comparing the insurance industry's rejection of the institutional entrepreneur with manufacturing's acceptance, in order to identify what is missing in current explanations of institutional entrepreneurs.
Findings – Our analysis reveals that the role of the audience structure in interpreting the institutional entrepreneur's message influences the change outcome. In our case, the institutional entrepreneur's view of the computer as a brain that supported decision-oriented applications did not fit with views of the insurance groups who had centralized authority over interpreting the computer. Because manufacturing had less centralized control in its discourse around the computer, there were fewer constraints on assimilation, allowing the entrepreneur's views to resonate with some of the occupational groups.
Research limitations/implications – This paper develops a theoretical approach to institutional entrepreneurship that situates the entrepreneurial efforts of individual actors within a system characterized by the structure of its audience and subject to distinct historical macro-structural processes that present significant obstacles to the realization of their entrepreneurial projects.
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Introduction: Blockchain is gaining attention in various industries and sectors. It is described as an emergent technology with immense possibilities similar to how the internet…
Abstract
Introduction: Blockchain is gaining attention in various industries and sectors. It is described as an emergent technology with immense possibilities similar to how the internet has revolutionised how businesses are currently carried out. Still, various sectors have either not adopted or are in a very nascent stage to adopt blockchain technology in their operations. The current research examines how blockchain can be used in the insurance sector. This industry was chosen as it is extremely relevant in today’s world and directly bears its economy.
Purpose: To determine the current and future path in which the insurance industry is moving about blockchain technology adoption and find synergy between blockchain technology and the insurance business.
Need for study: The insurance industry is highly relevant in today’s world and directly bears the country’s economy. Additionally, blockchain is an emergent technology with immense possibilities similar to how the internet has revolutionised how businesses are done. The current research looks at how blockchain can be used in the insurance business.
Methodology: A systematic literature review was conducted in this study by reviewing literature related to blockchain technology and the insurance sector. Science direct was used as a source of information. For this study, the literature review approach was chosen since it allows us to trace the growth of the subject matter and identify the patterns that have formed through time.
Findings: The study found that the insurance sector has recognised the latent benefits of blockchain technology and has begun to develop its usage in selected cases such as fraud prevention and risk assessment.
Practical implications: The current study can be referred to by academicians, marketers, industry people, and policymakers. The study encourages companies and academicians to further investigate the usage of blockchain in insurance.
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