From thrifts to universal banks: the sources of organisational change in French savings banks, 1945–2000

This article aims to analyse the processes by which French savings banks have transformed themselves in the past 70 years. Although much is known about how banking has changed in industrialised countries since the late 1970s, in particular through higher competition, regulatory changes and restructuring, we know relatively little about how non-profit banks have been affected. In addition, although the key factors of change highlighted in the literature all reveal an implicit emphasis on exogenous sources of change (i.e. banks respond to changes in their external environment by adjusting their strategy), not much research has been dedicated to investigate the potential endogenous factors of change and, by extension, more complex interactions between banks and their environment have been ignored. This article aims to respond to these two challenges, by drawing on the framework proposed by Haveman and Rao suggesting that organisational change occurs as the outcome of co-evolution between organisations and institutions. Given the key role played by the state in banking, the article proposes an amendment to this framework by taking into account the multiple interdependencies between state and banking actors, and how these interdependencies evolve over time.     

An Exploratory Cross-Cultural Analysis of Marketing Ethics: The Case of Turkish,Thai, and American Businesspeople

Although a number of studies have shown that corporate social responsibility (CSR) activities often lead to greater organisational performance in western developed economies, researchers are yet to examine the strategic value of CSR in emerging economies. Using survey data from 280 firms operating in Dubai, this study examines the link between CSR activities and organisational performance. The results show that CSR has a positive relationship with all three measures of organisational performance: financial performance, employee commitment, and corporate reputation. These results reinforce the accumulating body of empirical support for the positive impact of CSR on performance and challenge the dominant assumption that, given the weak institutional framework in emerging economies, CSR activities drain resources and compromise firms’ competitiveness.     

Corporate Social Responsibility in the International Banking Industry

This article aims at providing a framework to assess corporate social responsibility with international banks. Currently, it is mainly rating institutions like EIRIS and KLD that provide information about firms’ social conduct and performance. However, this is costly information and it is not clear how the rating institutions arrive at their conclusion. We develop a framework to assess the social responsibility of internationally operating banks. We apply this framework to more than 30 institutions and find significant differences among individual banks, countries, and regions. Furthermore, it appears that social responsibility of these banks has significantly improved between 2000 and 2005.      

A conceptual framework to analyse hospital competitiveness

This article proposes a conceptual framework to analyse hospital competitiveness at the organisational level. Hospital competitiveness, defined as the capacity a hospital has to develop a superior performance that leads it to a position of competitive advantage, may be analysed in three dimensions: organisation, strategic behaviour, and performance. Based on previous studies and on the current structural adjustment in the Portuguese public hospital sector, this article suggests the following categories: legal status, organisational complexity, and resources for the organisation dimension; stakeholders, services and inter-organisational relationships for the strategic behaviour dimension; and type of indicators, efficiency and effectiveness, and benchmarking for the performance dimension. This framework seems to be particularly useful in evaluating Portuguese hospital competitiveness and providing insights for hospitals' managers and public decision makers both from Portugal and other countries.     

Integrating internal customer orientation,internal service quality,and customer orientation in the banking sector: an empirical study

The purpose of this paper is to examine the interrelationships between internal customer orientation (ICO), internal service quality (ISQ), and customer orientation (CO) to develop and test a conceptual model of the antecedents of CO in the banking sector. The conceptual framework consists of the following constructs: ICO, interdepartmental conflict, interdepartmental connectedness, ISQ, job satisfaction, empowerment, and CO. Moreover, 10 hypotheses were developed and tested using a sample of 202 banks. Reliability analysis and confirmatory factor analysis have been used to test the validity of the constructs, while the structural equation modelling has been used in hypotheses testing. The strength of the relationship between the constructs indicates that features of the suggested CO model including interdepartmental connectedness, interdepartmental conflict, job satisfaction, and empowerment are crucial to achieving business performance and CO. The results which emerged from our hypothesised model were found to support that ICO leads to ISQ and in turn CO. In particular, all variables show strong support for our hypothesised model, however, interdepartmental conflict was found to be a negative indicator. Findings suggest that the CO model can be deployed as a means of enhancing organisational behaviour to improve business performance.     

Can culture be changed? a study of internal marketing

The article explores the ways in which internal marketing initiatives work in a number of UK retail banks from the point of view of both managers and employees. It suggests that although internal marketing attempts to function as a culture change mechanism, the resulting organisational cultures rather than being homogenous and united around the imagery of the consumer and service quality are in fact fragmented, ambiguous and contested by a variety of organisational stakeholders.     

Internal marketing: a qualitative study of culture change in the UK banking sector

This paper discusses the findings of a qualitative study carried out in the UK retail-bank sector on the implementation of Internal Marketing (IM). While the overall aim of Internal Marketing is the creation of a unified culture around the values of customer service, employee empowerment and service quality, the evidence suggests that Internal Marketing is perceived and enacted in ways that at times contradict such managerial rhetoric. The paper sheds light on what internal marketing is (its underlying principles within the organisations studied), the ways in which the banks studied use it in order to change their organisational culture as well as the difficulties encountered in implementing IM as a culture change agent. It concludes that the implementation of Internal Marketing in the banks under the study is problematic and does not result into a unified organisation culture. Indeed, implementing Internal Marketing is a process fraught with difficulty, which at times leads to divisions, ruptures and ambiguity in the newly created organisational culture.     

Towards a Performance Measurement Framework for Community Development Finance Institutions in the UK

Community Development Finance Institutions (CDFIs) are publicly funded organisations that provide small loans to people in financially underserved areas of the UK. Policy makers have repeatedly sought to understand and measure the performance of CDFIs to ensure the efficient use of public funds, but have struggled to identify an appropriate way of doing so. In this article, we empirically derive a framework that measures the performance of CDFIs through an analysis of their stakeholder relationships. Based on qualitative data from 20 English CDFIs, we develop a typology of CDFIs according to three dimensions: organisational structure, type of lending and type of market served. Following on from this, we derive several propositions that consider how these dimensions relate to the financial and social performance of CDFIs, and provide the basis for a performance measurement framework.      

Conflicting stories of virtue in UK healthcare: bringing together organisational studies and ethics

In recent years, organisational theorists have been interested in the tensions faced by healthcare organisations. In this paper, these tensions are examined using the virtue approach to ethics of Alasdair MacIntyre. It is argued that although MacIntyre's framework shares many concerns with organisational studies, it supplements the analysis with a focus on moral content and evaluation. By providing moral evaluation of the stories told in organisations, an ethical analysis compels action on a basis that organisational studies does not. Nevertheless, it is the analysis of stories in organisation studies that provides the tools for taking action. The analysis presented here provides an example of how ethics and organisational studies can be brought together to provide a stronger analysis of organisational phenomena. Indeed, it provides support for Nielsen's position that organisational theory and ethics are co-dependent and suggests that greater attention should be paid to ethical concepts in the study of organisational phenomena.     

Quality of Export Memory Content: A Conceptual Framework

Exporting is still one of the most common ways for organisations to reach foreign markets and its success is often key to sustaining and enhancing overall firm performance. In order to maximise the likelihood of developing sustainable competitive advantage in export markets, exporting organisations now need to learn better and faster than their competitors. This paper examines organisational learning in the context of exporting activities, and more specifically focuses on export memory. A framework of export memory is proposed, with key propositions concerning performance outcomes of export memory. Conclusions are made and future research directions are indicated.     

Social Reporting as an Organisational Learning Tool? A Theoretical Framework

Social reporting has become an increasingly important dimension of the corporate social responsibility process. The growing necessity to include the social dimension in reporting practices raises important questions about the nature of social responsibility and its impact on corporate and individual behaviour and performance. The literature has yet to provide a reliable theoretical definition of corporate social responsibility and performance, however. Based on the approach proposed by Simons, we argue that organisational reporting about social responsibility can be viewed as a learning tool in some instances. Under this view the design and implementation of corporate social reporting procedures may lead to individual and organisational dynamic changes that foster organisational performance. Research propositions are then derived from the analysis.     

Organisational form and industry emergence: Nonprofit and mutual firms in the development of the US personal finance industry

Economic theories of commercial nonprofits and mutuals usually emphasise the advantages of such organisational forms in reducing agency and monitoring costs in markets that suffer from information asymmetries in exchanges between firms and their customers. This article examines the ability of such transaction cost theories to account for historical variations in the ownership and governance of firms in the US personal finance industry between the early nineteenth century and the Great Depression. It focuses, in particular, on mutual savings banks and their role in the development of the intermediated market for savings accounts. While I find some evidence in support of transaction cost theories of organisational form, I also find that entrepreneurial and socio-political factors played crucial roles in the choice of ownership and governance structures; mutual savings banks predominated in the early years of the industry because the form offered entrepreneurial advantages over investor-owned corporations and because in some states they benefitted from regulatory and political advantages that joint-stock companies lacked. Their relative decline by the early twentieth century was the result of increasing competition in the market for savings deposits, the loosening of regulatory barriers to entry, and changes in public policy that reduced the transaction, innovation and regulatory advantages that the mutual savings bank form had once held. The article draws out the theoretical implications for our understanding of the historical role of nonprofit and mutual firms.     

Does diversification add firm value in emerging economies? Effect of corporate governance

Using 205 Taiwanese firms spanning five years, this research examines how corporate governance factors specific to emerging economies determine the extent of diversification and moderate its performance. The analyses reveal that controlling family ownership is significantly associated with a greater extent of diversification, which impairs firm value. Conversely, domestic bank ownership significantly decreases diversification, which in turn increases diversification performance. These findings present the evidence of controlling family entrenchment through diversification and the significant role domestic banks play in the principal–principal corporate governance framework.     

Internal marketing,organisational culture,job satisfaction,and organisational performance in non-life insurance

The concept of internal marketing employed in the service sector is crucial to excellent service provision and successful external marketing. This study conducts an empirical investigation into the non-life insurance industry in Taiwan, exploring the correlation between internal marketing, organisational culture, job satisfaction, and organisational performance in Taiwan. Results show significant correlations among internal marketing, organisational culture, job satisfaction, and performance of non-life insurers. These findings can provide a basis for future studies of related topics as well as a solid reference for business owners and managers in the non-life insurance sector.     

Market orientation and customer-based corporate brand equity (CBCBE): a dyadic study of Indian B2B firms

The relationship between market orientation (MO) and one of its most important consequences – firm performance – has received considerable attention in marketing research. Performance has been largely judged through financial or objective measures. This paper connects assimilation of MO in firms with corporate brand performance since academics have not used judgmental or market-based measures in assessing performance. We have introduced customer-based corporate brand equity to obtain a rounded idea of firm performance. This is achieved through a dyadic study, instead of self-assessment, wherein the marketing chiefs of B2B firms and their respective organisational customers are surveyed to gauge the effects of incorporating MO. We have shown that corporate brand performance is enhanced significantly in the presence of organisational innovativeness. From a practitioner’s perspective, the study details the organisational actions to be taken to assimilate MO and how those can be exploited to enhance corporate brand performance.     

Integration and organisational learning capabilities in third-party logistics providers

This study applies resource-based theory to explore logistics. A survey of 1011 forwarder-based third-party logistics providers in Taiwan was undertaken to examine the relationships between integration capability, organisational learning capability, service performance, and financial performance, using the structural equation modelling technique. The results show that four hypotheses were supported by the model, indicating that a significant positive relationship existed between integration capability, organisational learning capability and service performance. Moreover, the results also supported a significant positive relationship between organisational learning capability and financial performance. A positive relationship between service performance and financial performance was also supported.     

Higher Ethical Objective (Maqasid al-Shari’ah) Augmented Framework for Islamic Banks: Assessing Ethical Performance and Exploring Its Determinants

This study utilises higher objectives postulated in Islamic moral economy or the maqasid al-Shari’ah theoretical framework’s novel approach in evaluating the ethical, social, environmental and financial performance of Islamic banks. Maqasid al-Shari’ah is interpreted as achieving social good as a consequence in addition to well-being and, hence, it goes beyond traditional (voluntary) social responsibility. This study also explores the major determinants that affect maqasid performance as expressed through disclosure analysis. By expanding the traditional maqasid al-Shari’ah,, we develop a comprehensive evaluation framework in the form of a maqasid index, which is subjected to a rigorous disclosure analysis. Furthermore, in identifying the main determinants of the maqasid disclosure performance, panel data analysis is used by including several key variables alongside political and socio-economic environment, ownership structures, and corporate and Shari’ah governance-related factors. The sample includes 33 full-fledged Islamic banks from 12 countries for the period of 2008–2016. The findings show that although during the nine-year period the disclosure of maqasid performance of the sampled Islamic banks has improved, this is still short of ‘best practices’. Through panel data analysis, this study finds that the Muslim population indicator, CEO duality, Shari’ah governance, and leverage variables positively impact the disclosure of maqasid performance. However, the effect of GDP, financial development and human development index of the country, its political and civil rights, institutional ownership, and a higher share of independent directors have an overall negative impact on the maqasid performance. The findings reported in this study identify complex and multi-faceted relations between external market realities, corporate and Shari’ah governance mechanisms, and maqasid performance.

     

Competency identification,modelling and assessment in the USA

Competency efforts in the USA programmes have evolved from an early focus on distinctions between best-in-class (exemplary) and fully-successful performers to become a link between organisational strategy and organisational and individual performance. Interest in competency-based approaches is growing. Training and development professionals are using competency models to clarify organisation-specific competencies to improve human performance and unify individual capabilities with organisational core competencies. Educators and government policymakers are using competency models as one means to clarify and link workplace requirements to educational programmes and curricula.     

Evaluating the effects of executive learning and development on organisational performance: implications for developing senior manager and executive capabilities

In spite of decades of research into high‐performance work systems, very few studies have examined the relationship between executive learning and development and organisational performance. In an attempt to close this gap, this study explores the effects of a validated four‐dimensional executive learning and development measure on a composite measure of organisational performance. The study is based on ordinal regression analysis with empirical data elicited from 222 executives and senior leaders drawn from a wide geographic region. The theoretical link theoretical between the two variables was established by building on the Activity‐Motivation‐Outcome concept in order to encapsulate human capital, dynamic capability, resource dependency, social exchange and leader‐member‐exchange theories. The study reported an overall positive effect of executive learning and development on firm performance and has significant implications for the effective development of executive and senior management capabilities as a means of improving organisational effectiveness.     

Competitor orientation in successful SMEs: an exploration of the impact on innovation

The impact of market orientation on organisational performance has been the subject of many studies illustrating variance with firm size. Although small- to medium-sized enterprises (SMEs) are inherently customer-oriented, research has identified that they have significantly lower levels of competitor orientation than large firms and that competitor orientation is significantly related to organisational performance. In addition, studies have illustrated that SME success is linked to innovative problem solving, new product development and resource optimisation. SMEs are inherently innovative in how they adopt creative approaches to overcome constraints associated with their size. Given that SMEs often neglect to focus on competitors, this study explores the relationship between competitor orientation and organisational performance through an innovation lens. This study uses a qualitative research approach to investigate seven successful SMEs as case studies. The findings indicate that SMEs seeking optimal organisational performance should pay close attention to direct and indirect competitors in order to identify opportunities and build sustainable competitive businesses.