Will FinTech make regional banks superfluous for small firm finance? Observations from soft information-based lending in Germany

Regional banks have a competitive advantage in that short distances to clients enable the use of soft information for superior lending decisions. If the ambition of FinTech start-ups to create superior screening and monitoring technologies materialises, this advantage would be diminished and regional banks would become superfluous for small firm finance. To explore this claim, the paper in hand analyses qualitative empirical data about the lending processes and rating system use of regional German savings banks. In essence, the results from participant observation and interviews clarify the importance of “real” soft information for critical lending decisions. The context specificity and limited verifiability of “real” soft information hamper it from being hardened through the use of rating systems and other bank-ICT. Though FinTech's scoring technologies may overcome the first limitation, it appears likely that in the course of scoring development “real” soft information will be systematically crowded out due to the manipulation problem. The paper expects improved access to finance for SMEs if FinTech solutions overcome both limitations of “real” soft information use, or if peer-to-peer lending and regional banks coexist. Deteriorated access to finance is expected if FinTech companies displace the relationship banking of regional banks due to enhanced competition, without preserving the advantages of “real” soft information with superior screening and monitoring technologies. The paper concludes with recommendations on how to prevent deteriorated access to finance for small firms by promoting fair competition and FinTech innovations.     

茭簰考释--兼及江汉平原湖区人水关系

明清时期长江中游地区地方文献记载的茭簰,并非漂浮种植性质的葑田,而是漂浮居住性质的水上居家设施。“随波上下”且“不时迁移”是其基本特性,实质是借水之力以避水之害,乃湖区居民应对洪涝灾害的居住创举。茭簰不同于为众熟知的舟船,亦有别于水上航行的排筏,茭簰居民并非渔民,而是备有“种莳牲畜”的农民。茭簰与葑田,虽然一耕一居,却具有共同的指向。茭簰是湖区农家适应环境变化,根据生产生活需要而做出的相对选择,堪称湖区居民趋利避害、协调人水关系的代表性举措。     

企业文化与人力资源管理关系研究

企业文化影响着人力资源管理活动,对企业核心竞争力有着持久的影响。进行人力资源管理,要充分考虑企业文化对员工的作用。本文根据我国的国情,研究企业文化与人力资源管理之间的关系,研究企业文化如何作用于人力资源管理,以及人力资源如何对企业文化产生作用。通过深入的研究明晰企业文化与人力资源管理的相互影响途径、特征和规律,以求对实际人力资源管理工作有所启发。     

Using CRM to Model Firm Performance in a Business-to-Business Market

Customer relationship management (CRM) is the widely accepted approach for gathering, examining, understanding and translating information related to customers into managerial action. CRM is investigated in the context of new product performance (NPP). CRM enhances NPP as well as firm performance. This study investigates the impact of CRM on NPP through the moderation of top management support and an innovative culture, as well as the impact of CRM on firm performance through the mediation of NPP. A questionnaire survey is used for data collection from marketing managers of 159 firms in Pakistan in the B-to-B market. Hypotheses were tested using SEM in SMART PLS. This research shows that CRM directly affects firm performance, while NPP partially mediates the relationship of CRM and firm performance. These findings have significant implications for the practitioner. This study delivers insights to managers and academicians about the role of CRM in enhancing NPP and improving firm performance. In general, the study provides new insights into CRM by integrating top management support and an innovative culture. The research extends our understanding that top management support and innovative culture do not moderate the relationship of CRM with new product performance in a B-to-B context.     

Chinese relationship management: a qualitative study of banking in New Zealand

This study investigates the relational factors and motivations of Chinese migrant consumers towards financial service providers in New Zealand. Using convergent interviews, a deeper understanding is developed of immigrants’ relational behaviour with service providers. These relationships with service providers are significantly influenced by traditional Chinese values and guanxi and relational embeddedness plays an important role in how they are developed. The research contributes a better understanding of the interplay between Eastern and Western cultures in service relationships among immigrant groups. A general theory of the Chinese perspective of customer relationship management is developed. The implications for how marketing practitioners manage their relationships with migrant customers are explored.     

第三方支付相关基础法律问题探讨

第三方支付不是单纯的货币转移支付,而是与商业交易密切相关。互联网支付是典型的"担保支付",第三方为付款人的货币支付和收款人的货物交付进行了担保,有效保证了交易合同的全面履行,付款人支付的货币资金具有反担保保证金性质;预付卡支付和银行卡收单支付都是委托代理支付,预付卡支付第三方收到付款人的货币资金属于保管行为。     

物流整合与信息共享对企业绩效的影响——关系满意的中介效应

通过问卷调查对中国130家物流外包企业进行数据收集,本研究利用结构方程模型,实证分析了物流整合与信息共享通过关系满意对运营绩效的影响,以及关系长度对关系满意与运营绩效间关系的调节效应.研究表明物流整合促进企业绩效,同时与信息共享通过关系满意促进运营绩效,而关系满意对运营绩效有显著影响,且这种作用会受到合作关系的历史长度的影响.     

The State as Both Regulator and Player: The Politics of Transfer of Development Rights in China

The conventional argument that the introduction of transfer of development rights (TDR) shifts the power of land use regulation from the state to the market is increasingly under challenge. In China, the state's grip on land is reinforced through TDR, in which the state is both regulator and player. This state-dominated form of TDR affects China in three ways. First, competing aspirations of different scales of government complicate how TDR is implemented. Although the central state promotes TDR to maintain a national balance of arable land, some local states instrumentalize it to expand their landed basis of accumulation. Secondly, TDR tends to benefit the state but not its people. It may increase the fiscal income of the sending government and lessen the land shortage of the receiving government, but sometimes at the expense of the interests of land users without land ownership. Thirdly, given the state's deep involvement in TDR programs, the key for China's TDR to protect arable land lies not so much in clear property rights or a fully fledged market as in effective checks and balances regarding the state's powers over TDR. These three observations attest to the embeddedness of TDR in the local political economy.     

高校辅导员和大学生互建信任关系的重要性与实现途径

辅导员是高校学生管理工作中必不可少的中坚力量。辅导员与学生的关系是高校中最为突出和直接的人际关系,二者建立互相信任的关系尤为重要。论文分析了高校辅导员与大学生相互缺乏信任的表象,阐述其危害,进一步明确了互建信任关系的重要性,并从四个方面讲述了建立信任关系的实现途径。