Temporarily vulnerable consumers in a bank services setting

2019 ◽  
Vol 33 (5) ◽  
pp. 602-614 ◽  
Author(s):  
Abdelmajid Amine ◽  
Sherazade Gatfaoui

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to explore how temporarily vulnerable customers and their bank advisors cope with incidents that occur over the course of their service relationships. Design/methodology/approach A qualitative design based on ten case studies, involving interviews with both sides of the dyad (client–bank advisor) and internal secondary data from the bank, was conducted. Findings The findings show that the two sides of the dyad span a gradation of coping strategies that are enacted to solve the incidents encountered. Thus, temporarily vulnerable consumers turn out to be non-passive in their asymmetrical relationship with advisors and deploy residual resources to co-create solutions. Research limitations/implications The results enrich the knowledge of consumers’ vulnerability insofar as the authors extend the transformative service literature to temporarily vulnerable clients who project themselves beyond the crisis period and consider ensuring satisfactory levels of their well-being. Practical implications The findings suggest that banks can refine their categorization of vulnerable clients by identifying those that remain profitable and for which an effort is worth making, and those in whom it is appropriate to disinvest. They also prompt banks to design supports for the advisors in managing increased stressful interactions with precarious customers. Social implications To prevent the risk of slippage by or exclusion of, vulnerable customers who experience serious banking incidents, the paper points out the necessity to mobilize alternative levers from the public and associative spheres to allow these customers access to a minimum of banking services. Originality/value As an early exploration of transient vulnerable clients, this research fuels the understanding of their capacity to consider co-creating, alongside bank advisors, solutions to the incidents encountered with a view to preserving their well-being and ensuring their social and economic inclusion.

2019 ◽  
Vol 20 (5) ◽  
pp. 832-841 ◽  
Author(s):  
Manoela Maria Caron Moura ◽  
Fernanda Frankenberger ◽  
Ubiratã Tortato

Purpose The purpose of this paper is to verify how Brazilian HEIs apply sustainability practices, as means to improve their effects towards society, making clear to the public, including current and future students, what the university is doing and how it is concerned with sustainability. Design/methodology/approach Based on the Brazilian Education Ministry evaluation, 123 HEIs were selected as sample for the study. The websites of these HEI were verified to check for sustainability practices. Findings In general, the HEI focuses on helping people who live around the campus with social projects, health and work preparation. Further practices areas are new forms of energy, selective collection and new standards of plastic consumption. HEI with higher evaluations from the Education Ministry focuses mainly on educational programs and projects to improve sustainability inside and outside the campus. Research limitations/implications With the methodology used, not all HEIs in Brazil were analyzed, which gives a great opportunity for further studies. Practical implications HEIs may use the findings of this research to develop their sustainability practices, either in the curriculum, projects, strategic plans or even organizational structure. Social implications Communities are positively supported by universities applying sustainability practices. Such support includes education, health, guidance and provision of services to the community, financial aid and social well-being. Originality/value Focusing on sustainability practices of HEI located in Brazil, the research finds, besides the practices, gaps in several of the researched universities.


2020 ◽  
Vol ahead-of-print (ahead-of-print) ◽  
Author(s):  
Johan Magnusson ◽  
Jwan Khisro ◽  
Max Björses ◽  
Aleksander Ivarsson

Purpose The purpose of this study is to increase the current understanding of how public sector organizations dynamically balance exploration and exploitation of digital initiatives, i.e. the enactment of digital ambidexterity. Design/methodology/approach This study uses Zimmermann, Raisch and Cardinal’s perspective of configurational practices for addressing the enactment of digital ambidexterity. The method comprises a qualitative, interpretative case study of a large municipality in Sweden, using both interviews and secondary data. Findings Through the perspective of configurational practices, the study identifies and describes a set of sub-practices that constitute the enactment of digital ambidexterity. This is then used for theorizing how configurational practices involve the balancing of closeness and distance. Research limitations/implications This study is limited by being a single, non-longitudinal case of a Swedish municipality that has implications for generalizability and transferability. Moreover, it opens up for new perspectives to the future study of the enactment of ambidexterity in the public sector. Practical implications Organizations striving for digital ambidexterity are recommended to use the configurational approach to assess and design their governance to build ambidextrous capabilities through a combination of closeness and distance. Social implications This study is aimed at strengthening public sectors abilities for continued relevance for its stakeholders over time. With increased need for digital innovation within the public sector, the findings and recommendations derived from the study lead to increased innovation capability, which in turn is expected to lead to increased relevance of services. Originality/value To the best of authors’ knowledge, this is the first study that addresses how ambidexterity is enacted within the public sector following the configurational approach. As such, it opens up for new perspectives on organizational ambidexterity.


2017 ◽  
Vol 31 (4/5) ◽  
pp. 309-312 ◽  
Author(s):  
Mark Scott Rosenbaum ◽  
Tali Seger-Guttmann ◽  
Mario Giraldo

Purpose This commentary aims to introduce a collection of articles that highlights the experiences, needs and challenges of vulnerable consumers within a variety of service contexts. As a research collection, the investigations reveal that service researchers have overlooked how service design and processes affect vulnerable consumers. Design/methodology/approach The commentary is a conceptual perspective based on the investigations put forward in this special issue, extant literature and the editors’ perspectives. Findings Many consumers enter service contexts in some type of vulnerable condition. These conditions may include those relating to deafness, hearing impairments, older age, sexual orientation, immigration status and acculturation, participation in sexual exploitation, geographical remoteness, mental health challenges, obesity, natural disasters, language barriers and being the brunt of service provider discrimination. Research limitations/implications Service researchers are encouraged to consider how the service marketing’s foundational theories, frameworks, concepts and axioms generalize among vulnerable consumers. Practical implications Service practitioners need to realize customers often enter service contexts owing to some type of vulnerable condition that influences their expectations and perceptions of service quality. Originality/value This special issue expands the discipline’s understanding of vulnerable consumers and exposes an array of conditions that affect their experiences and journeys within service settings. Service organizations dedicated to enhancing consumer well-being must understand how they can help remedy, or lessen, the consequences associated with vulnerable conditions.


2016 ◽  
Vol 37 (6) ◽  
pp. 1067-1084 ◽  
Author(s):  
Kim Southey

Purpose The endless manifestation of employee misbehaviours can be classified according to Robinson and Bennett’s (1995) employee deviance typology. Using this typology, the purpose of this paper is to examine the level of “judicial” tolerance for offences committed by employees across Australian workplaces that culminated in an arbitration hearing before the country’s federal industrial tribunal. Design/methodology/approach A content analysis was performed on 565 misbehaviour related, unfair dismissal arbitration decisions made by Australia’s federal industrial tribunal between July 2000 and July 2010. Using the count data that resulted, a logistic regression model was developed to determine which unfair dismissal claim characteristics influenced whether or not a dismissal was deemed to be an appropriate course of disciplinary action. Findings The results suggest that an arbitrator’s gender, experience and background have influence on his or her decision. Significance tests also verified that personal aggression, production deviance, political deviance and property deviance were all considered unacceptable in Australian workplaces. Importantly, the results enable the ordering of the range of tolerance. From this ordering, a picture emerged as to what factor may be framing the extremities of the arbitrators’ tolerance for the misbehaviours: the target (or victim) of the behaviour. Research limitations/implications Unfair dismissal claims that are settled through private conciliation, as they occur off the public record, could not be included in the analysis. Practical implications Society’s implicit stakeholder interest in what constitutes appropriate workplace behaviour is further testament to the HRM obligation to facilitate sustainable workforces. Management should consider whether dismissing a misbehaving employee is a reactionary approach to broader organisational issues associated with employee well-being and cultural norms. In order to contribute to sustainable workforces, HRM policies and actions should focus on limiting triggers that drive misbehaviour, particularly behaviours that result in harm to individuals as a matter of priority, followed closely by triggers to behaviours that result in harm to organisational profitability. Originality/value This paper presents new insights about the degrees to which various forms of employee misbehaviour are accepted in the workplace.


2018 ◽  
Vol 16 (2) ◽  
pp. 292-310 ◽  
Author(s):  
Essien Ekerette Akpanuko ◽  
Ntiedo John Umoren

Purpose The extent to which accounting reports and disclosures provide shareholders and other interested parties with reliable information to permit informed investment decisions and true valuation of firms, has remained in doubts. The presumed bane for the failure of these reports to live up to expectation has been creative accounting. Most studies view this practice as unethical and should be stopped; others admit that although it contributes to enterprise failures, loss of investments and economic crisis, it as a necessary and legitimate practice. This paper aims to evaluate the extent to which this creativity has contributed to the failures of enterprises, identifies motivations for this practices and the challenges to true and fair reporting and transparent disclosures. Design/methodology/approach The study adopts the survey method. Questionnaire were administered to 80 accountants in banks and other enterprises with parents companies outside Nigeria and secondary data collected on failed enterprises in the world. The data collected were descriptively analysed. Findings The findings were different from findings of previous studies. It was discovered that accounting creativity is euphemism and contributes 90% to the unfair reporting of firms operations. The creativity in those practices is motivated by greed and intended to deceive the public, potential investors and shareholders and increases the rate of enterprise failures at a decreasing rate. However, the study revealed that the many regulations without adequate checks, punishments and rewards complement creative accounting in providing the foundation for make-believe, cosmetic and unfair reporting. Research limitations/implications The use of questionnaire and the subjective nature of the responses are the limitations of this study. Practical implications Improved reporting and valuation of firms are the practical implications. Social implications Reduction in failures may result in loss of employment and other social implications. Originality/value The research is original and born out of the desire to improve accounting reports and shareholders value.


2019 ◽  
Vol 11 (3) ◽  
pp. 641-650
Author(s):  
Pedro Cabral Santiago Faria

Purpose This paper aims to elaborate on the concept of avoided emissions, as a topical issue in the carbon accounting debate, both in practice and in academia. It is a commentary on the paper by Revellino (2019) who analyses an avoided emissions technology in the transport sector. Design/methodology/approach This is a commentary based on secondary data analysis. Findings This commentary reviews the history of quantification for avoided emissions and elaborates on three major challenges that project using “avoided emissions” face. This commentary is also a reflection on why avoided emissions calculations are needed in a world of transition, and how this leads to the concept being used and abused while being central to the building of new foundations. Practical implications The commentary flags a few areas that could be research focus areas in future. Social implications This paper can lead to changes in the public perception of “avoided emissions” and corporate claims around emission avoidance. Originality/value This commentary outlines clear avenues for research, asking notably to reflect on the acceptable uses and acceptable claims related to avoided emissions.


2021 ◽  
Vol ahead-of-print (ahead-of-print) ◽  
Author(s):  
Ragnhild Dybdahl ◽  
Torgeir Sørensen ◽  
Hans A. Hauge ◽  
Kjersti Røsvik ◽  
Lars Lien ◽  
...  

Purpose There is substantial research on the experiences, needs and well-being of unaccompanied refugee adolescents, but less is known about existential aspects of their lives. The purpose of the current study is to explore existential meaning-making among unaccompanied refugee children. Design/methodology/approach The informants in this study are young unaccompanied refugees (n = 30) living in Norway, and young Norwegians (n = 46). The authors undertook a secondary analysis of in-depth qualitative refugee interview data and a quantitative analysis of questionnaire data from Norwegian informants. Findings Both the refugee youths and the Norwegian youths expressed that social relationships and connections to others were most important for meaning. Moreover, both groups emphasized the importance of relatedness and generativity, i. e. commitment to worldly affairs beyond one’s immediate needs. The main differences between the two groups were related to the significance attached to religion and to loneliness. Research limitations/implications The comparison between the two groups is only possible to some degree. Secondary analyses have some limitations, as well as strengths. Practical implications The findings may be useful for supporting young refugees, as they provide insights into less-studied aspects of their lives. Originality/value The originality of this study lies in the focus on and broad interpretation of meaning, of secondary data analyses, and of comparisons between youths that are refugees versus non-refugees.


2015 ◽  
Vol 32 (1) ◽  
pp. 16-18

Purpose – This paper aims to review the latest management developments across the globe and pinpoint practical implications from cutting-edge research and case studies. Design/methodology/approach – This briefing is prepared by an independent writer who adds their own impartial comments and places the articles in context. Findings – How do firms persuade employees to participate in innovation activities and to renew their work? It is a question which especially concerns the public sector, where monetary or other tangible rewards are not available. Using two such bodies in Finland, this article examines links between well-being and innovativeness and discovers some contradictions among the findings that would have been easier to predict. Practical implications – The paper provides strategic insights and practical thinking that have influenced some of the world’s leading organizations. Originality/value – The briefing saves busy executives and researchers hours of reading time by selecting only the very best, most pertinent information and presenting it in a condensed and easy-to-digest format.


2015 ◽  
Vol 12 (2) ◽  
pp. 110
Author(s):  
Baskoro Wicaksono

This study describes the border management policy conducted by the central government, provinceof East Kalimantan and Nunukan. Policies such as the establishment of regulatory, institutionalstrengthening, programs and infrastructure development. The policy is getting good responsefrom the elite and the masses. On the other hand policy makers have expectations of localcommunities border synergism Sebatik Island in order to build and develop the border areas so asto break the chain of dependence on Malaysia. The research was conducted in Sebatik Island,East Kalimantan province Nunukan with the formulation of the problem (a) what policies areoriented to maintain borders, (b) How is the public response to government policy, (c) What areyour expectations of policy makers in local communities to regional border. This study usedqualitative methods to phenomenological research strategy. Techniques of data collection in thisstudy using two ways, namely in-depth interviews and secondary data view Results indicate thatthe existing policy of both the central and provincial to district borders do not solve the problembecause it is made on the island of Sebatik with other border regions. The policy does not includelocal knowledge, where it is desperately needed by the people Sebatik. In addition to policies onprograms and infrastructure development of the center, the district adopted a policy of inactionagainst the illegal cross-border trade, which on the one hand against the rules but if enforced thenpeople can not perform economic activities that impact well-being. Policies like this gets a positiveresponse from the public. Expectations for the future border policy is to load local content orlocal knowledge.Keyword: border policy, local knowledge, dependent relationship


2015 ◽  
Vol 7 (2) ◽  
pp. 205-218
Author(s):  
Sunil Sahadev ◽  
Pongsak Hoontrakul

Purpose – This conceptual paper aims to discuss issues relevant to fostering cooperation between India and countries in the ASEAN region in the area of technological innovation. Design/methodology/approach – This is a conceptual paper, based on insights from the existing body of literature and secondary data. Findings – The study looks at the competitiveness of different countries in the ASEAN region and considers their technological competitiveness vis-à-vis India. Broad policy issues related to fostering technological innovation as well as the main advantages of such collaboration are discussed. Research limitations/implications – This is a conceptual paper mainly intended for discussion. Practical implications – The paper provides guidelines for fostering technological innovation and could, therefore, help policy development. Originality/value – Although the Indo-ASEAN free-trade agreement is helping trade flow between the countries in the region, the potential for technological collaborations still lies unutilised. This paper looks at the possibilities for such collaborations and is one of the few papers that consider this line of thinking.


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