The competitive environment in the banking industry globally and in South Africa is putting immense pressure on companies to keep track of changes in technology, customer demands, and market trends. Responses to the above will allow a company in South Africa to improve customer service and thus remain competitive and relevant. This dissertation is to determine the status and interpretation of intellectual capital (intangible assets) within a South African banking and service company. This study explores the way in which intellectual capital characteristics contribute towards a competitive advantage. A case study method was applied and interviews were conducted to capture responses. The questions were structured, but the discussions allowed for additional questions to be asked during the interviews.

The competitive environment in the banking industry globally and in South Africa is putting immense pressure on companies to keep track of changes in technology, customer demands, and market trends. Responses to the above will allow a company in South Africa to improve customer service and thus remain competitive and relevant. This dissertation is to determine the status and interpretation of intellectual capital (intangible assets) within a South African banking and service company. This study explores the way in which intellectual capital characteristics contribute towards a competitive advantage. A case study method was applied and interviews were conducted to capture responses. The questions were structured, but the discussions allowed for additional questions to be asked during the interviews.

Although most organisations want to improve quality and reduce costs, the deployment and implementation of continuous improvement methodologies is commonly viewed as a daunting journey. Many organisations fail to properly structure and/or support continuous improvement initiatives, which ultimately doom them to failure. South African Banks are not adopting Lean and/or Six-sigma to the point where it is going to make any sort of significant difference to the bottom line over a significantly meaningful period of time. So where are they going wrong? Often it comes down to key issues that are not addressed effectively as part of the deployment. The research objectives are: • The primary objective is to establish what the mission critical success factors for Lean and/or Six-sigma implementation in South African Banking are. • The secondary objective is to define a list of the sources of benefits for Lean and/or Six-sigma implementations in South African Banking. The research questions/problems to be addressed are: • What are the mission critical success factors for Lean and/or Six-sigma implementations in South African Banking? • How do South African Banks prioritise these critical success factors? • How do South African Banks that are already on the Lean and/or Six-sigma journey perform against these critical success factors? • What are the gaps between the importance’s of the critical success factors versus the banks actual performance against these, and how is this gap impacting on the benefits that the banks are experiencing? • What sources of benefits are South African Banks experiencing? • Can generic guidelines be provided to the South African Banks for successful Lean and/or Six-sigma implementation?

Fourteen years after the demise of apartheid and embrace of democracy, South Africa as a nation is still undergoing its transformation politically, socially and economically. This environmental churning has high impact on employee perceptions within the workplace, which subsequently affects retention rates. Among the challenges facing people managers in this environment is employee motivation. However, to thoroughly understand what motivates today’s diverse employee base, one needs to look further than the current landscape into historical backgrounds, to build up character models for different demographics. The study aimed to identify associations between employee motivation and employee demographics (gender, age, race and organisational level) in the South African banking industry by also taking into account South African history to understand these associations and to translate the insights gained into effective leadership. A survey questionnaire, based on ten motivation factors, was adapted from similar studies pioneered by Kovach in 1946, who conducted subsequent studies in 1987 and 1995. The questionnaire for this study was forwarded via email to South African banking employees requesting them to provide demographic data and complete a short questionnaire with two countercheck questions per motivation factor. The collected data was then analysed to identify any associations by highlighting differences in means of the responses to the motivation factors between employee demographic categories. The means were also used to rank the ten motivation factors for each demographic category. It was concluded that there were associations, particularly between generations and the motivation factors, while gender showed the least association. On the other hand, similarities were also identified. Deserving of particular mention are similarities indicative of the Ubuntu concept of African culture across all demographic categories. Recommendations for retention strategies were provided based on these conclusions.

This study investigates the dynamic and challenging affluent market of the South African banking sector. An evolution in client demands has created a need for a more exclusive banking solution known as private banking. The research project takes place in the ABSA Private Bank Gauteng Division, the population of which are private bankers and financial planners involved in the actual client facing engagements. Through a questionnaire sampling 40 client facing staff, responses were gathered followed by deeper investigation into the objectives through interviews of both the direct reporting lines in each of the suites in the province, including the provincial executive.

Abstract While the relationship between the economy and trade between the Republic of China and the People's Republic of China are quite close, the financial industries are enlarging their development rapidly, which influence the banking industry as well. The main topic of this article is, after the Memorandum of Understanding (MOU) signed between Taiwan and mainland China, whether or not, we can build an efficient financial supervisory mechanism, which is necessary to ensure both safety and development in the financial sector. There were cases of serious financial malpractice, which resulted from the lack of a thorough financial governance system. Because the financial environment is changing very quickly, we expect some faults at first but eventually it should ultimately be a cleansing process. We anticipate minor problems with the new regulation, however, some fixes should be found as soon as possible. Also, only when problems emerge, can we reasonably evaluate whether the governance system is working properly. Thus we understand the importance of well-performing supervisory systems. Effectively, the MOU will serve as a benchmarked reference guide for directors of financial institutions when revising financial governance systems. This article first discusses current financial governance systems between R.O.C and P.R.C and takes the existing agreement as a base to discuss how corporate financial governance systems are handled now. Then the article will analyze the influence and impact of the document, and point out what consequence it entails when we sign the MOU. This is to offer the related strategies as a reference for the internal banking industry. This article, therefore; tries to issue proposals of the integration of the financial governance systems of both sides, in order to provoke the normal development on the economy and trade of R.O.C and P.R.C. To sum up, because R.O.C and P.R.C have signed the MOU during 2009 and 2010 and ECFA, we both have to open domestic markets to each other. In this case, both banking industries will be able to access internal operations of one another. In the meantime, Taiwan's finance industry will face a massive and quick change in the economic environment. How to process globalized layout and control risks becomes the principal question of the financial development in the future. Finally, with regards to the industry's long-term development strategy, we should continue to analyze it and address a countermeasure, in order to offer the financial industry an adjustment into the right way; furthermore, we can connect to the global trend and raise the international competition in the financial industry.

ABSTRACT Title: Local Management Culture Overseas: Handelsbanken Sweden and Handelsbanken UK Level: Final assignment for Master Degree in Business Administration Author: Rosa Bergheim and Michael Ings Supervisor: Maria Fregidou-Malama Examiner: Akmal Hyder Date: 2014 – January Aim: The aim with this study is to investigate what management practice Handelsbanken is using in Handelsbanken Sweden and Handelsbanken UK. In order to find out if Handelsbanken has adapted the same management practice in the UK, the focus has been on researching Handelsbanken’s organizational structure, decision-making and motivation, through comparing the two countries national culture with each other. Method: A qualitative research was used for this study, which included ten interviews with branch managers from Handelsbanken Sweden and Handelsbanken UK. Result & Conclusions: Handelsbanken has applied a standardized management approach in both UK and Sweden, highlighted by decentralization in both countries. Autonomy, trust and responsibility together with the pension fund Oktogonen were seen as central motivation factors. Furthermore the study shows that the Swedish long-term approach to business was implemented in Handelsbanken UK. Suggestions for future research: This study focused on two of Handelsbanken’s home markets, further research could be conducted through including Handelsbanken’s other home markets, more branch managers and subordinates. Contribution of the thesis: Although existing research discusses companies that are doing business outside their domestic market, the relevant literature concentrating on the banking industry in one bank focusing on the managerial practices is still relatively sparse. These topics are covered in this study. Key words: Banking industry, Culture, Management, Organizational structure, Motivation

The marked disintegration of the UK banking system in 2008 led to significant Government ownership in two major banks: The Royal Bank of Scotland (RBS) and Lloyds Banking Group (LBG) (National Audit Office, 2009). The banks are termed ‘quasi-nationalised’ due to the retention of stock exchange listings alongside Government ownership The thesis offers a documentary analysis on the public accountability of these banks. The research themes are: - The impact of Government intervention on the accountability of the quasi-nationalised banks - The banking crisis through the lens of financial reporting for RBS and LBG - Newspaper reporting of the banking crisis in RBS and LBG A multiple theory framework is utilised in the study. Property rights (Alchian, 1974; Alchian and Demsetz, 1973; Demsetz, 1967) and agency theory (Fama, 1980; Jensen and Meckling, 1976) explore the implications of Government Intervention. Impression Management and Stigma (Goffman, 1968; Goffman, 1956a) are used to critique financial reporting since the crisis. Critical Discourse Analysis assesses newspaper reporting of the banks’ finances (Fairclough, 2010; Fairclough, 1995). Summary findings for the three research themes are as follows. Quasi-nationalisation has been a positive response to the banking crisis. Banks acknowledge they must consider societal responsibilities as well as corporate profits. Yet the increased accountability mechanisms have been difficult to define and enforce. Property rights theory applauds the retention of private sector scrutiny. Agency theory, however, identifies the muted disciplinary effects of the markets in the circumstances. The banks’ financial reporting gives an alternative perspective on the banking crisis. Both banks acknowledge their role in the crisis but simultaneously distance themselves from it. RBS highlights the virtues of a ‘new’ bank different from the failed one. LBG explains poor results through ‘market dislocation’. The statutory accounts themselves are relegated in favour of managerially defined pro forma numbers and promotional materials. In this way, the statutory numbers can be seen as part of the ‘dirty work’ (Goffman, 1956b) of the crisis. Using critical discourse analysis (Fairclough, 2010; Fairclough, 1995), findings are that newspaper reporting of the banks’ accounting results occurs across a broad spectrum of titles and articles. Headlines favour big numbers for impact. But constant focus on banking pay endures. The accounts provide an important counterpoint to the news context of the banks. Positively, accounting is portrayed as a neutral challenger to the public relations news process and fulfils democratic accountability. Critically, however, it is in the interests of papers to create and sustain media panics (Leach, 2006). The thesis responds to calls for literature on the financial crisis (British Accounting Review, 2012; Journal of Accounting and Public Policy, 2011; Arnold, 2009), multi-theoretical research in the public sector (Jacobs, 2012; Kurunmäki et al., 2003), linguistic theory in accounting (Evans, 2010) and accounting in the tabloids (Jeacle, 2012) as well as interpretive research in financial reporting (London School of Economics, 2011; Brennan and Solomon, 2008; Parker, 2007).

The mature market presents challenges to marketers because much of the information about the marketplace is based on younger consumers, differing from older consumers in many important ways. The research project was commisioned with two main objectives: to determine what is required to cater for customers falling into the age bracket of 60-75, enabling marketers to successfully target the mature consumer and retain these customers. A qualitative methodology was selected to collect and analyse information to enhance understanding of the perceptions with regard to the functional, social and emotional needs of the mature market sector. Abraham Maslow is known for postulating the 'Hierarchy of Needs Theory', stating that human beings are motivated by their unsatisfied needs. It is necessary to understand and investigate the relative importance of the functional, emotional and actualisation components of mature consumer needs. / Thesis (M.A. (Psychology ))

Research report to SBL, Unisa, Midrand. / Credit risk has been identified as the main risk that can result in the failure of a bank due to ineffective credit decisions. It is, therefore, critical for the banks to conduct credit risk assessment on new applicants and existing customers in order to determine the level of affordability and mitigate credit risk. Consumer credit information plays a very important role in credit risk assessment because it can accurately detect and predict default. The aim of this study was to investigate the consequences of inaccurate credit information on bank’s secured lending division. The investigation was conducted using various methods to achieve the objectives of this research. This was done through the exploration of literature review relating to research of the management of consumers credit information in developed and developing countries, and secured lending and inaccurate credit data. A quantitative research methodology was adopted. It was observed that credit risk is seen as the key risk that banks are faced with. It was found that inaccurate consumer credit data can have a negative impact on bank’s operations in terms of consumer’s disputes, higher pricing and consumer overindebtedness. In addition, inaccurate consumer credit data impede access to credit by consumers. One of the general recommendations of this research is that banks should assist in training the consumers to improve their knowledge of credit report. Further studies in the area of corporate or business clients are also recommended as the focus of this research was on individual bank’s clients.