Thesis (Ph. D.)--University of Texas at Austin, 1999. / Vita. Includes bibliographical references (leaves 119-122). Available also in a digital version from Dissertation Abstracts.

Thesis (Ph. D.)--Ohio State University, 2007. / Title from first page of PDF file. Includes bibliographical references (p. 97-99).

Since the early 1980's there has been a heightened academic interest in the field of commitment, particularly as it relates to business relationships. Knowledge of commitment continues to advance and has begun splintering and applied into specific and narrow fields. The particular field of interest in this study surrounds commitment levels in business relationships within property and casualty insurance distribution networks. The intent of understanding and enhancing commitment levels is to allow stakeholders to explore new ways to improve profitability. This can be achieved by deepening the level of understanding and knowledge of relationship partners with a view to anticipating and fulfilling their needs better than the competition. However, commitment is intangible and involves many factors including human emotion. This increases the difficulty in comprehending the whole phenomenon of commitment. To assist in furthering the knowledge in this area, transaction cost theory is examined and applied to insurance company and broker relationships. In seeking a greater understanding of the underlying drivers of commitment, this thesis investigates the theoretical contribution of transaction cost economics theory in assessing commitment levels. The purpose is to utilize the elements of transaction costs as a means to extend the awareness of how commitment is constructed, and to search for ways to improve and strengthen these relationships. The primary research method consists of three major case studies within the Canadian property and casualty insurance distribution sector. The first case study explores the perspectives of insurance brokers in Ontario. The second study reveals the perceptions of relationship managers employed with ING Canada, the country's largest property and casualty insurance company. Lastly, the research incorporates a series of interviews with ING Canada senior executives to capture their perspectives and validate the research findings from the first two case studies. These investigations into the Canadian insurance industry have provided several outputs, chief among them is the development of a conceptual model referred to as the 'Commitment Wheel'. This model has the advantages of seating affective and calculative commitment at the centre of a moving environment of commitment enablers.

Balbutiante à la fin de l’Ancien Régime, interdite sous la Révolution, quasi inexistante sous le premier Empire, l’assurance de dommages réapparut sous la Restauration pour prendre son envol sous le second Empire. La Révolution avait certes interdit les sociétés d’assurances, mais en sacralisant l’individu elle a développé le besoin de sécurité et donc à terme le besoin d’assurances. Ce sont des créateurs humanistes qui relancèrent l’idée d’assurance en concevant les premières mutuelles contournant ainsi l’interdiction révolutionnaire. L’assurance de dommages s’est construite sur la science des jurisconsultes et sur la jurisprudence. Le législateur est intervenu tardivement, en 1930, alors que les compagnies d’assurances avaient déjà pris leur essor. Au XVIIIe et XIXe siècles, il s’agissait de protéger ses biens contre les risques d’incendie. La société française étant alors essentiellement agricole, les assurances couvraient aussi le risque de grêle et la mortalité du bétail. L’industrialisation de la France a contribué au développement des contrats de responsabilité professionnelle et aussi de responsabilité civile. L’assurance automobile en est un exemple. Aujourd’hui, l’assurance est une activité complexe exigeant une grande technicité et à forts enjeux financiers. Elle est dans de nombreux cas devenue obligatoire. Pourquoi avoir interdit les sociétés d’assurances sous la Révolution ? Comment s’est construite et s’est développée l’assurance avant que le législateur n’intervienne ? Quelle a été son évolution et quel fut le rôle de l’État après la loi de 1930? C’est à ces questions que nous tenterons de répondre au cours de cette étude. / History of property and casualty insurance in France In its infancy at the end of the Ancien Régime, forbidden under the Revolution, almost non-existent under the first Empire, property and casualty insurance reappeared under the Restoration to take off under the second Empire. The Revolution had admittedly forbidden insurance companies, but by making sacred the individual it developed the need for security and thus eventually the need for insurance. Humanist creators re-launched the idea of insurances by creating the first mutual insurance companies thereby bypassing the revolutionary ban. Property and casualty insurance built itself on the science of the lawyers and on jurisprudence. The legislator intervened later, in 1930, although insurance companies had continued to develop. Initially it was a question of protecting ones possessions against fire risks. The French society being then essentially agricultural, the insurances also covered the risk of hail and the mortality of the cattle. The industrialization of France contributed to the development of the contracts of professional and civil liability. The automobile insurance is an example. Today the business of insurance is a highly technical and complex activity with high financial stakes. In numerous cases it is compulsory. What were the reasons for forbidding insurance companies under the Revolution? How did the insurance business develop before the legislator intervened? What changed and what was the part of the government after the law of 1930? We shall try to answer these questions by this study.