The impact of customer engagement on organisational change communication at Absa bank in greater Durban area

Abstract

Events that unfolded in the past decade- the ease of new entrants into the South African banking sector, uncertain economic outlook, the 2008 global financial crisis, competition within the South African banking sector, have changed the retail banking landscape in South Africa. Retail banks are under tremendous pressure to realign their banking operations to meet these global challenges. Conforming to the mounting pressure in the South African banking sector, Barclays PLC a major shareholder in Barclays Africa Group now (Absa bank) announced its departure from the bank. A move that made it lose its strategic partner with over 100 years of experience working in Africa. The departure was received with mixed reactions across the banking landscape. Research on customer engagement in South African banking sector is still in its infancy and no study has been undertaken to determine the impact of customer engagement on organisational change communication during episodes of organisational change. To address this research gap, this study seeks to determine the impact of customer engagement on organisational change communication at Absa bank in the greater Durban area. The study adopted a quantitative research paradigm, with a pre-coded structured closed ended questionnaire on a 5-point Likert scale administered to a target population of 650 000 Absa customers in the greater Durban area. Sekaran statistical table was used for sample selection. A sample of 384 customers was selected using convenience sampling a non-probability sampling technique. Some notable conclusions resulted from the extensive statistical analysis, which were also validated by national and international studies undertaken by various researchers, who also demonstrated concordance or discordance with the current findings and were appropriately referenced.

Keywords: {'name': 'Retail banking, Absa bank, customer engagement, organisational change communication '}

Authors & affiliations

Anos Chitamba
Affiliation not supplied

Emmanuel Mutambara
Affiliation not supplied

Deposited references

Supplied references, not a list of publications citing this article.

DOI: 10.26417/ejms.v4i1.p15-19

DOI: 10.21511/bbs.13(2).2018.04

Hussain, Z. (2013). Effective communication brings successful organizational change. The Business & Management Review, 3(2), 43-50.

Kamarulzaman, Y. (2011). A focus group study of consumer motivations for e-shopping: UK versus Malaysia. African Journal of Business Management, 5(16), 6778-6784.

DOI: 10.1057/thr.2008.35

DOI: 10.1108/IJRDM-08-2017-0163

Koskosas, L. (2011). The Pros and Cons of Internet Banking: A Short Review. Business Excellence and Management, 1(1), 49-58.

DOI: 10.1515/fman-2016-0006

Ling, M. (2018). Press release: A tool for public relations. Banking: Services, Opportunities, and Risks.

Madikane, N. (2005). ABSA clients' perceptions of the service quality provided by ABSA Longmarket Street Branch in Pietermaritzburg. Master's thesis, University of KwaZulu-Natal.

DOI: 10.12816/0019094

Management Study Guide. (2022). Importance of Communication in Change Management. Retrieved from https://www.managementstudyguide.com/importance-of-communication-in-change-management.htm.

Manish, P., & Avinashi, D. (2017). A study on consumer awareness in the banking sector after the merger with special reference to the State Bank of India and State Bank of Indore. Paripex - Indian Journal of Research, 6(5), 2250-1991.

DOI: 10.5430/afr.v7n1p179

Muthoka, S. M. (2017). Factors affecting call center performance in the banking industry in Kenya: a study of Sidian and Chase bank. Master's thesis, United States International University – Africa.

DOI: 10.6007/IJARBSS/v6-i2/2002

Nedumaran, G., & Kaleeswaran, B. (2018). Online banking services – an overview. Shanlax International Journal of Commerce, 6(1), 100-101.

DOI: 10.22495/cocv11i1c10p2

DOI: 10.24940/ijird/2018/v7/i1/JAN18054

DOI: 10.19030/jdm.v7i1.6936

DOI: 10.1007/s11747-016-0485-6

DOI: 10.14254/2071-8330.2020/13-1/7

DOI: 10.1108/EBR-02-2013-0016

Price, N. (2021). The Importance of a Call Centre for Financial Services. Retrieved from https://aircall.io/blog/call-center/the-importance-of-a-call-center-for-financial-services/ (9/12/2022).

Rajpal, G. K. (2016). An organizational change and its impact on employee productivity concerning selected cooperative banks in Pune area. International Journal of Science Technology and Management, 5(1), 1-16.

Ranjansathya, D. S., Aluregowda, M., & Mahadevaswamy, R. M. (2020). An Overview of Retail Banking: A Theoretical Perspective. Compliance Engineering Journal, 11(6), 103-111.

Reinventing the value proposition. Retrieved from https://www2.deloitte.com/content/dam/Deloitte/ch/Documents/financial-services/ch-en-financial-services-efma-wealth-management-private-banking-032015.pdf (9/12/2022).

DOI: 10.1080/714042499

DOI: 10.1108/00251741211203551

DOI: 10.1080/18146627.2017.1341291

Sezgin, S., Tosun, P., & Pamir, C. (2015). Marketing as a Behavioural System: An Illustration of Retail Loans. Scientific Cooperations International Journal of Finance, Business, Economics, Marketing, and Information Systems, 1(1), 71-82.

DOI: 10.21511/bbs.13(1).2018.09

DOI: 10.1108/01435121111102629

South Africa. National Treasury. (2005). Media statement: meeting regarding proposed acquisition of a majority shareholding in ABSA group limited (“absa”) by BARCLAYS bank plc (“barclays”). Retrieved from https://www.treasury.gov.za/comm_media/press/2005/2005040401.pdf (8/12/2022).

DOI: 10.4135/9781412991841

DOI: 10.1108/09604520910971539

Tobin, K., & Ritchie, S. M. (2012). Multi-Method, Multi-Theoretical, Multi-Level Research in the Learning Sciences. The Asia-Pacific Education Researcher, 21(1), 117-129.

Tripathi, M. N. (2009). Customer engagement: key to successful brand building. XIMB Journal of Management, 35(2), 131-140.

Uyoga, D. (2018). Relationship between Customer Responsiveness, Service Performance and Satisfaction among Airline Passengers in Kenya. Academy for Global Business Advancement, 1(1), 1-20.

Vukoti?, S., Ani?i?, J., Zaki?, N., & Petrovi?, Z. (2015). The role of marketing and brand in banking. Journal of Process Management – New Technologies, International, 3(4), 76-83.

DOI: 10.4236/jhrss.2020.83016

Werner, A., Bagraim, J., Cunningham, P., Potgieter, T., & Viedge, C. (2016). Organisational behaviour. A contemporary South African Perspective. 4th ed. Van Schaik.

Williams, C.C. (2017). Developing a scale to measure the extent of customer engagement in the South African retail banking industry. Doctor in Marketing Management at the Potchefstroom Campus of the North-West University.