Digital marketing as a determinant variable for improving the business performance

Sustainable growth and development can be the most important lesson that banks have learned in recent decades. Banks would gain many benefits, win the competition and develop sustainably if there have been more and more loyal customers. Customer satisfaction will help build customer loyalty. In order to have loyal customers, service quality must be good. Quality customer service of the bank is to ensure customer satisfaction and take their needs into consideration to improve service quality. High customer service quality will generate value not only to meet customer needs but also the expectations of customers and make banks more prominent than their competitors. This study identifies factors that affect customer satisfaction with the service quality at Vietnamese retail banks. The results are obtained by qualitative and quantitative method. The research model with a questionnaire consisting of 22 variables, 5 scales for a survey of 554 customers, is identified and developed through interviews with experts and group discussions. The findings show that customer satisfaction with the service quality at retail banks is influenced by “reliability”, “responsiveness”, “empathy”, “security”, and “tangibles”. Based on the findings, solutions for improving service quality are proposed for Vietnamese retail banks.

Knowledge Management (KM) implementation is as much a challenge as it is a great opportunity for businesses worldwide in several sectors. The controversy over its worthwhile application persists among practitioners and scholars, with claims having arisen that business opportunities and performance are enhanced through KM adoption. Conversely, challenges regarding effective implementation of KM concerning individuals’ behaviors, beliefs, and practices prompt significant questioning regarding its complex basis: individual-technology-process-production. The purpose of this work is to shed light on some perspectives for the effective adoption of knowledge management technology, the consolidation of a favorable and aligned organizational culture, and patterns of use and retrieval of information in organizations. This study brings into focus the concept of knowledge management and technology, and culture in the organization through a systematic literature review and based on the researcher’s hypothesis and observations that successful KM implementation results from a clear understanding of its multidisciplinary, complex, and multifaceted process, which requires a methodical and strategic business practice concerning the application of technological tools, the establishment of a learning culture through shared vision of business’ and individuals’ needs, and consequential enhancement of processes and solutions. It concludes that investment in KM practice and the consolidation of a learning culture are correlated, reflecting a type of leadership that is favorable to the flow of information, generation, and sharing of knowledge (the intellectual capital) and optimization of decision making and business performance.

Informal Small and Medium Enterprises (SMEs) play a key role in their respective economies over the world particularly in the African continent. This paper reviews various theories on SMEs towards understanding the potential of the informal sector in the context of African countries. The paper uses a theoretical approach for the purpose of assessing the challenges that have affected the development of the informal SMEs sector over the years in both the developing and developed world. Economically developing countries in Africa pose unique challenges to informal SMEs development compared to the developed countries. The paper reviews the theories that define the rise to informality in Africa by identifying the key determinants for the emergence of informal SMEs. A conceptual framework for assessing informal SME’s potential for Africa is developed. The conceptual framework is based on the Fishbone diagram developed by Kaoru Ishikawa (1986). This paper discusses the intricacies of the applicability of the proposed conceptual framework to assess the potential of the informal SMEs in Africa and the way forward for the formalization debate.