Qualitative Evaluation Criteria for Client Relationship Managers in the Financial Services Industry
Zhang, Xuhua (2011)
Zhang, Xuhua
HAAGA-HELIA ammattikorkeakoulu
2011
All rights reserved
Julkaisun pysyvä osoite on
https://urn.fi/URN:NBN:fi:amk-2011091313020
https://urn.fi/URN:NBN:fi:amk-2011091313020
Tiivistelmä
Scandinavian Financial Research Ltd (SFR) is an international research company located in Helsinki, Finland. It is the premier research and consulting partner for key decision makers in the institutional financial services market in Scandinavia. SFR conducts two main research programmes yearly: Investment Services Programme and Corporate Banking Programme. The service quality evaluations of client relationship managers, which are crucial to SFR’s clients, are incorporated in both programmes. The objective of the thesis is to analyze the current evaluation criteria used to measure client relationship managers’ service quality in the financial services industry, and to create a more refined version for SFR.
The theoretical background first briefly describes the importance and the roles of the client relationship managers in today’s financial market. This is followed by a theoretical analysis of the current criteria for measuring client relationship managers’ service performance. Twelve predefined criteria were created as a result of the analysis. This new set of criteria was examined and improved through in-depth interviews with financial specialists of asset management companies and corporate banking organizations.
Qualitative research methodology was adopted for this thesis. Seven structured interviews were completed successfully in a strict and confidential manner. All the interviews were conducted on a face-to-face basis. The valuable insights and comments from interviewees were recorded in a research diary.
The findings indicated that all twelve criteria were important in evaluating client relationship managers’ service performance. While there may be differences in opinions in the order of importance for some criteria, it is imperative to note that no single criterion could be omitted, as evidenced from the results of the interviews.
In conclusion, this was a successful study. The study supports the theoretical background and contributes to the importance of non-financial performance criteria for evaluating relationship managers in the financial service industry. The findings exceeded the expectations of commissioning party SFR. The contributions of this study for SFR are presented in chapter 6.
The theoretical background first briefly describes the importance and the roles of the client relationship managers in today’s financial market. This is followed by a theoretical analysis of the current criteria for measuring client relationship managers’ service performance. Twelve predefined criteria were created as a result of the analysis. This new set of criteria was examined and improved through in-depth interviews with financial specialists of asset management companies and corporate banking organizations.
Qualitative research methodology was adopted for this thesis. Seven structured interviews were completed successfully in a strict and confidential manner. All the interviews were conducted on a face-to-face basis. The valuable insights and comments from interviewees were recorded in a research diary.
The findings indicated that all twelve criteria were important in evaluating client relationship managers’ service performance. While there may be differences in opinions in the order of importance for some criteria, it is imperative to note that no single criterion could be omitted, as evidenced from the results of the interviews.
In conclusion, this was a successful study. The study supports the theoretical background and contributes to the importance of non-financial performance criteria for evaluating relationship managers in the financial service industry. The findings exceeded the expectations of commissioning party SFR. The contributions of this study for SFR are presented in chapter 6.