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Any banking institution’s success depends heavily on customer satisfaction. Understanding and evaluating customer satisfaction has become crucial with the rise of small finance banks (SFBs) in India, which serve the underserved and unbanking segments of society. In the context of SFBs in India, this chapter aims to examine the variables affecting customer satisfaction as well as how it affects these banks’ overall performance and sustainability. This study will help us better understand the dynamics of customer satisfaction in the Indian financial landscape by examining the particular difficulties and opportunities that SFBs face.

This paper aims to investigate whether small finance banks (SFBs) in India are working towards financial inclusion through qualitative studies.

This paper uses a phenomenological approach in which semi-structured interviews were conducted with the employees of two SFBs in Mumbai with different specializations. Employee experience was captured to grasp, interpret and code data for the creation of different themes.

This research shows that the current literature on financial inclusion is inadequate to explain the behavior of the needy in India. Study found multiple themes of financial inclusion, namely, financial literacy, self-esteem, use of technology, prompt repayment, credit identity, cross-referencing and financial stability. Although overall results are positive, to generalize the results, SFBs need to spend some more time in business. The findings of this study can be of global benefit to micro-finance organizations of a similar scale to achieve financial inclusion and business improvement.

This qualitative study was performed at a single location and with a limited sample size, which underlines the need for repeated exercises at multiple locations with a larger sample size to establish a broader logical generality. It also points out the need for a study of employee themes to enhance the business processes of SFBs.

To the best of the authors’ knowledge, this qualitative study is first attempt to figure out the extent of work done by SFBs in India in promoting financial inclusion. Themes related to financial inclusion can provide further thought process for policymakers for financial inclusion and business improvement. Findings refer not only to Indian organizations but also to small banks around the world to recognize the underpinnings of financial inclusion and what small banks and micro-finance institutions can do to make it meaningful.

The purpose of this paper is to propose advances for developing our understandings of valuable resources in small family firms. The focus is on group support behavior within firms. It is proposed that this behavior is unique and valuable within small family firms. Propositions are presented that are built upon previous work in psychology and family business research and is linked to the concept of familiness.

Two small family businesses are the two cases used to investigate the propositions. Semi-structured interviews were conducted with the owner/manager and several other staff within each firm.

The paper presents evidence for the propositions, showing that work group support is unique in family firms as it is based on factors beyond the workplace. These relationships have the potential to be strong, contributing positively to the firm’s competitive advantage.

Two in-depth case studies of firms are included in this investigation. They are in a similar industry and location. As the findings are similar it lends weight to the evidence for the propositions; however, care should be taken with generalizing to other firms in other industries.

This research pulls together previous evidence and understandings and applies them to a specific aspect of small family firms that has not previously been examined in depth. The increased understanding can help family firms leverage their unique competitive advantage.

The purpose of this paper is to understand how experienced copreneurs of small family business (SFB), as the smallest unit and heart of their family business (FB), may create work-life balance (WLB). Copreneurs evince highly intertwined life-domains and often struggle to respite while managing their high business demands.

In this couple interview study with 18 experienced copreneurial couples of SFBs (N = 36), we investigated strategies copreneurs use to create their WLB by merging a resource perspective (Hobfoll, 1989) with the concept of WLB crafting (Sturges, 2012).

A key strategy in copreneurial couples was the structural establishment of microdomains, such as periods of personal resource recreation within a macrodomain (e.g. work) via individual physical and cognitive WLB crafting. Copreneurs used relational WLB crafting with a strong emphasis on seeking support and mainly to protect their microdomains by relying on their spouses as boundary keepers. Women more often expressed the importance of health and time for respite, as cognitive WLB crafting, and they were more active in creating (joint) recovery opportunities. Dyadic WLB crafting strategies were used when goal congruency for work or private activities was high.

This research applies WLB crafting research to the smallest unit of SFBs, namely copreneurs. The study provides in-depth insights into the strategies copreneurs of SFB use to create a satisfying WLB.

The special importance of microfinance institutions (MFIs) in the context of emerging economies is well acknowledged. The success of MFIs is country, culture and context-specific. This study aims to capture the organizational sustainability viewpoint of MFIs through the experiences and insights of the managers engaged in running MFIs in an emerging market.

The study follows a qualitative approach and collects primary data through insightful interactions with the senior managers of various Indian MFIs, followed by thematic analysis to identify the factors impacting the sustainability of MFIs. It is supplemented by an extensive systematic literature review to enrich the findings. The identified factors are then analyzed through the lens of a balanced scorecard (BSC) approach to developing a framework in assessing the performance of MFIs operating in similar to this study’s context.

The authors observe that the majority of the studies on MFI sustainability are financial outcome centric. This study adds value by exploring a holistic and organization-centric approach drawing support from stakeholder theory, which emphasizes that the shareholders, employees and customers are equally important for the sustainability of the MFIs.

While the identified sustainability factors would help the practitioners focus upon the factors of improvement, the BSC framework would facilitate the conduct of performance review and taking related decisions thereon for the sustainability of MFIs.

To the best of the authors’ knowledge, this study is the first of its kind to attempt to assess the MFI organizations striving for sustainability through the lens of BSC framework.

The purpose of this paper is to examine the impact of the moral failure of a scandalized foreign brand afflicted with a product-harm crisis on competing brands (i.e. within the same product category) while taking into account the country of origin (COO) of the brands.

This paper presents the results of two studies. The first study uses an experimental design, while the second uses a survey to examine a real-life product-harm crisis.

The results indicate that the moral failure of a scandalized foreign brand has an indirect negative effect on the intention to purchase competing foreign brands from the COO of the scandalized foreign brand. This effect is, however, reversed for domestic brands, where moral failure has an indirect positive effect on the intention to purchase competing domestic brands.

The results of this research were based on an examination of how US consumers responded to the moral failure of Japanese and German brands. Future studies should examine brands from different COOs in different countries.

These results suggest that competing foreign brands from the COO of the scandalized brand should collaborate to quickly handle a product-harm crisis to prevent a spillover and that domestic competitors should capitalize on the opportunity to attract new customers.

This study represents a first attempt to examine the effect of a foreign brand’s moral failure in handling product-harm crisis on competing brands, both foreign and domestic.

The purpose of this study was to explore drivers of consumer engagement with sustainable fashion brands on Instagram to specifically answer the research question: what drives popularity of sustainable fashion among digital consumers?

Twenty-five global fashion retailers were identified and categorized as either (a) sustainable fashion brands (SFB), (b) sustainably aware mainstream brands (SAB) or (c) traditional fashion brands (TFB). Content analysis of the 25 retailer's Instagram posts over a three-week period was analyzed and categorized according to content theme. Data were analyzed for quantity of Likes and Comments (engagement) to identify engagement strategies with each of the brand groups.

It was found that different strategies may be taken regarding social media strategy for SFB, SAB or TFB. Consumers were engaged with unfamiliar content, for instance, sustainability to a consumer unfamiliar with the topic or how it applies to a specific brand. Digital consumers were looking for exciting and aesthetically pleasing posts. Specifically, all consumers were engaged with posts about Fashion and Lifestyle.

As the result of this study, sustainable fashion best practices and social media strategies were presented for the three brand categories of fashion retailers.

This study analyzed a cross-section of global fashion brands and identified “best practices” for digital consumer engagement with sustainable messages through Instagram. The findings provide original value, specifically in the area of fashion marketing via social media to communicate brand identify to digital consumers for brand growth.