CHAPTER ONE
INTRODUCTION
BACKGROUND OF THE STUDY
The deregulation of the financial services market which the Nigeria
economy has witnessed under the structural adjustment programme, has
exposed financial institution to the types of competitive and tough
market environment which their counter parts in the advanced economics
have witnessed for many years.
The banking and financial institution
which have survived the turbulence which those changes brought in their
wake, are those which have encourage & embrace the purchasing
philosophy as a corporate culture for the organization. The Nigeria
experiences is no different from that of those of our counterparts in
the advanced world and we have the benefit of adopting the well tested
and established method which help them to achieve excellence in the face
of apparent odds.
The argument in this research work is that it
enhance profits and in fact the entire issue of corporate survival,
excellency, competitive edge stand out corporate image, can only be
achieved if financial industries adopt the purchasing concept as the
philosophy which guides the way we deliver our services.
Besides,
the advent of deregulation and the ensuring cut-throat competition the
financial market in which we operate is characterized by homogeneity of
products or services rendered by all banks and insurance companies. As
with other service industries, they do not have the advantage which the
physical product purchasing companies have in product differentiation
through improvement of product functioning and peck presentation.
Banks
and insurance companies are selling essentially the same basic products
or service and therefore have very limited degree of freedom to enhance
competitiveness on the basis of product differentiation.
Competitive
advantage can therefore only be achieve through adoption of outstanding
service delivery systems and customer oriented attitude towards the
satisfaction of customer demands and expected.
This study is thus
designed to examine how leadway assurance can create a competitive edge
through the application of purchasing to its.
OBJECTIVE OF THE STUDY
The primary objective of
this study is to ascertain the aspect of purchasing of insurance
services in Nigeria and ways to accomplish it among other things by:
- Examine the ways insurance companies in Nigeria practice the purchasing concept.
- Determining the degree of customer awareness of the banking services.
- Ascertaining the stage of purchasing to financial serves in Nigeria.
- To identify the problems the financial industry’s face in the application of the purchasing concept.
SIGNIFICANCE FOR THE STUDY
The increase
sophistication of the Nigeria financial sector, the higher level of
education and awareness among the populace means they now have higher
taste and their needs are now mere complex and advance. They know their
rights and what they want and will demand for it. The financial industry
which does not deliver the right service is deserted for the other,
which is better positioned to give the customer what he or she wants.
This
research work is aimed at finding out the needs of the customer and
dissatisfaction among bank and financial industry that is yet to be
solved. In finding the solution to the dissatisfaction, this project
work will be justified in these grounds.
- To examine some gain that leadway assurance can be derived if it adopt full purchasing of services.
- To justify on how quickly the clients can receive their claims.
- To evaluate the level of involvement, purchasing of services have
helped leadway assurance in rending their services successfully.
SCOPE OF THE STUDY
The scope of this study is limited to insurance company which is only a part of the Nigeria economy.
This
project work has been design in such a way as to include all the
general problems which the customer often encounter with the insurance
companies resulting to poor services by insurance companies.
Representative
sample of the client and staff of leadway assurance has been carefully
made the sample chosen is considered an adequate representative of the
population in the insurance companies.
Nevertheless, It is hoped
that the result of the study would contribute to the available facts on
the purchasing services employed by insurance companies.
LIMITATION OF THE STUDY
Since a research of this nature is like any other research, it
certain that it will have it’s own limitation, the research touched
principally the core of insurance business and inherent competitive
strategy implication.
Data collection for this study poised the
greatest difficulty and challenge, it was difficult to get the core
officer of the insurance company to interview. They were usually very
evasive and deliberately action duing some question pose to them for the
fear of being misquoted.
However, inspite of these constraints, it
was a wonderful experience and highly challenging for me to venture
into a research on purchasing services for banking and financial
institution.
STATEMENT OF PROBLEM
Banking and Financial Institutions are service industry. The quality
of service rendered by banks and financial institution have beer the
gunt. Functionaries, the media and general public are all very critical
of banking and financial institution. The argument range from those of
inefficiency, longdelays in cashing cheque favoritism, delays. In
withdrawals, tardiness in granting loans and or credits, to unfriendly
attitude of bank workers. A lot of businessmen, and customers has been
treated with result. By keeping people standing in their office for some
minute. Most banks and financial institution do not put their customer
in the prime place as they are surpose to be. There is now a competition
and to compete means to apply the purchasing concept. Are these
criticisms justify or are they just a more random of the banking
industry because they are making profit in an era of economic slump?
NEED FOR THE STUDY
The researcher wants to carryout a research on what Banks do an find
out if they adopt the purchasing to transact banking and financial
services. There have been criticisms about the Banking and Financial
Services in the way they render services to their customers. They do not
see the customer as king. The researcher also want to have an empirical
base either to support all the sources about the poor impression people
have of the banks and advice them on how to improve their services by
adopting the way the banking and financial services can be marketed. A
business must learn to think of itself not as producing goods or
services, but as buying customer: and doing the things which will make
people want to deal with it. Criticisms has no room to give but that may
arise because the banks are doing well. It their services are poor, why
should they make so much profit. Are they do this at the detriment of
their customer.
PURPOSE OF STUDY
The above explanation has confined us to take a segment of the
banking and financial services, and study the approach of the banks to
their customers.
- To formulate purchasing strategies and recommendations that
would be more effective in the purchasing of banking & financial
services.
- Whether or not purchasing of banking & financial services as bases for rendering services to their customers.
- If customers are satisfied with the services rendered by banks.
RESEARCH PROPOSAL
It is the objective of this study to know if
- The attitude or the reaction of customers are to purchasing banking & financial services.
- The amount of time spent by customers in various banks doing a normal banking & financial services transactions.
- If banks & financial institution provide enough service and infrastructural facilities and amenities.
- How banks staff and customer relate to one another.
- Whether purchasing of banking & financial services is been satisfying their customers in the way the render their services.
DEFINITION OF TERMS
The following terms used in this research study should be taken to mean the following.
PURCHASING
Purchasing is a human activities directed at satisfying needs and
wants through exchange process or identifying and meeting human and
social needs profitably.
BANKING
Banking can be defined as “the business of receiving monies from
outside sources as deposits, and the granting of money loans and
acceptance of credits or the purchase of cheques, bills and sale of
securities for account of others or the incurring of the obligation to
acquired claims in respect of loans poor to their maturity or the
assumption of guarantees.
PRODUCT
Product is a set of benefit or anything that can be offered to a market to satisfy a want or need.
SERVICES
A service is any act or performance that one party can offer to
another that is essentially intangible and does not result in the
ownership of anything its production may or may not be tied to physical
product.