Banking Services and Customers Bank Selection Criteria (Evidence from Ethiopian Commercial Banks in Addis Ababa)

To design a suitable marketing strategy to keep existing customers and for attracting new ones, commercial banks need to identify the criteria on which customers determine their bank choice decision. Hence, the purpose of this study is to examine the significance of bank selection criteria and how customers rank the factors based on their importance level to prioritize banks and banking services. It also intends to present an analysis of gender differences on the relative importance of choice criteria in respect of selecting a bank and to bring about the opinion of customers on any extra services needed to be offered by banks. Both quantitative and qualitative methodologies are used, Based on responses given by 201 customers in Addis Ababa city from different occupations (students, employees, and businessmen), is employed in the analysis. A non-probability convenience sampling was also used. The finding from this study reveals that there are two most important bank selection criteria for customers are "convenience" and "service provision" for the entire customers while it is "bank's image" is the second most important factor for male customers. On the other hand, the least two important factors of bank selection for customers are "financial benefits/ technology", "reputation" and "promotion strategy" and "attractiveness” for female customers. Finally, it is recommended that hierarchical information integration is a potentially useful method for bank managers to study complex decision-making problems such as bank choice. Keywords: Bank selection criteria, Customers, Banks, and Banking service. DOI: 10.7176/JMCR/83-03 Publication date: December 31st 2021

DETERMINANTS,CHARACTERISTICS AND PREFORMANCE OF THE GROWTH OF MICRO AND SMALL ENTERPRISES (MSE): A SYSTEMATIC REVIEW OF EVIDENCE FROM ETHIOPIA.

Micro and Small Enterprises (MSE) are now the center of attention for global economic development, employment creation, and growth. Micro and small enterprises account for the majority of businesses globally.The informal sector, which mostly creates MSE, continues to be the main source of employment and income for the populace in developing nations, particularly in Ethiopia.In 2011, the plan was updated with fresh focus and more aggressive goals for employment and the percentage of businesses moving up to a medium level. Nevertheless, despite their efforts, MSEs in Ethiopia face numerous challenges, which leads to poor performance and a failure to make the necessary contributions from many MSEs. Therefore, in order to boost MSE growth and performance and improve their contribution to the growth of the national economy, the government should place a strong emphasis on procedures for addressing these issues

Assess the Problems of Interest Rates on Deposits and Loans (A Case Study on Commercial Bank of Ethiopia, Korhay Branch

This study was conducted to assess the problem of interest rate on deposit and loan of commercial bank of Ethiopia korhay branch. Bank is an organization that keeps money safely for its customers. Interest rate is the main source of income and profits for the bank. The main objectives of this research paper were to assess the problem of the interest rate on deposits and loans of banks on the profitability of the bank. To investigate the problem of interest rate on deposit and loan the researcher used descriptive type of research design and both primary and secondary data. Primary data would have been collected by interviewing the manger and questionnaires were used to collect necessary information from the employees of the institution. The secondary data was collected from journal and written documents. The study would have been analyzed both by qualitative and quantitative analyses technique. The other most important notice to understand here is there is a need of percentage computation and table for analyzing and interpreting the data assessing the problem of interest rates on deposit and loan of the bank. Based on these findings, the researcher recommended that the bank should permanent interest rate which will not affect both the bank profit and customers need. Keywords: money, interest rate, deposit, loan and commercial bank DOI: 10.7176/RJFA/13-23-01 Publication date: December 31st 202

The Role of IT Infrastructure in IS Success Model: Applying the IS Success Model in Low-Income Countries Context

DeLone and McLean’s Information Systems Success model was validated empirically in many developed countries. However, it was not tested in Low-Income Countries (LICs) context where IT infrastructure is a serious hurdle for IS success. Testing the Model in LIC context assures generalizability and relevance of the model. This study looks at two research questions: (1) is the IS success model valid in LICs context? and (2) what is the impact of IT Infrastructure on IS success? To address these questions a banking information system at a large bank in Ethiopia is selected as case. The research strategy followed is field study using survey technique. Questionnaire items from prior studies are adapted, but validation of the instrument is in progress. This research-in-progress laid the theoretical background to begin data collection. The preliminary results of the study are expected to be completed and presented on the conference

Improving the competitiveness of agricultural input markets in Ethiopia: experiences since 1991

Draft, Not for CitationEthiopia, a country which was a net exporter of grains and legumes about half a century ago, is now confronted with the challenge of keeping food production at pace with its population growth, preventing declining per capita food production, and reducing its dependence on food aid. With severe land degradation and low use of soil fertility inputs, crop yields remain low. Despite demonstrated potential to boost agricultural production, sustaining productivity increase has not been achieved. This paper examines the changing roles of the market agricultural oriented development policies and strategies, for the input service delivery system at the national, regional and district level and its impact on development. This paper uses information collected through participatory rapid appraisal, community and household surveys to investigate the functioning of the input market at woreda (district) levels, and identify innovations in the input market. We find that liberalization reforms of input markets have not succeeded in improving the competitiveness of the input market and alleviating shortage of input supply, and the involvement of the private sector remains limited. Generally, the input supply situation is characterized by demand outstripping supply, especially for improved seeds. Several innovation in input supply at the woreda level have been id3entified. These include primary cooperatives and union taking responsibility of crop input supply away from the woreda Office of Agriculture and Rural development; fertilizer importation and distribution by farmer cooperatives and their union; farmer to farmer supply of seeds, seedlings and planting materials; sub-contracting the manufacture of farm equipment to small-scale private manufacturers; and the emergence of private service providers. It is recommended that the negative consequence of the involvement of the public sector in input supply on the emergence and development of the private sector deserves serious attention

Prevalence of internal marketing as strategy implementation tool in selected Ethiopian commercial banks

Strategy implementation requires, among others, internal marketing so as to treat employees as a customer and the job as a product using marketing like approach. The objective of the study is examining adoption and implementation of internal marketing practices as a strategic tool to implement the formulated strategy and to see the impact of internal marketing on enhancing employee attitude, organizational commitment and customer orientation in four last entrants of the Ethiopian banking industry. A quantitative, descriptive and correlational research approach is used to find out the appropriate answers of the research questions. Considering the mean score of the measurement variables, employees of the banks perceived that though the banks have a very good internal communication, they are very weak in internal information generation and the responsiveness to internal market which resulted in weak internal marketing practice. The banks found to have low commitment, engagement and low attitude to their organization. The customer orientation of the banks is also found to be weak. This shows that internal marketing has not been communicated and established amongst employees in the way that enable employees to have commitment and positive attitude to their organization to develop customer orientation as well. Based on the regression analysis, the major findings of this study is that internal marketing practice have a positive impact on enhancing employee attitude, organizational commitment and customer orientation of the banking sector. The researchers suggested that managers need to focus on internal marketing programs to achieve and sustain a strategic objective in the market. Managers should also involve the empowerment practice to increase motivation, consider that the human power is the greatest resource, and concentrate on trying to instill a customer orientation amongst their employees.Keywords: Customer orientation, employee attitude, internal marketing, organizational commitment, strategy implementatio

The role and impact of investment incentives on small and medium sized enterprise development in Ethiopia

In 1950 Ethiopia became an African pioneer by introducing an industrial modernisation policy to attract foreign capital and technology transfer. It took further pioneering steps in the early 1960s by using its investment incentives scheme to support indigenisation of industry and SMEs. However, during the 1970s and 1980s while many countries were learning fast from the experiences of others, these early initiatives were suppressed in Ethiopia, and only reintroduced in the early 1990s with a narrow approach to enterprise start up, and few lessons learnt. This thesis examines the role and impact of incentives, constituting exemptions from paying duties on imported capital goods and income taxes, on the choices of industry, location and size of enterprises in Ethiopia. It uses theories predicating the reasons for entrepreneurial motivations to start enterprises, and draws on statistics from 4246 projects licensed for investment incentives over 1992-98, as well as new evidence generated from a follow up in-depth investigation of six SMEs. The thesis concludes that the influence of investment incentives on the industry, location and size of SMEs start ups is limited. Antecedent factors like entrepreneurial experience, level of training and financial resources, alongside market and infrastructure were the triggers and determinants of SMEs start ups. However, the study found that sometimes the value of the licence for investment incentives was superior to the holder when used, not as tax breaks as intended, but as a moderator of access to state controlled resources like enterprise sites. Projects that received licences looked viable for bank credit, and the authorities provided some projects with preferential (and subsidised) access to resources. The study suggests that enterprise support initiatives should focus on key driving forces of enterprise development, such as entrepreneurs' technical and managerial skills, better access to land, infrastructure and streamlined procedures for business legalisation

Challenges Confronting Women in Micro and Small Enterprises in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia

This study was undertaken to explore factors that hinder women entrepreneurs who are engaged in micro and small enterprises in Addis Ababa City. To this effect the study provides information on the factors that deter women entrepreneurs in starting and growing their businesses in Addis Ababa by taking two sub-cities as a sample. 300 female respondents who were engaged in micro and small enterprises were randomly selected from the two sub-cities. Questionnaires with both close-ended and few open-ended questions were prepared and distributed. The questionnaire consists of business related issues such as the type of business, ownership types, sources of starting capital, reasons of starting business, the profitability of business, problems encountered at all stages of business. The data have been analyzed mainly using percentages presented in tables. Lack of starting and working capital was clearly stated as a major barrier to growth by many of the women entrepreneurs. While sources from relatives were used to start business; ploughing back is reported as the current source of finance used to run the business. The second and third largest sources of current finance appear to be back the profit and credit from micro finance. Moreover, the majority of women entrepreneurs have experienced difficulties in finding and acquiring land and premises for production or provision of services, as well as for selling purposes. Most run their businesses from rented premises, but the relatively high rents poses critical problems for them and can hinder their expansion and diversification.Keywords: micro and small enterprises, women entrepreneurs, deterrents to women entrepreneur

Assessment Practices and Challenges of Training and Development at the Ethiopian Textile Industry Development Institute(ETIDI)

Employees are considered as the key determinants of the success of an organization that shall have different training and development so as to cope up with the fast-changing business world. Training and development programs are essential for every organization for its long term planning that requires careful preparation if they are to be successful and help to achieve its objectives in time and enhance the knowledge, skills, and competencies of its workforce. The overall objective of this study is to assess the practices and challenges of training and development at the Ethiopian Textile Industry Development Institute(ETIDI).  The study adopted a mixed approach and used both primary and secondary data sources. The primary data collected from ETIDI through self-administered questionnaire for 116 selected operating employees and middle-level managers using a purposive sampling method to make sure that they have gone through the training program or understand the training and development program in the institute and semi-structured interview question employed for top managers(directors and deputy directors and training coordinator) through interview. The collected data were analyzed by using statistical tools (SPSS-Version 22). Both descriptive and inferential statistics were used for the data analysis. The descriptive statistics such as frequency and percent were used for describing the demographic characteristics of respondents and the dependent and independent variables. Qualitative data obtained through interviews were analyzed using content analysis. Inferential statistics like Pearson correlation coefficient(r) and multiple linear regression were used to determine if there is a relationship existed between independent and dependent variables. The study shows that 62.5% of the variation in the dependent variable was explained by independent variables. The findings also indicated that the relationship between the dependent variable was positively correlated and claimed to be a statistically significant relationship with the independent variables. The findings of the study indicated that there is no series of attention to allocate enough time, sufficient budget and resource for the training and development; in ETIDI there is no SMART manual and instrument of need assessment; training and development need assessment is not prepared by considering the need of prospective trainees; the organized training by the Institute is for the sake of refreshment or to collect allowance with less attention to the outcome of the training; training and development objectives are not set in advance; training and development program of the organization is not designed in line with the actual job to be performed and training and development program not followed by a reward.  Hence, the researcher recommended that the management of the institute, the board, and other stakeholders should define an appropriate training and development policy and programs that bring or capacitate the organization as well as the employee, Staff in the institute should be helped to grow into more responsibility by systematic training and development rather than consider it training as means to make themselves free from staff routine and receive allowance without considering the objective and benefits of training for themselves and for their institute so that they will be confident enough to carry out the responsibility of the job and the management of the institute, the board, and other concerned bodies should come up with training and development practices and policies for their ETIDI because they are the strategic link between the institute’s vision and its day-to-day operations. Keywords: SMART manual, training and development, reward DOI: 10.7176/JAAS/68-02 Publication date:September 30th 202