Knowledge Enhanced Financial Advisory Services

Ever-more complex financial products and investment opportunities demand that clients have a solid understanding of financial concepts if they are to make informed decisions. However, this is seldom the case, and the consequences of uninformed decision-making have been widely described in both the scientific literature as well as in public media. Interventions in the form of providing more documentation on products have been ineffective (Chater et al., 2010). The same seems to hold for efforts in schools to foster financial literacy, as it is (1) unclear what knowledge comprises effective decision help in an upcoming advisory encounter, and (2) there might be a very long time distance between the learning and theapplication in a real advisory encounter situation (Fernandes etal., 2014).In this dissertation, I therefore describe a way of client education that can be directly applied in the service encounter itself. The educational concept is based on experiential learning theory (Kolb, 1984)as a general framework, and is specifically rooted in open-ended learning environments (Hannafin, 1994)as well as the concept of micro-worlds (Rieber, 1992). Interactive, computer-based simulations are utilized to explain the relevant concepts at the time they are needed for making decisions. Embedded in a design science research framework, this dissertation contributes design rationales for both the technical systems required for this consumer education style as well as for the processes of how these tools can be embedded in the service encounter. In several consecutive build/evaluate cycles, design principles are instantiated and evaluated in realistic laboratory evaluations. Besides the focus on the educational aspects, light has also been shed on the social implications of introducing technology into these settings. This dissertation contributes insights on how technical systems, advisory processes, and the environment of an encounter must be designed in order to fulfill its purpose of transferring relevant knowledge without disturbing the critical social relationship between client and advisor. With our evaluations, we were able to demonstrate that client education with a significant client knowledge increase is possible directly in the encounter itself in a just-in-time and on-demand manner without disturbing the social relationship in any unacceptable way. Besides its contributions to the scientific knowledge base, this dissertation also seeks to aid practitioners in building the systems that will enhance the financial services of tomorrow

Situated Learning in Bankberatungen

In Beratungssituationen, besonders in komplexen Domänen, wie beispielsweise der Finanzbranche, ist ein effektiver Wissenstransfer vom Dienstleister zum Kunden heute zwingend notwendig. Bis heute wird dieser Wissensaustausch aber weder strukturiert forciert, noch durch die heute eingesetzten (IT)-Tools unterstützt. Aufbauend auf dem Konzept des situierten und erfahrungsbasierten Lernens leiten wir Design-Richtlinien für kollaborative, in der Beratung genutzten, IT-Systeme ab um das genannte Ziel zu erreichen. Wir zeigen, wie diese Design-Richtlinien in einem aktuellen System prototypisch umgesetzt wurden. Anhand der Erkenntnisse aus einer realitätsnahen Evaluation des Prototypen, zeigen wir Schwächen und Potentiale auf