The Maltese Labour Corps during World War I

The participation by Maltese troops abroad has been limited. During the First World War Malta was not directly involved, yet during this time a significant overseas deployment did take place. It did not take the form of front line troops; rather it was some 5,600 locally enlisted men who volunteered for overseas service with the Maltese Labour Corps. At least 120 men lost their lives on active service, very often from disease. They are buried across various cemeteries mostly in Greece. It is a deployment that has received little attention and is all but forgotten. This paper seeks to tell their story and to remember the service these men provided.peer-reviewe

The impact of switching costs on customer loyalty : a study among corporate customers of mobile telephony

Switching costs are known to influence customer loyalty. This paper primarily investigates which dimensions of switching costs affect which dimensions of customer loyalty. Data are collected among corporate customers of a mobile phone operator and canonical correlation analysis is undertaken to investigate these relationships. Managerial implications are discussed, limitations are noted and future research directions are indicated.peer-reviewe

Service loyalty : the effects of service quality and the mediating role of customer satisfaction

Service loyalty, with its final effect on repurchasing by customers, appears to have received relatively little attention. This study starts by first delineating the concept of service loyalty and proceeds to distinguish between service quality and customer satisfaction. A mediational model that links service quality to service loyalty via customer satisfaction is proposed. Appropriate measures are identified and a postal survey is undertaken among 1,000 retail banking customers. A response rate of 20.5 per cent is obtained. Results indicate that customer satisfaction does play a mediating role in the effect of service quality on service loyalty. The effects of a number of demographic indicators on service loyalty are also reported. Implications are discussed, limitations of the study are noted and possible areas for further research are indicated.peer-reviewe

The new motor vehicles market : an analysis of attributes considered by university students in the purchase of a new car

University students are increasingly becoming an important segment in the market for new motor vehicles. The growth of the market for new cars during 1994 is analysed and followed by the identification of a number of attributes considered by students in making their car purchase decision. Explorative qualitative research using conjoint analysis is used to identify the ideal combination of attributes and attribute levels.peer-reviewe

The effects of dogmatism and social class variables on consumer ethnocentrism in Malta

Explores the effects of dogmatism and social class variables on consumer ethnocentrism and formulates hypotheses linking these variables. Also considers the effects of a number of classificatory variables on consumer ethnocentrism. Reports the findings from a survey of consumers in Malta which show not only that dogmatism and age are positively related to consumer ethnocentrism but also that consumer ethnocentrism is lower among consumers with higher levels of education. Discusses the implications of these findings.peer-reviewe

Are Maltese firms market oriented, and does it matter?

In recent years, there has been a revival of interest in market orientation and what it involves. While its importance has been relentlessly expounded by business schools, underlying, as it does, any marketing course, there have been fewer attempts to define the construct, and delineate what market orientation really means. Furthermore, while it is held that one of the major reasons for its importance is that the market orientation of a firm results in improved business performance, this link appears to have had little empirical support. What little confirmation there is, comes from the U.S.A Gaworski and Kohli 1993; Narver, Park and Slater 1990; Narver and Slater, 1990; Reukert, 1992) In this study we seek to further investigate the market orientation - business performance link and report the results of a study, from a cross-section of firms in Malta.peer-reviewe

The effect of internal marketing on organisational commitment among retail bank managers

This paper examines internal processes associated with delivering customer satisfaction focusing particularly on the relationship between the nature and extent of internal marketing and its outcome in terms of the level of organisational commitment on the part of employees. The concepts of internal marketing and organisational commitment are discussed, suitable measures are identified and research is conducted among managers of a retail bank. The findings confirm a significant relationship between internal marketing and organisational commitment. The relationship of internal marketing is most significant with the affective dimension of organisational commitment. Limitations of the research are noted and directions for future research are indicated.peer-reviewe