679 research outputs found
The influence of angry customer outbursts on service providersâ facial displays and affective states
This article explores the existence and extent of emotional
contagion, as measured by facial displays and
reported affective states, in a service failure event. Using
video vignettes of customers complaining about a service
failure as stimulus material, the authors measured the
facial displays and affective states of service providers as
proxies for emotional contagion. Following a two-step
approach, service providersâ facial expressions were first
recorded and assessed, revealing that service providersâ
facial displays matched those of the angry consumer.
Second, a mixed ANOVA revealed service providers
reported stronger negative affective states after exposure
to an angry complaint than prior to exposure. The results
demonstrated that during a complaint situation, angry
outbursts by consumers can initiate the emotional contagion
process, and service providers are susceptible to
âcatchâ consumer anger through emotional contagion.
Implications for complaint management and future
research are discussed
Wither participatory banking?: experiences with village banks in South Africa.
Microfinance is widely advocated as a powerful tool to reduce poverty and improve social inclusion. How best to achieve these outcomes has been the focus of considerable debate, between supporters of minimalist finance-only and services-plus approaches, and between the merits of client-oriented models and member ownership. Many approaches to microfinance note the importance of participation within peer groups, the potential for empowerment and the support given by civil society organizations. Few studies, however, have analysed the nature and extent of participation, or whether this participation can be understood as democratic. In this paper, we examine four communities in South Africa that belong to a Village Bank, an organization that promotes member ownership and control. The paper examines members' experiences of participation and, specifically, organizational transparency and conflict resolution. We argue that microfinance holds considerable normative and symbolic appeal for members, but that participation in practice has been limited.
Developing molecular barcoding and egg sampling tools to underpin vector surveillance in Great Britain
Banking on the poor: savings, poverty and access to financial services in rural South Africa
Microfinance has gained prominence as a policy option for addressing poverty. Although microfinance has a long history, its growing appeal is usually associated with the attention given to the Grameen Bank of Bangladesh, which pioneered group-based lending to poor women. Following the âsuccesses of Grameen and the promotion of âclonedâ institutions, advocacy for microfinance has focussed primarily on microcredit. Consequently, microfinance as savings, insurance, and other forms of financial intermediation received far less attention. It was believed that microcredit was a more reliable and faster means to achieve poverty reduction, especially through supporting the entrepreneurialism of the poor. Microcredit then became a mantra of the microfinance sector, increasingly identified as its âraison dâĂȘtreâ and the justification for the investment of billions for dollars.
This thesis focuses on the relationship between microfinance and poverty. It puts savings at the centre of the research through an analysis of a savings-led financial services co-operative known as the âVillage Banksâ in South Africa. The research considers the asserted link between microfinance and poverty from both a theoretical and empirical interrogation. It questions the limited engagement that the microfinance literature has had with the various theories on poverty and attempts to formulate a more nuanced understanding of relations between the two.
The empirical contribution is a mixed method of qualitative analysis, in the form of focus groups held in four different Village Bank communities, and quantitative analysis from an original panel of households in one community. The thesis argues that a savings-led model of microfinance has the ability to contribute to the challenges of poverty reduction more than is currently acknowledged. It will also argue that, when provided with the necessary support, member-owned financial institutions, such as the Village Banks, offer a potential solution to addressing the inherent challenges of providing low-cost banking services in rural areas
A potential global surveillance tool for effective, lowâcost sampling of invasive Aedes mosquito eggs from tyres using adhesive tape
Dinoflagellate cysts in recent sediments from fjords of western Vancouver Island (British Columbia, Canada): preliminary results
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