Organization strategic orientation: Special focus on Community banks and Generation Z

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Organization strategic orientation: Special focus

on Community banks and Generation Z

SUKKAR,

ABDUL

AZIZ

HAWASLI,

OMAR

AL-SAMMAN,

SAM

SCHOOL OF BUSINESS,SOCIETY &ENGINEERING

COURSE:BACHELOR THESIS IN BUSINESS SUPERVISOR:ALI FARASHAH

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Abstract

Date: 09 June 2020

Course: Bachelor Thesis in Business Administration Course code: FOA230

Level: A thesis submitted for the degree of Bachelor of International Business Management. IBM, 15 hp Institution: School of Business, Society and Engineering, Mälardalen University

Authors:

Abdul Aziz Sukkar 94/01/02 Omar Hawasli 84/07/20 Sam Al-Samman 80/03/29

Title: Organization Strategic Orientation: Special focus on Community banks and Generation Z Supervisor: Ali Farasha

Keywords: Strategic orientation, Brand orientation, Market orientation, Generation Z, Community bank. Research Question: What is the strategic orientation that community banks in Sweden adopt?

What are the Gen Z preferences concerning these strategic orientations?

Purpose: By using two different methodological approaches, the objective of this study is to answer two questions concerning the organization’s strategic orientation. Essentially, the authors have conducted a qualitative study to explore the strategic orientation which community banks in Sweden adopt.

Additionally, a quantitative survey has been carried out to surface the generation Z's preferences on the question of strategic orientation.

Method: The research methodology steering this thesis will be conducted using the research onion model. This implies that the methodology will be divided into layers including, the research approaches, the research strategy, the research choice, the time horizon of the study, as well as the techniques and procedures concerning the data collection and data analysis. Eventually, the authors discuss the quality criteria by referring to the interview’s credibility, confirmability, transferability, dependability, and the survey’s reliability and validity and replicability.

Conclusion: The findings derived from an interview with the three managers have shown that community banks in Sweden adopt brand orientation, whereas the empirical findings have revealed that generation Z has hybrid orientation, meaning that generation preferences are located in the middle ground between the brand orientation and market orientation.

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Table of Content

1.5 Disposition of the study 10

2 Literature Review 11

2.1 Organization Strategic Orientation 11

2.1.1 Market Orientation (Brand Image) 13

2.1.2 Brand Orientation (Brand Identity) 14

2.1.3 Market and Brand Orientation 15

2.1.4 Brand and Market Orientation 15

2.2 Customer Preference of Organization’s orientations 15

2.3 Generation Z 17 2.4 Community Banks 19 3 Research Methodology 21 3.1 Research Design 21 3.2 Research Approaches 21 3.3 Research Strategy 23 3.4 Research Choices 23 3.5 Time Horizons 24

3.6 Data Collection and Analysis 24

3.6.1 The Primary Data 24

3.6.2 Secondary Data 28

3.6.3 Quality Criteria 28

3.6.4 Quality Criteria (Interview) 28

3.6.5 Quality Criteria (Survey) 30

3.7 Operationalization 31

4 Findings 35

4.1 Findings from the interview with the community bank`s managers 35

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4.3 Findings from the survey 40

5 Discussion 45

5.1 Community banks’ strategic orientation 45

5.2 Gen Z’s strategic orientation preference 46

6 Conclusions 48

6.1 Limitation 48

6.2 Further studies 49

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1 Introduction

1.1 Background

In recent years, the banking industry has dramatically evolved. It extended further beyond just selling and buying money. Instead, banks today are in the market of providing a wide variety of financial products and services. This means that today, banks’ interactions with their customer and non-customer stakeholders are not transactional as much as they are relational (Zineldin, 1995). In other words, the financial industry “has enjoyed much success over many years with little need for marketing” (Thomson & Camp, 2018).

In the current era, however, it is no longer the case; marketing has gained a more significant role which became a necessity for the survival and success of banks and to meet the customers’ needs and demands. On the other hand, no bank is able to provide and cover all the financial offerings for all customers, especially in the extremely competitive market they operate in (Zineldin, 1996).

In today's market, therefore, banks are in a critical and urgent need to develop and maintain a distinctive position in order to reach their targeted segment (Zineldin, 1995). The position that a bank chooses is what differentiates its brand from its competitors and gives the bank its uniqueness in the market. For this position to be reached, a positioning strategy must be carefully adopted that is in line with this intended position (Koch, 2014).

The fact that no established business has no brand is the departure point for any study in the field of position and positioning. At present, all businesses are in furious competition to make their brands occupy a distinctive place in the customers’ minds and hearts, and banks are not an exception. Based on the foregoing, brands are considered as a pivotal resource for generating sustainable competitive advantage (Aaker, 1989). The organization’s strategic orientation, whether it relies on its brand identity or brand image, is also a strategic resource. It is considered as a strategic resource since it makes the organization able to differentiate

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itself from its competitors and engage with the targeted customers by aligning the strategy with the brand (Urde, Baumgarth, & Merrilees, 2011).

From the other perspective, customers are ultimately the receivers of the differentiating values that brands represent. Brands essentially are the way organizations tell the customer how they will uniquely deliver value in exchange for profit (Srivastava, 2011). Therefore, understanding the reflection of such strategic mindsets in brand building on the customers is crucial (Mulyanegara, 2010). Moreover, taking a step backward and examining the preference of the customer toward different strategic orientations could probably take us a step closer toward a clear-cut conceptualization of these orientations.

Generation Z appears to be a promising segment as they are today and tomorrow's customers. They are the young population that was born in 1995 and beyond (Bassiouni and Hackley, 2014), and they have, more than any prior generation, witnessed the global birth of many innovative digital technologies. For instance, social media platforms and mobile phone applications have become an integral part of their daily life. The majority of Gen Z are unfamiliar with a world before the digitalization era (Black et al., 2018).

In today’s numbers, generation Z forms a significant portion of the Sweden population. The older end of this generation has already started to enter the market and the workforce. Therefore, for businesses to prosper, more focus is to be put on decoding this generation’s characteristics (Cocheo, 2020). What makes Gen Z a challenge for marketers is the fact that they behave differently compared to the prior generations. These unique characteristics of this exceptional generation require organizations to act differently (Wood, 2013). For these reasons, banks, among other industries, are in an urgent need of reconsidering their approach when targeting such a generation.

Community banks ought to be the first to sense that urgency. Community banks are defined as banks that operate and serve customers in the area they’re located in (Hughes, Jagtiani, Mester & Moon, 2019). In

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other words, community banks are, to some extent, limited to the local customers of the area the banks operate in. Hence acquiring this generation at this age will guarantee their future survival in a fiercely competitive market.

1.2 Problematization

Initially, this research is based on a thesis work provided by a community bank in Sweden regarding a brand question. A presentation by two managers from the community bank during a university event has gotten the authors’ attention to carry out this research.

As a matter of principle, brand orientation, and market orientation could be to a certain extent what steers the companies’ strategic orientation (Urde et al., 2011). Whether considering the market orientation where the customer is the king (Urde et al., 2011), or the brand orientation where more emphasis is placed on the brand as a “resources and strategic hub of the company” (Melin, 1997; Urde, 1994, 1997), there is no supremacy for one orientation over the other (Urde et al., 2011; Koch, 2014). Therefore, Urde et al. (2011) suggested a synergy between brand orientation and market orientation, a synergy that leads to two other hybrid orientation approaches. They summarize the four orientation approaches in what they call the brand and market orientation matrix (Urde et al., 2011).

Eventually, all the orientations are taken from the organization’s perspective, whereas the customer perspective has got less attention, which makes studying the strategic orientation concept from a customer perspective a significant contribution to the literature.

An empirical study conducted by Mulyanegara (2010) introduced the relationship between brand orientation and market orientation, this time, however, from the customer perspective. In his paper, he collected data from non-profit organizations; this placed his study outside the scope of the commercial sector. Additionally, his paper is concerned specifically with the customer perception of the orientation.

A lot of research can be found about consumer brand preference which by definition means the extent to which a customer favors a brand over another (Hellier, Geursen, Carr, and Rickard, 2013). However, no

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study was found that examines specifically the preference of the customers regarding the organization's strategic orientation. addressing this question contributes to the literature of the organization's strategic orientation as it can be considered as a factor that impacts the organization’s decision regarding its orientation.

Generation Z, as a target customer, is a growing customer segment in today’s market (Felleson, 2020). This generation has begun to replace millennials as the most-studied generation. They are drastically different from other generations due to the environment that they are growing in. Therefore, this generation is still considered as a challenge for marketers as they face difficulties in having an unequivocal understanding of who this generation is, and what attracts them (Wood, 2013). This leaves a huge gap for researchers to fulfill when it comes to decoding this generation.

Furthermore, the reason behind choosing banks in this study is that banks’ brands are, to some extent, a unique case in the branding discipline due to the decreasing product divergence in this sector (Wallace, Buil & de Chernatony, 2013; Urde, 1997). Also, brands in the financial sector have a sensitive role in creating consumer trust. The sensitivity comes from the fact that banks deal with the customer's financial resources (Hensley, 2012). Community banks, in particular, are of interest due to the underperformance they had with generation X. This poor performance has exceeded generation X and started to have an impact on the new generation, namely, Generation Z (Cocheo, 2020). All that together makes studying the combination of Gen Z and community banks an interesting field of study, especially regarding the organization's strategic orientation from both perspectives.

To Summarize, all the aforementioned researches have put forward the concept of organization strategic orientation from dissimilar aspects and within different contexts. There is more to be contributed to the literature due to the lack of a comprehensive view of the strategic orientation from both the organization and customer perspective within the banking sector. The authors of this paper have realized a gap in the literature when it comes to studying organization strategic orientation from the customer perspective within the commercial sector, specifically, the significance of generation Z as targeted customers.

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1.3 Purpose

This paper aims to answer two questions regarding the organization’s strategic orientation using two different methodological approaches. First, the purpose of the qualitative study was to explore the managers’ mindsets of community banks in Sweden on the question of organization’s strategic orientation. Generally, the strategic orientation of an organization is defined as the guiding fundamental propositions that affect its marketing and strategy-making activities. Nevertheless, this paper is limited to brand orientation and market orientation.

Second, The purpose of the quantitative survey is to examine the preferred strategic orientation of gen Z where the authors are searching for placing Gen Z's preferred strategic orientation in one of four orientations, namely brand orientation, market orientation, or one of two hybrid orientations (Brand and market orientation, and Market and brand orientation) that are suggested by Urde et al. (2011). Attaining the preferred orientation of Gen Z is significant to this study due to the authors’ attempt to align the bank strategic orientation with the orientation that Gen Z prefers on one hand. On the other hand, the study is oriented to explain the choice of Gen Z in correspondent to its characteristics and their different behavior. The second part of the question will be answered through asking the respondents nine questions where the collective answer of these questions will indicate the preference of generation Z regarding the aforementioned strategic orientations.

1.4 Research Question

After stating the purpose of this research, the authors have formulated a twofold research question as follows:

What is the strategic orientation that community banks in Sweden adopt? and, What are the Gen Z preferences concerning these strategic orientations?

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1.5 Disposition of the study

This chapter is associated with the introduction of the topic, followed by the problematization purpose, and the research question. The second chapter discusses the literature review, where prior researches were introduced, essentially studies on strategic orientations, customer preference of organization’s orientations, generation Z, and community banks. The next chapter elucidates the methodology of the research, illustrating the scientific approaches as well as the rationale for choosing these approaches. Moreover, the quality criteria of the study are discussed in the same chapter. The fourth chapter presents the findings that the authors have reached after collecting primary and secondary data. In chapter five the authors have interpreted and explained the findings given what was formerly known about the research problem and discuss the new insights that arise in the wake of the study of the problem. Chapter six is the concluding chapter where the authors have re-examined the research question in light of the new findings. Finally, the authors have concluded with limitations and further studies.

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2 Literature Review

This chapter aims to present the relevant studies, and theoretical discussion regarding organizations' strategic orientation. Initially, the authors widely overview theories on this area by providing some definitions of the terms, and how the concepts have been developed. Afterwards, the authors briefly put forward related literature on customer preference. Additionally, the authors outline research and literature on Gen Z. Finally, community banks are presented based on the extant literature.

2.1 Organization Strategic Orientation

Before digging into the concept of strategic orientation, it is significant to highlight the conceptual differentiation between the two terms position and positioning as they are closely connected to the organization's strategic orientation (Koch, 2014). The position is defined based on its two components, the strategic choice of a position for a brand that can be also referred to as the intended position, and the actual position. The positioning is a management process that attempts to establish a new position or modifies an existing one in the mind of customers. Notably, the two concepts should not be used interchangeably. The case is that positioning is intrinsically dynamic, and it is important to delineate it from the static nature of the position (Koch, 2014).

Strategic orientation in the literature is widely studied as it determines the philosophy behind how an organization conducts its business activities (Johnson, Clark, & Barczak, 2012). Noble, Sinha, and Kumar (2002) define strategic orientation as “… the guiding principles that influence a firm's marketing and strategy-making activities”. It is worth mentioning that it is not always the company’s explicit decision to choose which orientation it follows. The choice can sometimes be a result of several factors such as “the pattern of decisions or the results of organizational learning” (Urde et al., 2011).

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Strategic orientations vary depending on the business nature and the managerial mindset. Therefore, there are several distinct strategic orientations in the literature such as technology orientation, learning orientation, entrepreneurial orientation, as well as brand orientation and market orientation (Urde et al., 2011). However, the discussion in this paper is limited to brand orientation and market orientation.

Urde et al. (2011) identify these two major orientations as approaches that help define the brand of an organization and its position in the market (Knox and Bickerton, 2003; Urde et al, 2011). A market-oriented approach is an outside-in approach that focuses on the brand image. The position of the brand in this context is built upon unconditionally satisfying the needs and wants of the customer. On the other hand, a brand-oriented approach is basically an inside-out approach that focuses on brand identity. The position of the brand in this context is built on satisfying the needs and wants of the customers within the boundaries of the brand identity (Urde et al., 2011). Although the aforementioned approaches are entirely different in their orientations, it must be emphasized that they are synergistic. This means that there should not be any “inevitable tug-of-war between the market orientation and brand orientation paradigms”. Instead, a dynamic view is proposed which suggests that companies do not maintain their polar position. they most likely evolve over time and move the middle ground (Urde et al. 2011). Based on the foregoing, Urde et al. (2011) suggest a new model with four basic approaches. In addition to the two aforementioned major approaches, they propose two minor approaches derived from the hybridity of the dimensions that shape the major approaches. The hybrid approaches are (1) market and brand orientation, where the point of departure is the brand image, but at the same time recognizing the importance of brand identity; and (2) brand and market orientation, where the point of departure is brand identity but at the same time recognizing the importance of the brand image. The four approaches are illustrated in fig. 3.

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Fig. 3. The brand and market orientation matrix (Urde et al., 2011)

2.1.1 Market Orientation (Brand Image)

The urgency of setting the needs of the market as one of the first of organization concerns has led to long and in-depth research on the concept of market orientation (Appiah-Adu, 1998). It is a strategic orientation that revolves around satisfying the current and future needs of customers (Appiah-Adu, 1998; Koch, 2014). Urde et al. (2011) define market orientation as “the mindset of a company or to concrete instruments that pertain to the actual and latent needs and wants of individual customers. The core of this orientation identifies with the satisfaction of each customer”. The organization that has such an orientation heavily relies on its brand image as a fundamental concept since it is what the customers see and interact with (Urde et al., 2011). Brand image in this context is defined in the literature as “the consumer perception regarding a brand” (Sääksjärvi & Samiee, 2011). With that being said, market orientation gives the primacy to the

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customer and the brand image creating an outside-in approach. Satisfying customers’ wants and needs is the point of departure in this approach. (Urde et al., 2011).

2.1.2 Brand Orientation (Brand Identity)

Brands are seen as a vision that steers the formation of products and services under the brand's name (Kapferer, 2012). The identity refers to the vision when it is concomitant with the company’s heritage, core values, extended value, and beliefs (Aaker, 1996; Kapferer, 2012; Urde, 2003). Although brand identity is relatively new in the research area, It is quite obvious that the concept has become indispensable (Kapferer, 1986), and has lately come into existence in the domain of management compared to brand image and positioning.

Identity, as a concept, has derived its urgency from the fact that all brands are analogous. Thereby, most of the organizations build on unvarying marketing studies that, in their turn, are based on the same customers. This makes all the organizations consumer centric. As a consequence of identity lacking, all brands resemble

one another and ignore their DNA (Kapferer, 2012).

Brand identity, as previously mentioned, provides an overview of the organization’s vision, essential beliefs, as well as core and extended values of products and services (Kapferer, 2012; Aaker, 1996; Urde, 2003). In the positioning-brand identity relationship, positioning is playing the role of capturing the superiority of a particular aspect of the identity at a certain time, a chosen market, and versus a certain group of competitors (Koch, 2014).

With all that emerging focus on brand identity, and due to the fiercely competitive environment, organizations resort to adopting an orientation that follows an inside-out approach where they rely on the continuous interaction between the organization’s brand identity and its values at three distinctive levels. These levels are the organization itself, the customers, and the brand identity. The process is translated into sequential steps that lead the organization to the inside-out orientation. First, organizational values are

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converted to core values. This shapes the pillars that the brand relies on. Second, these core values become the guidance for the organization’s actions. In other words, it provides the organization with the way it should act and behave. Once that is done and learned, the core values are then converted into an offer, i.e. extended customer values. By following these sequential steps, the organization becomes bound to satisfy the customers’ wants and needs only within the identity boundaries. Such an orientation with such components is called brand orientation (Urde et al., 2011). Urde et al. (2011) defines brand orientation as a mindset that has in its core customer satisfaction, however, the satisfaction is bound by the identity boundaries.

2.1.3 Market and Brand Orientation

The nature of this approach can be denoted as a hybrid approach. Companies adopting such an approach are initially related to market orientation but, at the same time, they recognize the prominence of their brand identity and internal aspects and values of the brand. Therefore, the relevance of the market and the customer is prioritized, but Band Identity has also a significant influence on the culture, behavior, and strategy of the organization (Urde et al., 2011).

2.1.4 Brand and Market Orientation

Brand and market orientation is the other approach with hybrid nature. Companies adopting such an approach are initially related to brand orientation but, at the same time, they recognize the weight of the brand image and the external aspect of the brand. Therefore, the relevance of the brand identity with all its aspects is prioritized, but both the brand image and the needs and wants of customers have a significant influence on the strategy and culture of the organization (Urde et al., 2011).

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Whereas the approach that an organization chooses from the four aforementioned approaches is the hub that it relies on when building a strong brand (Urde et al., 2011), customers have a huge impact on the success of the brand (Keller, 2009). Consumer brand preference, on the other hand, is a wide field that has been under study since the 1970s (Jalilvand et al., 2015). The importance of this concept comes from how it translates into repetitive purchase patterns (Chang & Liu, 2009). Hellier, et al (2003) define the concept of brand preference as “the extent to which the customer favors the designated service provided by his or her present company, in comparison to the designated service provided by other companies in his or her consideration set”.

Similar to the organization 's strategic orientation, consumer brand preference also relies on two main sources: brand identity and brand image (Sääksjärvi & Samiee, 2011). As mentioned before, brand identity is what an organization aspires to be perceived, while brand image represents how this organization is actually perceived. In the customer context, brand image functions as a mediator between brand identity and the customer brand preference (Sääksjärvi & Samiee, 2011).

Regarding the organization’s strategic orientation, a literature review on the topic revealed that studies are quite limited when it comes to the customer perspective. In fact, one relevant study that is concerned with the customer perspective was found, and it was conducted regarding PMO (perceived market orientation) and PBO (perceived brand orientation) (Mulyanegara, 2010). PMO refers to “customer attitudes regarding the extent to which an organization engages in market-oriented activities and behavior”, while PBO refers to “customer attitudes regarding the extent to which an organization engages in brand-oriented activities and behavior” (Mulyanegara, 2010). In other words, those two constructs are developed to measure and the perception of market orientation and brand orientation from the customer’s perspective (Mulyanegara, 2010).

This paper, however, is concerned with investigating which strategic orientation the customer prefers. In the extant literature, there is not any study that investigates which strategic orientation is preferable by the

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customer. Hence there is no construct that the authors can rely on in measuring such preference. Therefore, the authors of this paper have relied on modifying the two aforementioned constructs (PBO & PMO) to develop a survey that could investigate the preferred strategic orientation from the customer perspective.

2.3 Generation Z

Generation Z is characterized as technologically intelligent, highly educated, creative, and innovative (Merriman, 2020). Bearing in mind that the generational boundaries are unclear during the past century, Gen Z’s generational boundaries in a number of sources will stretch from 1995 to 2015 (Koulopoulos & Keldsen, 2017). By 2020 generation Z is estimated to be between 2 and 2.5 billion, almost 30% of the world’s population globally. In Sweden, generation Z’s population is around 1595000 inhabitants, which make up 15.5% of the total population ("Statistikmyndigheten SCB", 2020).

Members of Gen Z are strongly loyal to their ‘circle of trust’ that could be a group of people, brands, or organizations which influence their lives (Greenberg, 1997). Gen Z respects their circle’s opinions and beliefs and often grows dependent on them (Becerra, 2018). Particularly, certain brands and influencers have a significant impact on Gen Z trends and the decision-making process.

Relatively speaking, generation Z, to a great extent, relies on social media to interact, communicate, and engage with friends, family, companies, and even favorite brands (Becerra, 2018). All of the characteristics mentioned above can justify the interaction preferences they make in their choices and to be part of their circle of trust (Becerra, 2018). Gen Z appears to be less willing toward participating in their communities compared to the prior generations, for instance, they are less eager to vote (Harber, 2011). Ultimately, professional marketers ought to deeply understand generation Z, for instance, their usage of social media, and their influencers to successfully gain these elusive consumers (Becerra, 2018).

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Wood (2013), distinguishes four trends that characterize generation Z as consumers. First comes the trend of innovation. Considering that Gen Z's ability to access the internet 24/7, product obsolescence does not surprise them. The reason for that is their high expectation for the pace of “more, smaller, and better” versions of technological products. Generation Z has always had more choices in the marketplace and consider that constant innovation is inherent.

The second trend that characterizes Gen Z is convenience. This generation is under the pressure of achieving a lot at a young age. This pressure is reflected in Gen z’s reliance on a high level of convenience in their daily life.

The third trend is the Security. Security this context refers to financial security. Similar to their parents, Gen Z has witnessed the impact of an economic recession during their upbringing. Therefore, some of this generation might rely on education as a safe investment and some would avoid opportunities that are accompanied by uncertainties. Another symptom that Gen z have from their upbringing is that they become less brand loyal, but, on the other hand, significantly brand sensitive.

The last trend that is likely to characterize Gen Z is escapism. Escapism by definition means the tendency to avoid stress and displeasing reality and to resort toward the relieving zone. Just like their Gen x parent, Gen z seems to be a good market for goods that facilitates the life of escapism. This behavior can be attributed to the economic difficulties that Gen Z and Gen x share (Wood, 2013).

Mondres (2019) clarifies that Gen Z, as a new banking customer, is looking for innovative financial services that fit their characteristics, help them build their financial knowledge, financial awareness, and reach their goals.

It is challenging to determine what generation Z prefers specifically when it comes to banking or financial services. The heterogeneity nature of Gen Z requires the researchers to go beyond the demographic consideration when studying this generation. For instance, on the question of financial services, Gen Z can be divided into three groups, namely disruptors, digitals, and conventionals. Disruptors led by non-traditional financial services providers such as Google and Amazon. They exclude non-traditional providers

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from their future. Contrastively, conventionals still distinguish between the traditional and the newcomers such as Amazon and Google, and they prefer the traditional services and face to face transactions. Whereas the Digitals are located themself in the middle. Although they prioritize digital banking channels, they still believe that traditional providers are indispensable (Cocheo, 2020).

Research showed that generation Z is less trusting than prior generations. This means that financial brands in general ought to make greater efforts to win Gen Z’s trust (Felleson, 2020). Although financial brands need to highly invest in their digital capabilities, given that Gen Z is considered as the most digital-centric generation, the trust factor cannot be substituted by digital technology. This makes face-to-face interplay fundamental to establish trust in the final consumer (Singhal, 2020).

Another significant aspect that might have an impact on generation Z preferences especially when it comes to community banks is the fact that community banks had low performance among Gen X who are the parents of Gen Z (Cocheo, 2020). The thing that led merely a few Gen X to choose community banks. The complication here is that “The average community bank customer is old”. Although some community banks are alerted to the significance of this segment, adding new technologies might not be enough to keep up with what this customer wants. Moreover, even though Gen Z spends a lot of time on social media, they will not wait for community banks to catch up with its needs and wants. Instead, they will be heading to the main source of financial information which is their parents (Cocheo, 2020).

2.4 Community Banks

There is no clear consensus on the definition of a community bank. There are, however, several attempts to define community banks in the literature. These definitions slightly differ to fit the scope of their respective context. For example, Filbeck, Preece, Woessner & Burgess (2010) define community banks as “locally‐ owned and operated banking institutions. Their primary customers are individuals who have checking

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accounts, savings accounts, money market deposit accounts, and certificates of deposits at the bank. Their primary loan customers are small, independent businesses who like the one‐on‐one attention and local decision making that they get from a locally owned bank.”

It should also be mentioned that community banks come under different categories based on the bank's assets. Balla and Rose, (2019) consider banks with assets beneath $1 billion as small community banks, whereas banks with assets between $1 billion and $10 billion as large community banks (Balla & Rose, 2019; Hughes et al., 2019).

On this basis, community banks enjoy, compared to other banks, an upside when it comes to customer relations. They are acquainted with their customers as well as the local economy. Consequently, relationship banking is the notion of community banking which provides them greater profitable investment opportunities (Balla & Rose, 2019).

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3 Research Methodology

This chapter aims to put forward and explain the methods that the authors have used to conduct this research paper. Also, the authors illustrate in detail how the primary and secondary data is collected. Additionally, the chapter provides a motivation for the usage of these determined methods. Finally, the authors reflect on the validity, reliability, and Replicability of the research.

3.1 Research Design

Research design is defined as an established framework in furtherance of the collection and analysis of data (Bryman, 2012). To answer the research question, the authors have selected the onion research model (Saunders et al., 2016). The onion model connotes the steps which should be included when evolving an efficacious methodology (Saunders et al., 2007). It is worth referring that the authors have used the mixed-methods approach (Saunders et al., 2007), where an interview is carried out to answer the first part of the research question, and a survey to answer the second part. Having said that, one can note both parts of the research question share some layers of the onion model.

3.2 Research Approaches

The research approach is the initial layer of this paper. Literature puts forward two distinctive approaches that could be undertaken: deductive and inductive approaches (Bryman & Bell, 2011; Saunders et al., 2016). To answer the two parts of the research question, the authors have chosen the deductive approach. The selection of the deductive approach can be argued that this approach is most appropriate to context where the research paper investigates whether the observed phenomena fit with expectation that is rested on previous research (Wiles et al., 2011). Selecting the deductive approach can be reasoned as the authors have recognized relevant theories while formulating the research question and objectives of this study. Thereby,

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the authors have designed research to test and develop theory through the collection of data. The thing that makes this study more theory-driven and makes the authors embrace a deductive approach.

Finally, the authors have decided to choose the qualitative approach, whereby an interview is used to answer the first part of the research question. Also, the authors have chosen to follow the quantitative approach to answer the second part of the question. The motivation for using the quantitative approach is the fact that this approach is suitable for circumstances where there is a great number of respondents, and statistical methods can be used to analyze the data (May, 2011). On the other hand, what incited the authors to use the qualitative approach is to prevent the authors to force their perception of social phenomena on the interviewees (Banister et al., 2011). In this manner, the authors can examine how interviewees explain their reality (Bryman & Allen, 2011).

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3.3 Research Strategy

A research strategy can be defined as a plan by the way that the authors will endeavor to answer their research questions (Saunders et al., 2016). Given that the selection of the research strategy will be led by the research questions and aims (Saunders et al., 2016), the authors have decided to carry out an interview to answer the first part of the research question, and a survey to answer the second part. Moreover, based on the foregoing, the authors have chosen two different strategies where each strategy is employed to answer one independent part of the research question.

Using the quantitative approach makes conducting a survey as a research strategy more appreciated, where surveys generate quantitative data that can be examined empirically (Bryman, 2012). Against this background, the authors have carried out a survey with 12 questions. Thereafter, the survey has been sent using different online platforms, for instance, social media and the university platform (Canvas). At the same time, an interview with three managers from a community bank is the qualitative approach that the authors have used to collect the primary data to answer the first part of the paper questions. The interview included 16 questions between main and follow up questions. Most of the questions have the same aim which is to explore the strategic orientation of community banks in Sweden.

3.4 Research Choices

As mentioned, the authors have picked mixed methods to conduct this research, which involves a selection of two different methods (Bryman, 2012). For further clarifications, the mixed-methods approach is where the research is composed of separate parts, with each generating a particular dataset; thereafter each is analyzed utilizing techniques that emanate quantitative or qualitative methodologies (Feilzer, 2010).

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3.5 Time Horizons

Time horizons means within which time framework the research is intended to be completed (Saunders et al., 2016). The authors went with the time horizons, the cross-sectional type (Bryman, 2012). It means that the authors have to study specific phenomena at a given time (Saunders et al., 2016, p.200). Hence, given that the authors are working on a bachelor thesis, the time when the data must be collected is previously predetermined.

3.6 Data Collection and Analysis

3.6.1 The Primary Data

As previously mentioned, the authors have carried out qualitative and quantitative research. Qualitative research has been conducted by interviewing three managers from a community bank in Sweden, whereas quantitative research has been performed by sending a survey via the internet, including social media (Facebook, LinkedIn) and the university platform (Canvas), to answer the second part of the research question. At this layer, the authors are going to explain how the data is collected for both approaches.

Primary Data (Survey design)

Primary data is obtained from survey responses. The survey represents the quantitative approach in the research, in which the main goal was to examine the orientation preferences of generation Z in the financial market, more specifically community banks in Sweden. The survey consists of 12 questions, where the first three questions represent the demographic profile of respondents, namely Age, Gender, and residency or citizenship. Including the age, the question has facilitated segmenting the answers to isolate the generation Z’s responses, whereas the aim of including a question about the place of residency or citizenship is to

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exclude the answers that are from outside Sweden. The rest of the questions aim to determine the orientation preference of Gen Z. the nine questions will be further discussed in the operationalization. Furthermore, given that both qualities might be in favor of most of the customers and specifically the targeted group (Gen Z), the authors have decided to mediate the scale between two extremes, where one side refers to the brand orientation and the other to the market orientation. Having said that, the participant has to select one extreme which might be the choices (1, 4) or at least one out of two hybrid orientations which might be the choices (2, 3). In the same vein, it must be noted that according to Bell & Bryman (2011), in the case of closed questions, it might be hard to come up with a forced-choice response that is mutually exclusive.

Survey Scaling

Many academicians explain the outcomes acquired in studies that have employed Likert-type scales. Despite the fact that scales that use five or seven scale points are popular, there are a number of studies that use four points scales in preference to five. Employing scales of four points helps the researcher to dispose of neutral mid-points (Hartley, 2014). Moreover, it obliges the respondents to select a choice (Garland, 1991). Garland (1991) manifested evidence of “social desirability bias” that emerges from respondents who want to delight the interviewer or be helpful or to avoid giving what they comprehend to be a socially unwelcome answer. According to Garland (1991) “social desirability bias” can be reduced by eliminating the midpoint from Likert scales, for instance ('neither... nor', uncertain, etc.) (Garland, 1991). Against this background, the authors have decided to eliminate the midpoint from the Likert scales category and use a four points scale. Another significant point to mention is that the main objective of the survey is to examine customer preferences on the question of strategic orientation. By employing a Likert four points scale, the authors can locate the customer in one of four categories, namely, preferred market orientation, preferred brand orientation, preferred market brand orientation, and preferred brand market orientation. Whereas the numbers 1 and 4 represent the two extremes, preferred brand orientation, preferred market orientation, the numbers 2 and 3 represent the hybrid preferences.

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The semi-structured interview seems to be a good choice due to the exploratory nature of this research and the lack of pre-existing research studies on the research question. This method is preferred to be used since it provides richer and deeper information for exploring viewpoints, allowing the researchers to reach a better initial understanding of the problem and identify phenomena attitude influences (Healy & Perry, 2000). As mentioned, the objective of the interview is to gain a better understanding of the question of strategic orientation when it comes to community banks in Sweden in order to place community banks in Sweden on the brand and market orientation matrix (Urde et al., 2011).

As the purpose of the interview was to explore the strategic orientation of the bank in question, three managers from dissimilar managerial positions in the bank were interviewed: Chief marketing officer, Business developer, and Operation manager. The chief marketing manager was interviewed as he is responsible for the brand and the brand values which reflect the strategic orientation of the bank. The business developer was also of interest since he has a responsibility in determining the strategy-making activities. Also, due to the long experience the business developer has within the bank, his mindset will most likely reflect the bank’s strategic orientation. Finally, the operation manager was interviewed as she is also responsible for formulating the bank's strategy. Most importantly, she is responsible for translating the strategy into process and practices across the bank. The three managers have at least been in their positions for at least a handful of years. In response to the interviewees’ request, the authors are not able to include neither the bank’s name nor the interviewees’ names.

Considering that interviews are possibly the most used method in qualitative research (Bryman & Bell, 2011), the flexible characteristic of the interview is the reason to make this method appealing to be used. In another aspect, flexibility is an important reminder that the semi-structured interview cannot become a sort of structured interview with open questions (Bryman & Bell, 2011). Following the steps of the

semi-27

structured interviews, the authors have prepared a list of questions to be asked in the interview; Bryman & Bell (2011) denote this list of questions as an interview guide.

The scheduled questions usually do not show up precisely in the way outlined in the interview guide (Bryman & Bell, 2011). Having said that, certain questions have not been listed in the guide and asked as the authors seized the opportunity to capture things mentioned by interviewees. However, the questions did not significantly deviate from the interview guide.

Interview analysis approach

To ensure that the findings of the interview are consistent, repeatable, and trustworthy, the authors chose to conduct a thematic analysis.

Thematic analysis is a systematic approach that is used to identify, analyze, and report patterns within the qualitative data (Braun & Clarke, 2006). The reason behind the choice of this approach is that it paves the way for the researchers towards researching with clarity and eliminates the vagueness and bewilderment that researchers would suffer from otherwise (Braun & Clarke, 2006).

Inspired by Braun & Clarke (2006), the authors followed a six-phase model that guides the analysis of the conducted interview. First, the authors familiarize themselves with the interview script through multiple thorough readings. This phase creates an initial understanding of the data where the authors become familiar with the depth and the breadth of the content (Braun & Clarke, 2006). The second phase is where the authors started coding the data with labels that refer to the content of the coded sections. Coding helps in dividing the data into meaningful groups of content that are interesting and relevant (Braun & Clarke, 2006). The next three phases helped the authors in classifying the codes that were generated in the second phase into broader themes, reviewing and refining the themes, and lastly defining and naming the themes properly (Braun & Clarke, 2006), The last phase is where the authors produced the results of this thematic analysis. Following this approach has helped the authors expand the analysis beyond their individual experiences. This will be visible in the finding section.

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3.6.2 Secondary Data

Secondary data is that which emanates from the opinions or work of other scholars (Newman, 1998). The

secondary data was the point of departure to initiate this research, where the authors went thoroughly into the literature with the aim of gaining a more precise view of the conducted topic. The authors have searched for relevant studies with an eye on recent dates to increase the overall accuracy. Most of the secondary data has been collected online. In addition to the MDH database, google scholar was an alternative method to find related articles.

3.6.3 Quality Criteria

Regardless of the chosen method, the data must be measured against quality criteria, namely, validity and reliability. Validity is a measure that is concerned with the accuracy of the method and the data conducted, while reliability measures the consistency of the data (Cooper & Schindler, 2006; Bryman & Bell, 2015). As this paper has adopted a multi-method approach, the authors ought to evaluate each method’s quality. For a qualitative method, Guba, and Lincoln (1985) suggest criteria that consist of credibility, confirmability, transferability, and dependability. Equivalently, quantitative method quality criteria consist of validity, reliability, and replicability (Bryman & Bell, 2015). In this section, the authors measure the quality of each method using their respective quality criteria.

3.6.4 Quality Criteria (Interview)

Credibility

As one of the quality criteria, credibility is a significant criterion in establishing trustworthiness. It refers to how compatible and consistent the findings of the research are with reality (Cameron, 2011). To meet that, the authors have developed neutral semi-structured questions based on a literature review as shown in table

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1 in the operationalization section. Also, the authors have been inspired in forming the questions by the paper of Wallace et al. (2013) who also the same purpose as this paper had, which is exploring a bank strategic orientation. The purpose of the semi-structured questions was to give the interviewees the space to express their mindset away from the authors’ experiences. The interview questions were shared with the supervisor to ensure that they are formulated in a way that guarantees credible answers and that they do not deviate from the main question. Two of the authors independently applied the thematic analysis approach to minimize subjective interpretations.

Confirmability

Confirmability refers to the level of objectivity of the authors when collecting data and providing findings (Bryman & Bell, 2015). In other words, it is about ensuring that the findings are based on the respondents’ responses rather than the researchers’ preferences and motivations (Cameron, 2011) The authors in this context have provided the interviewees with an interview guide beforehand. The interview guide contained the questions that were carefully structured based on a thorough literature review. The interview guide ought to provide questions that have an unbiased exploratory nature (Bryman & Bell, 2015). Therefore, the authors ensured that the formation of the questions was neutral between market orientation and strategic orientation. The questions, therefore, were pointed towards the strategic orientation in general, regardless of the bank’s direction. The transcript of the interview was then analyzed using a thematic analysis approach which helped the authors analyze the data objectively and away from their personal perspectives (Braun & Clarke, 2006).

Transferability

Transferability is a criterion that measures the generalizability of the research (Cameron, 2011). The authors argue that this stage can be reproduced on a larger scale where more banks are included to generate clearer findings. The authors, however, do not recommend generalizing the finding of this research since there was

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only one community bank that was investigated. In other words, one community bank does not necessarily represent the whole population (Saunders et al., 2016).

Dependability

According to Cameron (2011), dependability refers to “having sufficient details and documentation of the

methods employed so that the study can be scrutinized and replicated”.

Accordingly, the authors recorded the whole interview, transcribed the content of it, shared the transcript with the interviewees to gain approval.

3.6.5 Quality Criteria (Survey)

Validity

According to Bell & Bryman (2011), validity refers to the degree to which the chosen construct measures the thing that is supposed to measure.

The authors of this paper have taken two constructs that measure PMO and PBO were developed by Mulyanegara (2010). Although the constructs were developed to measure the perception of the two aforementioned polar orientations, the authors of this paper have modified the two constructs, setting them against each other forming a four-point-Likert-scale. On the two extremes of the scale, the authors put two appealing statements inspired by the constructs of Mulyanegara (2010). Each statement represents one polar strategic orientation. The authors argue that since the constructs of Mulyanegara (2010) can measure the perception of the two orientations from the customer perspective, then they necessarily can capture the customers’ preference if the constructs were put against each other, where the customer is forced to choose between them. The other two choices on the scale (2 & 3) represent the two-hybrid approaches that were illustrated in fig. 3.

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According to Bell & Bryman (2011), reliability is a quality criterion that measures the degree of consistency of the construct in measuring what is supposed to be measured. In other words, it measures the degree to which the results of the research are repeatable (Bell & Bryman, 2011).

To ensure the reliability of the developed survey, the authors chose to calculate Cronbach’s alpha. The result shows that the developed construct has a value of (0.738). This is an indicator that the developed construct is internally reliable.

Replicability

Replicability examines whether the results of the conducted research can be repeated if different researchers followed the same method with different respondents (Bell & Bryman, 2011).

The authors argue that the method can be repeated. However, due to the number of observations the authors have received, the result might differ if a larger sample responded to the survey. Hence the authors recommend that, in future research, researchers consider taking a larger sample size considering the size recommended by scholars (Bell & Bryman, 2011).

3.7 Operationalization

When it comes to formulating the interview questions, where the authors aimed to explore the bank’s strategic orientation, the authors relied on the literature. Specifically,, the questions were formed based on the paper of Urde et al. (2011). Their paper provides the conceptual characteristics that distinguish the strategic orientation of an organization. The questions were carefully formed keeping in mind the exploratory neutral nature of the research question. In other words, the questions were asked to indicate the

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bank’s orientation keeping in mind that the question should not have any bias toward an orientation over the other. Table 1 shows the operationalization process that was used to construct the interview questions and displays the source as well as the motivation for each question.

In the second part of the question of the research question, the aim was to examine the Gen Z preference regarding the organization’s strategic orientation. For that, the authors relied mainly on two constructs that were developed by Mulyanegara (2010). The two constructs were developed to capture perceived brand orientation (PBO) and perceived market orientation (PMO). Therefore, the authors have modified the PMO and PBO constructs so they can be adapted to measure the preference instead of the perception.

It worth noting that the usage of four points scale will avert the respondent from taking an unbiased preference between the two aforementioned orientations. Table 2 shows the nine pairs of statements that the respondents were asked to choose between.

Interview Guide: Table 1.

Question Resource Motivation

Do you describe this community bank as a community bank? (Hughes, Jagtiani, Mester & Moon, 2019)

To ensure that the bank is categorized as a community bank.

Is it a small, or large community bank? (Hughes, Jagtiani, Mester & Moon, 2019)

To relate the bank size with its relation to its customers

What are the differentiating values that the brand of this community bank stands for? Why?

(Koch, 2014) Preliminary question to identify the differentiating value of the bank and on which strategic orientation it relies What is the customer/ potential customer supposed to perceive

from your brand? In other words, what does the bank want the customer to know about the bank’s brand?

(Koch, 2014) To explore the intended position that the banks aims to deliver to the customer

What does the targeted customer actually perceive your brand in the market? In other words, what is the actual image in the targeted customers’ minds?

(Koch, 2014) To examine if the intended position has successfully delivered as a position

Tell us about the competition in the banking sector, how competitive is the market where this community bank operates in? How does the competitive environment affect the bank’s

(Urde et al., 2011; Koch, 2014)

To check if the competition has a significant influence on the bank’s strategic orientation.

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marketing activities for the sake of obtaining and retaining customers?

If you have to choose; which of these statements suits the bank’s brand strategy better? And why?

“We are responsive to the customers’ needs and wants, we are customer-centric and always aim to satisfy the customer’s expectation”.

“We stand for the bank’s overall vision, culture, and key beliefs and they are our brand’s pillars. Hence, we satisfy our customers' needs and wants within the boundaries of what we stand for”

(Urde et al., 2011)

To ensure whether the answers of the previous questions are internally consistent, and to gain another clear indication about which strategic orientation the bank adopts.

If the answer was the proposed value (position) must be in alignment with the bank's overall vision, culture, and key beliefs follow-up question: To what extent is this orientation affected by the customer’s needs, demand and wants?

(Koch, 2014; Urde et al., 2011)

This question is dependent on the answer of the previous question. After initially identifying which orientation the bank has, the authors aimed to investigate to what extent their orientation has been affected by the other orientations.

Follow up question: The market is always changing from one generation to another and from one customer to another. Do you think that you need to listen to the market?

(Koch, 2014; Urde et al., 2011)

To explore the managers willing to change the strategic orientation overtime.

Follow up question: Are you responding to the customers as long as they are within your values boundaries?

(Koch, 2014) To explore the level of responsiveness of the bank to them to their targeted customers

Do you believe that this orientation might change over time? (Koch, 2014; Urde et al., 2011)

To examine if the community bank might intentionally move to another strategic orientation.

If the answer is yes,

Follow-up question is: What could be the motive behind this change? In other words: over time, the targeted audience might change, for instance, nowadays, most businesses were approaching generation Z.

(Koch, 2014; Urde et al., 2011)

To explore the managers motivation behind a possible change in the strategic orientation.

To what extent the relationships with the bank’s customers are significant, and are these relationships generate profitable investment opportunities to the bank?

(Hughes, Jagtiani, Mester & Moon, 2018).

The aim of this question is to test the consistency between the literature and the reality with referring to

community banks, given that the smaller a community bank is the deeper relationships with the customers are.

Follow up question: When mentioning “the bank” name what position should a customer have in his mind?

(Koch, 2014) To identify the intended positions and explore what the source of this position is.

Would you like to add any comments to this conversation? To ensure that the interviewees have the space to express themselves away from the question’s frames

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Total questions are 18 divided into two orientations with nine questions each.

Customer orientation Brand orientation Source

I would choose a bank that cares about my needs.

I would choose a bank because it is well known in the surrounding community.

(Mulyanegara, 2010) I prefer the bank that stands for values (e.g.,

support athletic teams) that the customers choose.

I prefer a bank that stands for its great values (e.g., support athletic teams).

(Mulyanegara, 2010)

I prefer that my expectations are always well understood by my bank, so I get the right value.

I prefer a bank with unique values, attractive mission, and rich heritage.

(Mulyanegara, 2010)

I prefer to go to the bank where they constantly seek to understand my expectations.

I prefer to go to the bank with a good reputation. (Mulyanegara, 2010)

I prefer the bank that creates its values with the customers and considers their needs and expectations.

I prefer the bank that holds unique values that are preferable to me and the community.

(Mulyanegara, 2010)

I prefer a bank that expresses the willingness to satisfy the changing customer’s needs and wants.

I prefer a bank that expresses its appealing vision and values.

(Mulyanegara, 2010)

The activities/programs implemented by the bank are a response to the local community.

The activities/programs implemented by the bank has strong appeals to the local community.

(Mulyanegara, 2010) I prefer to buy a financial service that is

designed based on my needs.

I prefer a financial service that is designed based on the

bank’s great values. (Urde et al., 2011)

I prefer a communication channel that allows the bank to understand my needs and expectations.

I prefer a communication channel that sends consistent messages about the bank to the community.

(Mulyanegara, 2010)

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4 Findings

The finding chapter is divided into two parts. In the first part, the findings that are derived from the interview are presented, whereas the second part is dedicated to introducing the findings that the authors conclude from the survey. By combining the two parts, the authors attempt to provide a comprehensive picture of findings. In addition, the authors have included concise comments on the importance of key findings.

4.1 Findings from the interview with the community bank`s managers

The main objective of the interview was to explore the mentality of community bank managers, in an attempt to define the community banks’ orientation and locate the brand and market orientation matrix (Urde et al., 2011).

Initially, the authors have identified the bank as a community bank based on its external picture and characteristics which were compliant with the definition presented in the literature review. To confirm this identification, two explicit questions regarding the type and size of the bank were asked at the beginning of the interview. Although the interviewees expressed a small level of uncertainty regarding that their bank does not fully fall under the provided definition of a community bank, they stated that they could not find a closer definition that would represent their bank better. Therefore, the managers eventually approved to label the bank as a community bank.

Regarding the bank size, Balla and Rose (2019) address the community banks into two categories, namely large or small based on the bank's assets. A small community bank is defined with assets less than $1 billion, while a large community bank enjoys assets between $1 billion and $10 billion. In our study, the bank has assets with an approximate value of $4.5 billion according to the Business developer manager. This categorizes the bank as a large community bank.

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The relevance of bank type and size also comes from its impact on customer relationships. As mentioned in the literature review, community banks in general enjoy relatively better relationships with their customers (Hughes et al., 2019). The customers being local gives the community bank the chance to build stronger ties with both individuals and other businesses. In our study, having locality as the core value the bank holds, the managers expressed the bank as a significant entity that contributes to and cares about the community it belongs to. Therefore, putting a focus on the relationship aspect is crucial for the bank.

You know that we have relationships with customers. Even if we know that we might earn nothing from this relationship, we still choose the relationships today. We have customers who we do not earn money from, but we still value the relationship with them. So, relationships are the core of the bank business (operation

manager).

4.2 The Bank Strategic Orientation

As the name suggests, community banks focus their activities on local communities, this kind of bank is associated with small business lending, local community development, and direct customer contact (Hein et al., 2005). To be “local” was the fundamental value for the bank in our study. The bank is originally a local savings bank that was founded to improve the economic situation of the local area. Today, although the bank has become co-owned by a main bank in the country, the local bank is still investing its share of profit in the local society. These investments are spent in specific fields that are chosen by the bank. This value (being the local bank that cares about and contributes to the society) is what the bank relies on to differentiate itself internally within the organization, externally with the customers, or from competitors.

Urde (1997) argues that ‘decreasing product divergence’ is one motive why companies become brand oriented. In other words, differentiating the corporate name through the brand becomes the ideal solution. Describing the banking market, the CMO stated that banks resemble “Petrol stations” since all banks are

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similar in what they sell. Therefore, the bank relies on its locality as a differentiating value. The locality is essentially the value that the bank positions itself through. The word “local” was mentioned under this context 20 times by only the CMO throughout the interview.

As mentioned in the literature review, values that organizations hold come either from the outside (customers) when the organization is following a market-oriented approach, or from the inside (identity, heritage, core values) when the organization is following a brand-oriented approach (Aaker, 1996; Kapferer, 2012; Urde, 2003; 1999; 2011). Against this background, it is important to select the source of the bank value, namely locality. The bank managers, when addressing this question, had clear and explicit answers that were consistent throughout the whole interview. They emphasized that the history of the bank is the core the brand is built upon. The history and the heritage of the bank are essentially the sources of values that the bank’s brand represents.

When asked about the reason behind the choice of the specific fields that the bank is investing in to support the local community, the CMO responded that “it is historically based … and it also covers a large portion

of the community that way”. This reflects the deep roots of the bank's history and reflects its impact on the

brand. This goes in line with how Urde et al. (2011) explains identity-driven organizations with brand orientation.

The bank senior managers were asked to choose between two statements:

A. We are responsive to the customer's needs and wants. We are customer-centric and always aim to satisfy the customer’s expectations.

B. We stand for the bank’s overall vision, culture, and key beliefs. They are our brand’s pillars. Hence, we satisfy our customers' needs and wants within the boundaries of what we stand for.

The two statements were structured based on the literature. The former represents an extreme market orientation, while the latter represents an extreme brand orientation. The CMO directly replied with “I would