No abstract

Purpose -To build and test a model of customer relationships, with particular reference to the financial services sector, relating the perceived quality of the relationship to one antecedent and two long term consequences. Design/methodology/approach -Data collected by street interviews with 207 consumers of financial services in Hong Kong were analysed by the research tool for this study is a questionnaire-based survey on the quality of financial services in Hong Kong. Customers were interviewed on the streets in the major commercial districts in Hong Kong and a total of 207 completed questionnaires were collected and subjected to factor analysis. The model was tested for goodness of fit and construct reliability. Findings -The findings confirm that there are significant relationships among relationship quality, information sharing, the expectation of continuing interaction and customers' willingness to recommend their service provider to others. Research limitations/implications -Future research should apply the model proposed in this study and the findings to other service sectors and other geographic locations, in order to enhance its generalizability.Practical implications -The study provides strong evidence that financial service providers need to cultivate good-quality relationships with customers, especially through regular and open information sharing, in order to maintain them in the long-term. Originality/value -The main contribution of this study is to demonstrate that relationship quality is a significant mediating variable between the antecedents and consequences of customer relationships. The expectation of a continuing relationship is also found to be strongly related to customers' willingness to recommend "their" service providers to others.

corporate directors, corporate social responsibility roles, stakeholders,

The importance of business relationships is deeply rooted in Chinese society, characterised by Confucian codes of repeated favour-exchanges. Our study aims to explore how a quality business relationship is to be developed and maintained in a Chinese context and to explain the concept of expressive and instrumental ties of a guanxi model incorporating relationship-specific variables (face, favour-exchange and flexibility) and the quality of business relationship (cooperation, continuity and commitment) in the framework of capital exchange. Managerial implications in the form of the face mechanism and Yin-Yang perspective are discussed.

Purpose -This paper aims to review the current state of building decay in Hong Kong, and attempts to identify and analyze the perceived benefits of implementing the Mandatory Building Inspection Scheme (MBIS) via an industry-wide empirical questionnaire survey.Design/methodology/approach -A total of 340 professional respondents who have gained hands-on experience in either new building works or building management or building repair/maintenance were requested to complete a survey questionnaire to indicate the relative importance of those benefits identified in relation to MBIS. The perceived benefits were measured, ranked and compared according to the different roles of industrial practitioners, and between the residents in private premises and those in public estates. Findings -The survey findings suggested the most significant benefits derived from implementing MBIS to be: (1) Raise the overall building safety towards residents and the general public; (2) Create more job openings and business opportunities in building repair and maintenance services; and (3) MBIS is an effective solution to address the problems with building decay (e.g. dilapidation and control over existing unauthorized building works). The results of factor analysis indicated that the 13 perceived benefits of implementing MBIS were consolidated under three underlying factors: (1) Addressing building dilapidation and assuring building safety; (2) Improving living environment and upgrading property values; and (3) Creating more job openings and business opportunities.Social implications -As MBIS was officially launched on 30 June 2012, it is expected to be one of the proposed effective measures in resolving the long-standing problems of building neglect and deterioration in Hong Kong and overseas, especially to those existing old private premises.Originality/value -In the long run, the number of prematurely ageing buildings would be reduced, and the service life span of existing private premises would be prolonged. This is in line with the sustainability principle of providing a better living and working environment within the community as a whole.