Analyzing the dynamics behind ethical banking practices using fuzzy cognitive mapping

Abstract

Because the perceived ethics of a banking institution can affect its reputation, concern over ethical practices in the banking sector is rapidly increasing. The alignment of such practices with daily operations, however, requires dealing with a wide range of variables, tangible or intangible, and constitutes a notoriously difficult endeavor. Still, due to the rapidly changing economic environment and current sharp competition in the banking industry, a better understanding of this alignment can help bank managers and other key players enhance value creation through more informed decisions, contributing to stronger integration of ethical practices in the banks' daily activities. This paper proposes the use of fuzzy cognitive maps (FCMs) to analyze the dynamics behind ethical banking practices. Grounded on intensive group meetings with a panel of senior executives from the banking industry, the result is a well-informed process-oriented framework that sheds light on the manner in which ethical practices interrelate with each other. Implications, advantages and shortcomings of our proposal are also discussed.

Analyzing the Determinants of E-Commerce in Small and Medium-Sized Enterprises: A Cognition-Driven Framework

“…In addition, A j (t) is the activation level of concept j at moment t, w ji is the degree of intensity of the relationship that connects concept j to concept i, and f is the threshold function that confines the state value to an interval. The threshold function can assume different forms: (1) binary (i.e., f(x) = 0 or 1); (2) trivalent (i.e., f(x) = −1, 0 or 1); (3) sigmoid (i.e., f(x) ∈ [0; 1]); or (4) hyperbolic tangent (i.e., f(x) ∈ [−1; 1]) (Azevedo & Ferreira, 2017). This function enables qualitative comparisons between concepts and assigns them a meaning (Mazlack, 2009).…”

“…As a PSM, fuzzy cognitive maps (FCMs) can represent the causal reasoning in a decision-making context in a logical, visual way (Hester, 2015). Although FCMs have been applied in a wide range of areas, such as banking (e.g., Azevedo & Ferreira, 2017;F. Ferreira, J. Ferreira, Fernandes, Meidutė-Kavaliauskienė, & Jalali, 2017), real estate (e.g., Ferreira & Jalali, 2015;Ferreira, 2016;Ribeiro, Ferreira, Jalali, & Meidutė-Kavaliauskienė, 2017;Fonseca, Ferreira, Fang, & Jalali, 2018;Pires, Ferreira, Jalali, & Chang, 2018), and financial investments (e.g., Koulouriotis, 2004), a review of the literature conducted for the current research found no documented use of this methodological approach in any study of SMEs' e-commerce practices.…”

Supplier Selection for Photovoltaic Module Installation Utilizing Fuzzy Inference and the VIKOR Method: A Green Approach

“…Fuzzy logic presents techniques such as fuzzy cognitive mapping that helps the study of causality between variables of different order and complexity [25], and which contributes to the problems of supplier selection. According to [57], the advantage of fuzzy cognitive mapping is in the understanding of complex systems, and it is delimited by the quality of the information and the relation of the objects that are analyzed, [58][59][60][61][62][63][64][65][66].…”

A Constructivist Model of Bank Branch Front-Office Employee Evaluation: An FCM-Sd-Based Approach

“…The second group session was convened to continue the structuring process and was attended by 6 out of the 7 initial decision makers. According to the literature (e.g., Azevedo & Ferreira, 2019), this situation is common, and the absence of one expert does not jeopardize decision-making processes. In addition, the number of participants was still in the range suggested by the relevant literature.…”