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Method

This chapter will reveal the research approach of this thesis and methodological choices that has been made in order to fulfil the purpose by answering the research questions.

Research approach

The author of this thesis has worked at a bank for a couple of years now and therefore an understanding exists beforehand concerning how the banks work toward their corporate customers. An understanding of the importance of keeping their loyal customers is also known from previous experience. The preconceptions the author has about the banking industry also include the fact that they undergo major processes of change, which places higher demands on the bank. The digitalization in today’s society is one contributing fact and the customers’ way of handling their banking cases have gone through major changes. Hence there was an opportunity to deepen the knowledge within how the digitalization has changed SEB’s way of working towards shaping loyal corporate customers.

Deductive vs. Inductive Approach

According to Bryman & Bell (2005) the relationship between theory and the empirical findings can be assessed based on two approaches, deduction and induction. A regularly held definition of the distinction between these two paths to knowledge is that induction is the formation of a generalization derived from examination of a set of particulars, while deduction is the identification of an unknown particular, drawn from its resemblance to a set of known facts (Rothchild, 2006). A simpler explanation of the distinction between the concepts is that the inductive inference is based on observations and deductive inference is based on theory. Deduction is defined as the “inference by reasoning from generals to particulars” (Oxford English Dictionary, 2015). Deduction starts with a general statement, or hypothesis, and then examines the possibilities to reach a logical conclusion (Bradford, 2015). Deduction is a basic form of valid reasoning and based on the theory we hold we make a prediction of its consequences (Bradford, 2015).The definition of induction is “the process of inferring a general law or principle from observation of particular instances” (The Oxford English Dictionary, 2015). Induction reasoning is the opposite of deductive reasoning and makes broad generalizations from specific observations (Bradford, 2015). In inductive reasoning you go from specific to generalization, exactly the opposite of deduction. You make observations, distinguish a pattern, make a generalization based on your observations and then infer a theory based on your knowledge (Bradford, 2015). Induction allows a conclusion to be false since the conclusion may not follow logically from the statements (Bradford, 2015). Even though the two different paths of knowledge often are treated as two dissimilar approaches, the deductive method has features of the inductive method and vice versa. There is also a third approach called abduction, which combines the deductive and inductive approaches. Abduction shifts between empirics and theory under the process which results in a gradually development of the empirical and theoretical material (Alvesson & Sköldberg, 2008). Initially the study is conducted inductive by the collection of empirical data, but unlike the inductive approach, it does not exclude the theoretical approaches. Instead theory is used to get a deeper insight in the empirical findings (Alvesson & Sköldberg, 2008). The author of this paper has used both inductive and deductive approach. The process started by an analysis of existing theories to get an overview on what the reality looked like today between the bank and the company decision makers. The information collected via secondary data was used in the implementation of the interview questions in the qualitative research. The interview was constructed by previous theories within the topic intended to support the empirical part of the study. Since the interview was developed from different theories and not one specific model, the inductive approach was also used.

Primary vs. Secondary sources

As mentioned above the collection of primary (data that has been collected by the researcher itself) data will be in the form of qualitative interviews. Interviews have an advantage over surveys since it allows the researches to ask follow-up questions if it is needed. Another advantage of primary data is that the researcher can tailor the questions to induce the data that will help them in their study (Institute for work health, 2008). The method creates a mutual feeling of trust, which will contribute to more trustworthy answers. The interviewee’s ability to ask appropriate questions to their field of study ultimately determines the outcome of the interview. There are no clear guidelines of who should be interviewed in a qualitative research. The most important task is to find respondents that can contribute to useful and relevant information within your field of study. Secondary sources refers to documents that relate or discusses information already used somewhere else. Secondary sources used in addition to the primary sources were relevant articles, the Internet, scientific journals and information about SEB and their background was collected from their website.
Qualitative vs. Quantitative Approach
In a study you can make use of either qualitative or quantitative methods. The major difference between qualitative and quantitative data is that the qualitative data focuses more on the written facts that are presented and not on the collected numerical statistics (Roberts, 2012). In a quantitative study information is collected and then analysed in numerical terms. Quantitative data deals with numbers that cannot be measured and as you can hear on the name quantitative deals with quantity (Roberts, 2012). Hence qualitative data deals with descriptions and can be observed but cannot be measured. As you can hear on the name qualitative data deals with the quality aspects. A qualitative study provides the researcher with a deeper understanding of the problem and is more of an interpretation process unlike quantitative studies that is characterized by the data collection process (Holme & Solvang, 1997). The choice of method often depend on different factors for instance the research problem, time limits, the subject area and also what different research instruments that are available (Eriksson & Wiedersheim, 2001). In the collection of primary data the author has used a qualitative method in the form of personal interviews. Based on the problem formulation key persons within the SEB bank have been chosen that can contribute with helpful information in the implementation of fulfilling the purpose of this thesis. By using qualitative methods the researcher investigates fewer components in order to get a deeper understanding within the topic. This will contribute to a more in depth analysis from trustworthy sources. Qualitative interviews are used to identify the respondents view on a certain research topic that is seen as relevant for the thesis. By using a semi-structured interview the goal is to get as honest and accurate answers as possible by allowing supplementary questions.

Exploratory, Descriptive or Explanatory approach

Research studies can be separated into three different categories including, exploratory, descriptive and explanatory studies. Every category has got a different purpose and can be used in certain ways. When the research progresses over time, you might find more than one purpose. The three different approaches are not mutually exclusive which means that there can be a mixture of them in a research paper. In the coming section the three different approaches will be explained in detail and what the different approaches are suitable for. Exploratory research is concerned with the initial research into a theoretical idea (Kowalczyk, 2015). This is when the researcher seeks to understand more about an area of interest. The focus is on discovering ideas in the beginning of the research process. The goal of exploratory research is to find key questions and variables. It might involve a literature research or running a focus group. It is conducted to get a better understanding of a situation and researchers hope to find out what is going on in a specific situation (Kowalczyk, 2015). Descriptive research attempts to explore and explain by providing information about a topic (Kowalczyk, 2015). In this part the actions are described in detail and expands our understanding about a topic. Further on Kowalczyk (2015) argues that as much information as possible should be collected to predict the future. Descriptive research seeks to describe observations of occurrences. Explanatory research looks for explanations for certain relationships. The researcher starts by ideas about a likely reason of a phenomenon. It is an attempt to understand the cause and effect, which means that, authors wants to explain what is going on (Kowalczyk, 2015). This approach is concerned with how things come together and interact (Kowalczyk, 2015). The main purpose of explanatory research is to explain why occurrences happen and to predict future events. Based on the purpose and the problem this study is made of descriptive research. As Kowalczyk (2015) argues this is the part when the happenings are described in detail to expand our understanding about a topic. Information has been collected to be able to predict the future within the banking sector due to the massive digitalization. The aim is to explore and explain by providing information about the topic of the modern banking industry.

Data collection

To comply with the initial purpose of this thesis and in order to answer the indicated research questions, data was collected. Different sources of information regarding material about the corporate bank in Sweden (SEB), personal interviews and sample collection about corporate customer loyalty have been collected.

The corporate bank in Sweden: Choice of company

The focus of this thesis is on the customer loyalty within corporate banking. The choice of bank came naturally since SEB is the corporate bank in Sweden and the decision was to investigate the corporate customer perspective. They have put a lot of effort in maintaining corporate customers and being seen as the corporate bank in Sweden. SEB strives to bring the expertise of the advisors closer to the customer and works actively with the research questions in this thesis on a daily basis. SEB was mainly chosen because it suited the research purpose perfectly since they put a lot of effort into especially customer loyalty and the corporate banking perspective in general.

Company background

Banks form a basic pillar in the Sweden’s infrastructure (Swedishbankers, 2015). By assisting customers with asset management, financing, investment and secure payments SEB supports economic development and international trade (SEB, 2015). SEB was established in 1856 and stands for Skandinaviska Enskilda Banken. The bank is committed to deliver customer value, building on their strong legacy of entrepreneurship, international network and long-term perspective (SEB, 2015). Rewarding relationships is the basic pillar in SEB:s business. Since the start of SEB the bank has provided financial services to assist their clienteles. The bank is divided into five different divisions including retail banking, merchant banking, life, wealth management and Baltic. SEB is established all around the world in 20 different countries such as Germany, Shanghai, New York, London, Peking and Hong Kong. The banking company employs more than 16 000 people and half of them are working outside of Sweden. SEB delivers services to 3000 large corporations and institutions in both the Nordic countries and internationally (SEB, 2015). They serve 400 000 small-medium enterprises in Sweden and the Baltic countries. Finally they have got approximately 4 million private customers in Sweden and the Baltic countries and also 27 000 individual customers in and outside Sweden. Through sponsoring activities SEB supports future generations and the company have three prioritized areas of sponsoring including entrepreneurship, youth, education and knowledge. Figure 3.5 shows how SEB:s organization and different divisions within the company is built up. Danish financier Carl Fredrik Tietgen founded Skandinaviska Kreditaktiebolaget. They were functioning as a competitor to Stockholms Enskilda Bank (SEB, 2015). In 1910-1920 Stockholms Enskilda Bank moved to their head office at Kungsträdgårdsgatan in Stockholm. At this period the also became the largest commercial bank in Sweden. In 1972 Stockholms Enskilda Bank became Skandinaviska Enskilda Banken and the two banks were both stronger and more competitive than before (SEB, 2015). Today SEB aim to be the leading Nordic bank for companies and institutions. Their goal is to be the top bank in both Sweden and the Baltic countries. SEB has also sold its German and Ukraine retail banking businesses as a consequence of focusing on the areas where the banks can take a leading position (SEB, 2015). Mission– “to help people and businesses thrive by providing quality advice and financial resources (SEB, 2015) Their goal is to move the expertise from the advisors closer to the customers through listening and sharing their knowledge. By listening and sharing their knowledge SEB aims to meet the customers needs and expectations. Through their customers’ success SEB contribute to growing societies, which makes their daily work meaningful (SEB, 2015). Vision- “to be the trusted partner for customers with aspirations”. The main goal is to be there for the customer through the good times and the bad and help them fulfil their ambitions. SEB believes that everyone has got ambitions for their future. There are four core values of SEB, which are reflected to all of their target groups. Their goal is to create value for customers, shareholders and employees (SEB, 2015). Continuity is the first core value, which means that SEB learn, challenge and take action based on their knowledge within the market. Through mutual respect the bank strive to gain trust from others as well as from each other (SEB, 2015). Professionalism is the third core value and by bringing the expertise closer to the customer SEB makes it easy to do business with them (SEB, 2015). Lastly, commitment, which means that every activity they implement should be seen as a value enhancing activity.

Personal interviews

The information collection process used was semi-structured interviews. In the data collection process, interviews were given to different people at different positions within the company. The interview questions have been developed especially for the research purpose of this thesis. The aim is to get information from different key persons within the company in order to facilitate an answer to the purpose of the thesis. One telephone interview and two personal interviews have formed the collection of primary data. The reason for having one telephone interview is due to logistical reasons since the respondent was based in another city. Since the qualitative interview does not include any “right” or “wrong” answers, the structure can be regarded as low. The lowest degree of structure can be referred to as unstructured interview where the researcher may ask the candidates different questions and a standardized rating scale is not required (US office of personnel management, 2008). The unstructured interview is based on loosely assembled notes and typically involves low levels of reliability and validity in contrast to another type of interview called the structured interview which is characterized by high levels of reliability and validity. In the structured interview all respondents are asked questions in the same order and all candidates are evaluated using a common rating scale (US office of personnel management, 2008). The type of interview used in this data collection process is called a semi-structured interview. In a semi-structured interview you have a questionnaire based on different topics within your research area but the respondent can still formulate the answers at their own request (Bryman & Bell, 2005). By using this approach there was a focus on reaching the goal with the interviews without limiting the respondent from expressing the answers in their own way. Both the personal and the telephone interviews were carried out in a semi-structured way with a low degree of standardization. The researcher asking the questions in a particular sequence characterizes a highly standardized interview. On the contrary a low degree of standardization is when the sequence is flexible. A low degree of standardization was used since the questionnaire was tailored by how the interview developed. The personal interviews were conducted in relaxed surroundings with the respondent and the interviewer seated around a table at the respondents’ office. There are several advantages at conducting the interviews at the respondents’ location since the person will feel more comfortable in an environment where they feel secure. Another advantage with personal interviews is that you are able to construe the respondents body language and the interview will be more personal. Both the telephone and the personal interviews took around 35-40 minutes and a recorder was used in the telephone interview to make sure that the correct information is given. An advantage with the recorder is that it prevents the added distraction of interruption of taking notes during the interview (Williamson, 2002). Instead the focus can be on reaching the goal with the interview without interrupting the discussion. All the interviews had got Swedish respondents; hence the interviews were conducted in Swedish in order to avoid any misconceptions. One disadvantage with the telephone interview is that there will be no face-to-face contact and the ability to interpret the body language will not exist. It is harder to build mutual confidence and trust in the telephone interview since the personal contact will be reduced. However the need for acquiring the information from the experts within the company made this approach was necessary nevertheless. Using telephone interviews could have had an impact on the validity and reliability but to be able to acquire the information needed this was the most appropriate choice.

1.1 Background
1.2 Problem discussion
1.3 Purpose
2 Frame of reference
2.1 Marketing strategies
2.2 Service quality
2.3 Customer loyalty
2.4 Summary of theoretical framework
3 Method
3.2 Data collection
3.3 Data Analysis
4 Empirical findings
4.1 Marketing strategies
4.2 Service Quality
4.3 Customer Loyalty
5 Analysis
5.1 Marketing strategies
5.2 Service quality
5.3 Customer loyalty
6 Conclusions
7 Further research

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Corporate customer loyalty within the banking Sector: The case of SEB