Developing relationship‐led cultures – a case study in retail banking

Abstract

While the concept of relationship marketing has attracted increasing academic and practitioner attention in recent years, issues relating to the practical and context specific implementation of relationship marketing cultures have been less well developed. Indeed, recent literature points up the many difficulties associated with the implementation of relationship marketing. This paper addresses a number of key issues associated with the implementation of a relationship culture in the context of a leading and long established retail banking institution. Specifically, the form which such a culture should take is discussed, together with a critical review of how successful the case bank has been in its establishment. In light of this analysis a conceptual model is proposed for the development of relationship cultures within the banking industry.