The financial services sector comprises over 4% of the Gross Domestic Product in the United States, and employs more than 5.4 million people (more than the combined total of the manufacturing employment in apparel, automobiles, computers, pharmaceuticals, and steel). In addition, this sector plays a major role in the economy, providing payment services and financial products that literally fuel modern capitalist society. Despite its size and importance, there are few rigorous studies of quality management in this industry. The proposed research addresses this problem by investigating three sets of questions: 1) What are the key measures of quality as measured by the customer and how do they link to human resource practices, information technology (IT) and process management? 2) When these quality measures are incorporated, do Tayloristic work practices and associated IT investments still create efficient service delivery processes? Do these results hold up when sales efficiency is considered? 3) Do the management practices that create high-performing service delivery vary significantly when one switches channels through which services are delivered? Do the practices vary between branch and phone operations, and what are their impacts on the key measures of service quality, sales and efficiency? These questions will be investigated through field research conducted in one Bank Holding Company, comprised of several semi-autonomous banks.
