Credit union restructuring: don't forget the member!

Byrne, Noreen; McCarthy, Olive; Ward, Michael; McMurtry, J. J.

Credit union restructuring: don't forget the member!

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4338.pdf(600.2 KB)

Published version

Date

2012-10

Authors

Byrne, Noreen

McCarthy, Olive

Ward, Michael

McMurtry, J. J.

Publisher

New Harmony Press Ltd.

Abstract

It is recognised in the marketing literature that services consist of core and relational dimensions, and in a long term customer relationship, the relational dimension can give competitive advantage to a business. One of the gaps in the credit union literature is a discussion on the impact of credit unions mergers on this key competitive advantage. And when member value is discussed, it tends to be confined to the core product aspect such as increased range of services and better rates rather than relational aspects. The focus of this paper is on the interplay between core product and relational dimensions in the member preferences around the future restructuring of the movement. It was found that credit union members clearly value their relationship with the credit union and are not willing to trade the local nature of the credit union as they know it, for increased services.

Keywords

Credit union , Restructuring , Credit Unions , Irish credit union movement , Member relationships , Mergers , Federated models

Citation

Byrne, N., McCarthy, O., Ward, M. and McMurtry, J. J. (2012) 'Credit union restructuring: don't forget the member!', International Journal of Co-Operative Management, 6 (1), pp. 31-41.