The FINANCIAL — The world’s local bank recently awarded the students of Caucasus University (CU) – Caucasus School of Business (CSB). Students won USD 2,000 for successfully conducting a research on customer behaviour in the Georgian banking sector. The awarding ceremony of students was held at CSB.
Students were personally thanked and awarded by Guy Lewis, the newly appointed Chief Executive Officer.
“The first thing that struck me was the quality of research that the students had conducted. We could see the effort and knowledge the students put into it. Projects like this show how determined HSBC Bank Georgia is in investing in CSR. This research will be a big advantage for the students who participated when applying for vacancies in the marketing sphere,” Guy Lewis states.
Levan Losaberidze, 4th year student at CSB says that this was a big chance for him and his team mates.
“This was a huge experience and responsibility at the same time. We used every resource we had for at first conceptualization and then collecting and generating the data. We put our knowledge into practice and we won. I think that my team mates and I did a perfect job. We’ve had many sleepless nights, but now I can clearly see that it was worth it. All this thanks to HSBC Bank Georgia and our university. We would like to thank our lecturer David Tsiklauri who supported us with practical advice,” one delighted student remarks.
HSBC Bank Georgia ordered students of Caucasus University Caucasus School of Business to conduct a research on customer behaviour. The results of this research will help HSBC in product development and attracting customers through the best communication channels.
The business objectives of the research were to provide needs based on financial services to the customers in Georgia. The aim of the research was 1) to clarify demographic profiles of the customers, 2) to identify the different elements of the decision making process (in terms of choosing the bank) among existing customers, 3) to identify the different elements of the decision making process (in terms of choosing the bank) among potential customers, 4) to identify what the common financial needs are (in terms of managing money and choosing the products).
The administration of Caucasus University selected 3 groups, each of 4-5 students of 3rd and 4th year courses. The researches conducted by the students were submitted to HSBC Bank and the winner of the competition was selected by the management of the Bank. HSBC Bank awarded the winner group a prize of USD 2,000.
The winners were chosen based on different criteria such as sampling, methodology, quality of data collection and generation and quality of reported conclusions.
This was the first such cooperation between Caucasus University and the world’s local bank.
HSBC Bank Georgia started its operations in Georgia in 2007. The Bank has recently changed its strategy: retail is not the bank’s focus any more. The Bank will serve corporate customers only from now on.
Written By Levan Lomtadze
