Moving towards a new service development (NSD) framework for sustainable financial service offerings for the second economy

Abstract

In South Africa the second economy continues to be marginalised in certain areas. This marginalisation exacerbates disparities in wealth. These ills have to be reduced for South Africa to prosper. A key driver for poverty reduction is ensuring all folds of society contribute to economic activity and are included within financial systems. A fundamental step in the process is for organisations to provision financial service offerings for the second economy. Whilst this has occurred, the majority of offerings have failed or have been met with limited success. There is a requirement to understand the customer and their needs hence providing a framework with which an organisation can create sustainable offerings for the second economy. Semi-structured interviews were conducted with twelve experts in financial service organisations. These persons had various roles from product managers to managing directors. The respondents hailed from research and non-governmental organisations. Using content and thematic analysis the researcher analysed data from the interviews. This data was used to transform a de jure new service development (NSD) framework created from the literature to a de facto NSD framework. This framework encompasses critical success factors and criteria required for sustainable offer development in South Africa. The research highlighted financial services organisations are not performing the basic processes and those performed, are performed ineptly. There is a dire need for a mind shift change, currently hindered by industry arrogance, to effect new process, to effect radical innovation, to effect new business models, to create sustainable service offerings for the second economy. Finally it’s evident a tool such as the de facto NSD framework, or similar, is essential in organisations to start perpetuating this change and supporting leaders in this drive.