The Dubai Islamic bank is the first Islamic bank in the world that has nearly all facilities for its customers. Dubai Islamic Bank is a banking institution that has combined the technology and modern banking functionalities with traditional Islamic values. It has been a benchmark for Islamic banking and is the undisputed leader in the area of its work since its establishment in the year 1975. The standards set by the bank are so high that it acts as a path to follow for other Islamic banks. (Introduction to Dubai Islamic bank)
Although the bank enjoys the stature of being at the top in the field of Islamic banking it still remains loyal to its roots. The bank understands the importance of its customers and emphasizes on close personal relationships with the customers. The organization merges tradition and heritage of Islam with flexibility, innovation and modernity in other to help its customers independent of the customer's nature and expectation and it aims to fulfill all the expectations of its customers (Introduction to Dubai Islamic bank).
Culture at Dubai Islamic Bank:
The culture at the Dubai Islamic bank is largely dependent on the Islamic culture. The culture of Islamic bank in fact is based on Islam and is run by the rules of Islam. The Islamic banking has 3 key features which include riba that is the Quranic prohibition on usury, it does not consider money as a commodity or asset and it also says that transactions must be backed by assets. (Islamic Banking Culture)
Features of Islamic Banking Culture:
The main features of Islamic banking are discussed below:
The banking activities and transactions are controlled by the Islamic law principles also known as Sharia.
Riba is a term commonly used in Islamic banking that refers to the prohibition of collection and payment of interest.
Trading that involves financial risks is also prohibited under Islamic law and is referred to as gambling in Islam.
As under the Islamic law selling of certain things is considered detrimental or 'haram'. The Islamic bank usually does not finance these activities. The activities include selling of tobacco, ammunition, alcohol etc. and also prohibit business that produces media harming Islam.
All these features usually form the culture of Islamic banking and also form the key features of Dubai Islamic Bank.
Total Quality Management:
The aim of Total Quality Management is to produce goods and services throughout an organization that help in maintaining high quality of service to its customers and are meant to meet or surpass the expectations of the customer. TQM mainly emphasizes on process measurement and controls in order to achieve continuous improvement (total quality management).
The quality management services of the Dubai Islamic bank are aimed at providing services to its customers at highly competitive and lower costs. The main quality management practices in Islamic banking include reduction of costs for services provided and providing one of the best services to the customers.
The bank has also been able to reduce the cost greatly by the use of IP telephony between its offices. This move of the bank has reduced the telephony cost for the company by about 50% and has lead to reduction in the service charges taken by the bank from its customers.
The Dubai Islamic bank has been renowned for its awareness of the world and the community activities of the bank are generally a matter which is a source of pride for the bank. The bank gives funds for new business and enterprises that are profit free as it works on the Islamic principles which disallow charging of interests from or to the customers (Policies of Dubai islamic bank).
Although the bank is named as Dubai Islamic Bank it still allows people from any religion to use its services. The word Islamic bank is just a reference to design the policies of the bank and shows that the bank is not interested in making obscene profit. The term Islamic banking just refers to the ethical approach of banking adopted by the bank (Policies of Dubai islamic bank).
The Dubai Islamic Bank is controlled by the Sharia board and is run on the principles of Sharia Law which is based on the Islamic principles and is based on the morality of ethics of Islam. The Sharia Board is ranked above the board of directors of the company and all transactions and banking decisions of Dubai Islamic Bank comply with the Sharia Laws. The Sharia board also has the rights to issue Fatwas on the activities of the bank which gives rights to the Sharia Board to ban any kind of banking activity of the Dubai Islamic Bank (Policies of Dubai islamic bank).
Quality Barriers:
The organization also has to cross many quality barriers in order to compete with its competitors and fulfill the needs of its customers. As the bank usually does not give interests on accounts and is compliant on the rules of the Islamic law it is difficult for the bank to attract other customers. The bank has to tell the positives of banking process of the bank to its customers to increase its value as a worldwide enterprise and also attract customers of religions other than Islam. The bank being compliant with the Islamic law cannot charge interests from its customers and even does not indulge in sectors that include financial risks. The main aim of Islamic banking is to provide quality services at much lower costs. The bank also has a policy of providing high technology and remaining flexible in its approach so that it can fulfill the expectations of all kinds of customers and could increase its customer base significantly.
Remaining at the top is also a big challenge for the bank as the expectations from the bank have also risen as it has remained an undisputed leader in the field of Islamic banking for the last 35 years. Its high stature is a representative of the quality policies of the company and also a challenge to the company to maintain the high quality of services and provide even higher quality of services to its customers in the future. The bank is a trademark for Islamic banking and its high stature has led to higher expectations of the customers from the bank and has led to higher quality barriers for the company as its customers are already prone to high quality services provided by the bank.
Quality Culture:
Quality culture refers to incorporating quality in the overall system of an organization. Implementation of quality culture in an organization usually aims at creating a positive internal environment and satisfying the customers so that the customers remain delighted. The implementation of such a culture is a result of promotion of personal relationships with the customers and providing customer friendly services to the customers. The quality culture is usually achieved through managers who lay stress on understanding the values of the customers and believe in the implications of values in an organization. it is usually a process of understanding the values and then working in a manner to satisfy such values of the customers (Quality Culture).
Quality Culture as Compared to Dubai Islamic Bank's Culture:
The culture at Dubai Islamic bank is quite close to quality culture and may be referred to as a kind of Islamic culture in general. The Dubai Islamic bank lays stress on high technology, flexibility and mingling of banking with Islamic culture and traditions. The Dubai Islamic bank usually operates in regions where the existence of people following Islam is predominant and by adhering to the laws of Islam it sends a very strong message to the people of the region that the bank respects their religion and values and will be taking actions which do not hurt the values of Islam. This can be seen as a quality culture to attract the natives of the place. In order to ensure that the company does not lag behind in modernization and just remains a bank that is known for its Islamic banking style the bank has implemented modern technologies that attract customers who want to use new technologies and is a measure to satisfy its modernized customers. The company's policy to give services at the lowest possible cost is also a quality policy and is aimed at satisfying its customers so that they are ensured that they are being provided the best possible services at lowest possible costs.
The comparison of policies of the bank with the quality culture policies usually gives a message that the organization is trying to inculcate quality culture in its working by using various policies and is aimed at satisfying its customers. The organization also has policies that support the local people of the region it operates so that they can be satisfied. These policies show that the organization is on the path of inculcating quality culture and has already inculcated it into the organization's working up to an extent.
Findings of the Investigation:
After investigating the policies and the working of the Dubai Islamic Bank many ways of processing the needs of the customers and also the total quality management policies of the organization were inferred. These quality management policies are usually meant to help in attracting larger number of customers and offering high quality services to the customers. Some of the total quality management policies also affect the work culture of the organization and usually has positive effects on the work culture. The work culture of the organization is usually a result of the policies of the organization and the working conditions of an organization are usually affected by the management policies and decisions taken by the key persons of the organization. During the investigation of the total quality management of Dubai Islamic bank it was found that the organization works on the laws of Islam also referred to as Sharia and the Sharia Board is above the board of directors of the organization. This shows that the organization adheres with the Islamic laws and is working to ensure that the principles of Islam are not overlooked. As the organization adheres to the Islamic laws it does not pay or retrieve interests as it is considered illegal under Islam and also does not involve in high financial risk investments. The bank also gives easy loans for new enterprises and businesses except some of the businesses that are considered as detrimental under the laws of Islam.
The bank also supports modernization so that it could facilitate its customers with all kinds of modern facilities and ensure that its customers get all the modern facilities that other banks may offer so that the customers are not dissatisfied by the kind of services provided by the organization. The bank provides all facilities such as e-banking, online loan payments, online tax payments, online bill payment etc. to its customers. This is a measure to send a message to the customers that the bank is making every possible attempt to give the best services to its customers.
The bank also lays stress on close personal relationships with the customers so that the customers get a sense of belongingness to the organization. The bank is trying to ensure that the customers are satisfied with the bank by ensuring flexibility in its process of working so that customers can get the services as required by them and not as the bank gives this mainly refers to the bank's decisions to ensure that non Islamic customers are also at ease in working with the bank.
These findings clearly show that the Dubai Islamic bank is not working only for the sake of Islam but is an attempt to ensure that the principles of Islam are maintained along with the highest satisfaction of its customers. The implementation of these policies has also resulted in an internal environment of the bank that is very friendly and all the customers are treated with warmth and affection by the employees of the bank.
Suggestions for Cultural Changes and methods for their implementation:
The Dubai Islamic Bank has a culture greatly affected by Islam which is a result of the policies of the organization as the organization works on Islamic laws so it is bound to be affected by Islam. Although the culture of the organization has been observed to be very friendly with its customers and also attracts large number of customers as is clear by its position at the top amongst all Islamic banking organization still a little change to its culture may prove to be beneficial for the company in improving its international customers. The benefits provided to the customers by the Dubai Islamic bank is found to be much lower than other banks around the world which is quite clear by the figures of number of customers having account in the bank as the customers usually open accounts in other banks where they may get benefits such as interest on their money. In order to overcome this the bank needs to provide some sort of benefits to its customers having account in the bank but this cannot be done in the form of interest as the transaction of interests is not allowed in Islamic banking this can be done in terms of giving additional assets or giving benefits to the employees in the form of services provided by the bank for example it may help the customer to get easier loans etc.
Conclusion and Recommendations:
After an in depth investigation of the policies of the Dubai Islamic bank it is quite clear that its quality policies have played an important role in the development of the organization and has been one of the significant factor responsible for the growth of the company. It can also be recommended that the quality system could be improved by providing services that attract international customers as most of the customers at this point of time are the followers of Islam and are aware with the benefits of Islamic policies. In order to attract the non Islamic customers the organization needs to bring out the benefits of Islamic banking in front of the general people and must also highlight the benefits of Islamic banking over general banking.
At last it can be concluded that the policies of the bank have made it an undisputed leader in Islamic banking but in order to reach the top position in the banking sector it has to compete with some of the international banks which requires the bank to implement policies which attract non Islamic customers also.
