A comparative analysis of employees’ and customers’ attitude towards Islamic banking

Purpose - Islamic banking industry with all of its exponential growth and global recognition has been under criticism for the past two decades. However, the problem signifies further when such criticism is made from within the organization and is well supported by outside (the customers). The purpose of this study is to provide a coherent exploration to investigate the factors that polarize its employees and customers across many parts of the world. Design/methodology/approach - To investigate the phenomenon, a total of 30 responses were taken through interviews 15 each from customers and employees. Afterwards, the data was analysed and summarized into two categories. In doing so, the top five Malaysia’s Islamic banks were shortlisted to collect data from employees and customers. Findings - A detailed thematic analysis resulted in six themes (Contradiction between theory and practice, Islamic banking knowledge and awareness, inadequate Shariah training, employees’ background, Shariah compliance, Islamic banking benefits) for employees and five (Islamic banking benefits, applying Shariah in Islamic banking, knowledge of Islamic banking, Islamic banking promotion, Islamic banking employees’ behaviour) for customers, respectively. Research limitations/implications - The results have stronger implications for both practice and theory as organizations can assess stakeholders and their perceptions about Islamic banking. Another implication is the comparative examination of employees and customers which can potentially affect decision and policy making in Islamic banks. Islamic banks can also address employment-related issues related to employees’ behaviourvis-à-vismarketing-related problems faced by its customers that will ultimately improve its global market share and strategic positioning. Originality/value - The study is based on the importance of Islamic banking in Malaysia and explores the factors that potentially create a positive or negative insight into Islamic banking – both in employees and customers.