Abstract:
The competitiveness of financial institutions, in recent times, have called for Ghanaian rural banks to implement relevant total quality management practices in order to improve customer retention. However, total quality management practices and customer retention has not been largely investigated in Ghana’s rural banking sector. The study, therefore, purposely examined the effect of total quality management practices on customer retention at Unity Rural Bank. It also examined the customers perceived total quality management practices and determinants of customer retention at the bank. The study adopted the quantitative research approach, descriptive research design and structured questionnaires to address the objectives understudy. The study gathered relevant data from 233 customers of the bank which was then processed using Statistical Package for Social Sciences version 24. Both descriptive specifically mean and standard deviation scores and linear regression were employed in the study’s data analysis. The study found continuous improvement as the highest and major total quality management practice perceived by customers to be adopted at the bank. The study also found service quality as the key determinant of customer retention. The study concluded that total quality management practices play tremendous role in improving customer retention at the bank. It was, therefore, recommended that, management of Unity Rural Bank should continuously emphasis on continuous improvement in their processes, systems, strategies and policies by encouraging creativity and innovation among its staff.
