Sustainability of Fintech in the commercial banking industry
Sustained competitive advantage
Author: Zhi Xian Lin Student number: S2983729 Email: z.x.lin@student.rug.nl Supervisor: P.J. Marques Morgado
Co-assessor:
Faculty of Economics and Business University of Groningen
Duisenberg Building, Nettelbosje 2, 9747 AE Groningen, The Netherlands P.O. Box 800, 9700 AV Groningen, The Netherlands
TABLE OF CONTENT
Abstract ... 3 Introduction ... 4 Literature review ... 6 Commercial Banking ... 6 Fintech ... 6Fintech in the commercial banking industry ... 8
Sustainability ... 9
Resource-based view ... 11
Transaction cost economics... 12
Research design... 15
Analysis ... 16
Fintech and sustainability ... 16
Theoretical view on Fintech’s aspects of sustainability ... 18
Conceptual model ... 19
Conclusion ... 20
Limitations... 21
Future research ... 21
ABSTRACT
This paper examines the role of Fintech in the commercial banking industry to create a sustained competitive advantage. As Fintech becomes more mainstream in the commercial banking industry, it gradually becomes more important for banks to distinguish itself from its competitors by attaining a sustainable competitive advantage (SCA). A theoretical approach will be taken to concretize on how an SCA can be attained through the use of Fintech in the commercial banking industry in regard to sustainability. An analysis based on the resource-based view (Barney, 1991) will be performed to test the viability of Fintech as an SCA. Afterwards, the application of the transaction cost economics (Williamson, 1981) on the use of Fintech attributes will be elaborated upon, whereas sustainability of the application of Fintech is central. Based on this the following research question will form the foundation of this research: How does sustainability affect the role of Fintech in the commercial
banking industry to create a sustained competitive advantage?
Expectations are that the social and economic attributes of sustainability are positively influenced by the integration of Fintech in the commercial banking industry, although not to the same level of degree. The results of this research will provide an overview of the role of Fintech in the commercial banking industry, whereas several recommendations for businesses will be provided.
Keywords: Sustainability, Fintech, financial services, sustained competitive advantage,
INTRODUCTION
The commercial banking industry has been recovering from the 2008 global financial crisis. In recent years it has become more profitable and resilient since the financial crisis (Deloitte, 2019). Commercial banks are the destination for the majority of institutional customers, as it offers the basic financial needs for institutions. This includes merchant services, lending services, treasury management services, advisory, etc. Due to technological innovations an emergence of a new branch of financial services called Fintech stirred up the commercial banking industry with its combination of financial services, technology, and customer experience. Therefore, it has become crucial for banks to undergo a digital transformation to remain competitive, whereas its success is depended on how banks implement those technologies and synergizes it with their operations and strategy (Deloitte, 2019). As Fintech gains traction and recognition, financial sectors like commercial banks feel the need to adapt and change to maintain a competitive position abiding by the changing consumer needs Fintech is defined as “organisations that combine innovative business models and technology to enable, enhance and disrupt financial services” (Bull, Chen, & Chiselita, 2019). Fintech in its most basic sense is to improve the accessibility of financial services for both consumers and businesses, by connecting the consumers to a digital world whereas, they can manage their finances more easily. This is achieved by using specialized software, algorithms, mobile applications, etc. A few key characteristics of Fintech are: Simplicity, multi-tier functionality, large-scale integration; innovation and security.
As Fintech becomes more important, one needs to stand out from the crowd to be competitive. Therefore, one needs to attain and maintain a sustainable competitive advantage. A sustainable competitive advantage is something unique to the holder which provides a superior long-term position over competitors and is difficult to duplicate or exceed by an external party (Barney, 1991).. Characteristics of a sustainable competitive advantage can be identified through the VRIO framework which stands for; valuable, rare, inimitable and organisation (Barney & Wright, 1998). The position of Fintech will be analysed through these theories to attain an overview of the viability of Fintech as a sustained competitive advantage for commercial banks. Afterwards, the transaction cost economics theory (Williamson, 1985) will be used to analyse to what extend Fintech should be integrated into commercial banks, whereas sustainability is central. Sustainability consist of three pillars (Purvis, Mao, & Robinson, 2019) whereas, two of them (social and economic) will specifically be emphasized on in this research in relation to Fintech.
How does sustainability affect the role of Fintech in the commercial banking industry to create a sustained competitive advantage?
This research has been initiated as Fintech is considered to be a trend in the financial services industry in the last couple of years. As more consumers accept and take notice of Fintech, the more commercial banks feel pressured to adjust themselves to those needs. This paper will contribute to the trend of research on Fintech and its consequences for the commercial banking industry. Hereby, the emphasis will be put on how sustainable competitive advantages can be created based around the Fintech and the sustainability framework focused on the commercial banking industry.
LITERATURE REVIEW
This chapter elaborates on the theoretical approaches and models used during the course of this research. Furthermore, argumentation will be given to substantiate the use of the theories in regard to the research question: How does sustainability affect the role of Fintech in the commercial banking
industry to create a sustained competitive advantage?
Commercial Banking
Commercial banks are a kind of financial institution which provide the “usual” banking services to small and medium sized institutions, with its most distinctive feature being borrowing and lending of money as its primary functions. Secondary functions of commercial banks include for example: agency functions (collecting checks, income, etc) and general utility functions (safe keeping valuables, foreign exchange, etc). Commercial banks are profit-seeking banks, whereas profit is mainly earned from leveraging the interest rates between their depositors (low rates) and borrowers (high rates). Commercial banks mainly focus on the short- and medium-term financial needs of diverse industries with their lending capabilities, long-term credit is not preferred as it impedes the liquidity of the bank, thus also preferring short-term credit lending which promotes the liquidity of the bank. Within commercial banks the following distinction can be made:
TABLE 1
Types of commercial banks
Public sector banks Banks that are nationalized by the government of a country, whereas the major stake is held by the government.
Private sector banks Banks, whereas the major stake is held by private businesses and individuals. Foreign banks International banks, whereas the headquarters is located in a foreign country.
Fintech
situation. EY published in 2019 the global Fintech adoption index, whereas is stated that in 2019 the global consumer adoption equalled to 64% based on its survey. Meaning that 64% of the consumers have gotten used to the use of Fintech. In the rankings China topped, with the first European country being the Netherlands at the 7th place across 27 countries (Bull et al., 2019).
Fintech initiators have improved and expanded their activities around the world and continue to do so. Based on the annual “Fintech100” report of 2019 released by Klynved Peat Marwick Goerdeler (KPMG) the current top 100 includes 42 companies from Asia Pacific, 36 companies from UK and EMEA (Europe, the Middle East and Africa) and 22 companies from America (KPMG, 2019). As technology keeps advancing, so will the consumer needs change, thus stimulating innovation. In the financial services industry, Fintech users include companies from a diverse range of sectors. In the “Fintech100” report that KPMG publishes annually, Fintech companies in the top 100 are divided into the following sectors (KPMG, 2019). Payments and transactions companies, wealth companies, insurance companies, lending companies, neo/challenger banks and companies that operate across multiple Fintech sectors
Fintech is used to sharpen operational efficiency, to lower costs, improve customer experience and to heighten the appeal of their products and services with the use of integrated digital platforms. Variations in the use of Fintech that draw on cutting-edge technologies have appeared in sectors of the financial services industry. Executives in the financial services industry consider the following technologies the top 5 technologies that will drive change in their industry (PwC, 2019):
TABLE 2 Top 5 technologies (1) Artificial intelligence; (2) Big data; (3) Cloud; (4) Blockchain; (5) 5G.
integrate Fintech. According to firms in the financial services industry, the following are the top 5 important areas for customer retention in the context of Fintech (PwC, 2019):
TABLE 3
Top 5 areas for customer retention
(1) Ease of use;
(2) Faster service and processes; (3) Trust;
(4) Personalized service; (5) Personal digital contact.
Thus, companies integrating Fintech should not be disillusioned by the efficiency increases it provides, but also pay attention to the interaction with the customers as trust, personalized service and personal digital contact are considered to be of importance.
Fintech in the commercial banking industry
A commercial bank is where the majority of people does their banking. Whereas, the bank often serves as a middleman or intermediary between suppliers of capital and finance seekers. Thus, a commercial bank accepts deposits, offers various loans, checking account services, etc.
The commercial banking industry is no exception to the recent disruption of Fintech in the financial service industry. To adhere to the changing consumer demand concerning Fintech developments, it becomes more important for commercial banks to adapt to these changes. As consumers desire technological developments leveraged in their banking which promotes ease of use, faster service/processes and trust, as mentioned in the report of PwC (PwC, 2019). A few option to Fintech integration for commercial banks are the following:
AI has been integrated into a lot of companies in the industry. This takes shape as a chatbot for
example, chatbots can provide a way for customers to interact with the bank in case of simple questions, directions or even investments advice, requiring less customer service personnel, therefore lower costs. Nowadays chatbots are used widely to which customers and is slowly becoming the norm.
Customer service and retention as Fintech promotes 24/7 accessibility for its customers via
nowadays is the primary medium for people to connect, engage, inform another, it creates an opportunity for commercial banks to understand their customers (PwC, 2019):
Predictive and analytical tools utilize specialized algorithms to automate investments advice and
loans thus creating better margins and increase accessibility for consumers. Furthermore, predictive data mining techniques has been discussed in the paper of K.Chitra et al. (2011) for the sake of customer retention in the banking sector, whereas concluded that potential lost revenue of banks can be reduced by increasing customer retention based on predictive tools (Chitra & Subashini, 2011).
Security can be improved by the use of biometric sensors and smart chip technology. Biometric
sensors can be either integrated through ATM’s or mobile applications of the commercial bank, thus eliminating the risk of having to carry around a physical card. Through the use of fingerprint sensors and eye recognition biometric sensors can be integrated into mobile applications. Furthermore, in case of physical cards, through the use of smart chip technology one can minimize the financial loss in case of mishaps. Whereas, codes are valid for one transaction, thus rendering it useless in case of theft.
Sustainability
The concept of sustainability has gained significant traction in the business world in the last few decades. Sustainability as we know today, emerged in response to concerns about environmental degradation and social equity in the 1960s, whereas afterwards the social and economic aspects has been added to the picture (Stephen McKenzie, 2004).
The theoretical approach to sustainability is most popularly depicted as three overlapping circles, which appears to have been first presented in this form by Barbier (Barbier, 1987). The three overlapping circles consist of the environmental, social, and economic spheres.
The environmental sphere is the most significant in the context of sustainability, as sustainability basically originated from it (Stephen McKenzie, 2004). Business adopting this framework, focus on reducing carbon footprints, packaging waste, etc. One of the challenges of this sphere is the lack of overview of the business’s impact, as externalities are not captured.
The economic sphere is taken from a firm’s perspective. When integrating social and environmental policies the business should be profitable to remain sustainable with an outlook to the future. Another way to look at this sphere is from a governance perspective, referring to good corporate governance practices and risk management. Whereas, the interest of shareholders aligns with that of the company and stakeholders and is transparent. The graphical depiction of the spheres is seen below:
FIGURE 1
Sustainability Spheres, Source: McKenzie (2004).
Resource-based view
Barney presented in 1991 the article “Firm Resources and Sustained Competitive Advantage” which would come to be known as the emergence of the resource-based view (RBV). The RBV is a managerial framework used by firms to look at the internal resources it owns and how it can use its resources to achieve a sustained competitive advantage. In the RBV firms are considered to be heterogeneously as they possess heterogeneous resources. In the article of Barney, “firm resources include all asset , capabilities, organisational processes, firm attributes, information, knowledge, etc. controlled by a firm that enable the firm, to conceive of and implement strategies that improve its efficiency and effectiveness” (Barney, 1991).
Barney (1991) makes a distinction between competitive advantages and sustained competitive advantages. Barney consider a competitive advantage to be a strategy that is creating value for the firm which is not simultaneously being implemented by another (potential) competitor. A sustained competitive advantage on the other hand is a strategy that is creating value for the firm which is not simultaneously being implemented by another (potential) competitor and is not imitable by other (potential) competitors with its benefits (Barney, 1991). The RBV further considers the firm’s competition to not solely the already existing competitors, but also includes potential competitors entering at a future time (Barney, 1991).
Thus, Barney suggest that sustained competitive advantages are only possible in case of firms’ resources being heterogenous and immobile. For a firm resource to be a potential sustained competitive advantage it initially must have the following four attributes: valuable, rare, inimitable and non-substitutable (Barney, 1991). After a few years Barney changed the last attribute to organisation, thus making it (Barney & Wright, 1998):
1. Valuable: it should be a resource that can contribute to outperforming competitors or reducing
certain weaknesses of the firm;
2. Rare: the resource should be rare and not available to (potential) competitors;
3. Inimitable: duplicating the resource to the same level of benefit should not be possible; 4. Organisation: the firm must be organized so it can exploit the resource.
The figure below depicts the VRIO framework of Barney (1998) on characteristics of a resource that could lead to sustained competitive advantage:
FIGURE 3
VRIO framework of Barney, Source: Barney (1998)
Transaction cost economics
transaction cost of internalization is lower than the cost of outsourcing, and activities are outsourced when the transaction costs of outsourcing are lower than the costs of internalizing.
The transaction cost economics (Williamson, 1985) argues that managers suffer from the following cases which would cause transaction costs:
1. Bounded rationality:
a. The capacity of human beings to formulate and solve complex problems is limited to a certain degree. The decisions humans make are ‘bounded’ as there is no access to perfect information. Therefore, the choices humans make can be rational, but are most often sub-optimal. Efforts to overcome this situation is a transaction cost, and the more complex the transaction, the higher the costs.
2. Bounded reliability:
a. This approach assumes that human beings are self-interested individuals. Thus, a rational individual would prioritise enriching oneself over another. In this case opportunistic behaviour is the variable which influences the degree of bounded reliability. For example: as the number of trading partners decreases/increases, the threat of those trading partners increases/decreases. Attempts to mitigate or to correct opportunistic behaviour adds up to the transaction costs.
As bounded rationality varies in the level of complexity and the effect of bounded reliability is dependent on the amount, it causes the transaction costs varies per transaction. For a particular transaction, the degree to which additional costs are incurred depend on the following three factors (Williamson, 1985):
1. Asset specificity;
a. Transaction-specific assets. An asset is transaction-specific if it cannot be used for something else, without a significant reduction in its value. High asset-specificity suggests lower number of potential suppliers, thus implies higher rental costs. High asset-specificity, therefore, suggests that the transaction should be done internally. 2. Uncertainty/complexity;
a. High uncertainty / complexity suggests higher contracting costs. Such transactions are cheaper done internally.
3. Frequency:
Thus concluding, the decision as to whether internalize or to externalize depends on whether these costs are lower in the firm or in the market.
RESEARCH DESIGN
The methodology description of this research is based on the research “onion” of Saunders et al (2009). The philosophy of this research is in the context of interpretivism. Seeing as the research question in this case is a “how” question whereas, qualitative data is fundamental. The research question is derived from existing theory and already collected data which are archived, which afterwards are interpreted based on the theories regarding sustainability, RBV and TCE. (Saunders, Lewis, & Thornhill, 2009).
The research is initiated from an inductive approach, as first and foremost, the research question is formulated, whereas afterwards, theories and literature are collected to substantiate the research question. To specify the scope of the research; the commercial banking industry is chosen. Subsequently, an analysis will be performed based on the RBV and TCE, whereas a set of hypotheses will be formulated and integrated into a conceptual model.
The research strategy is archival research. As desk research is used to collect data, whereas existing data and archived academical literature are used for the theoretical approach and analysis. This applies to the RBV, TCE and the topic of sustainability. For the industry analysis only trustworthy and well-known sources will be used, such as PwC, EY and KPMG. Thus, the paper is based on secondary data.
The paper will consist of qualitative data, thus it being the mono-method in the model of Saunders. The qualitative data will consist of the experiences of commercial banks on the integration of Fintech. It will look at Fintech as a stimulus for commercial banks for innovation and sustainability, whereas gaining a sustained competitive advantage is the ultimate objective. The time horizon used in this research is cross-sectional as the time frame of the research itself expands over a short period (5th of
February – 2nd of June 2020) and due to the radical nature of innovative incentive like Fintech, only data confined to a short period of time are included.
ANALYSIS
The main question this research paper seeks to answer is:
How does sustainability affect the role of Fintech in the commercial banking industry to create a sustained competitive advantage?
When breaking down this research question the following elements are derived from it: Fintech in the commercial banking industry, sustainability and sustained competitive advantage. The analysis will be based around these three elements and the relationship with each other.
Fintech and sustainability
First are foremost, is the analysis on Fintech’s complementary aspects to sustainability. As mentioned before Fintech is used to improve the operational efficiency, to lower costs, improve customer experience and appeal to customers with its digital approach. Applying it to the three dimensions of sustainability (Social, economic, and environmental) results to the following analysis:
The stakeholder-need framework (Hutchins, Richter, Henry, & Sutherland, 2019) suggests the following entities to be of importance when taking the social aspects of sustainability into consideration: employees, stockholders, suppliers, customers, community and public. In the case of Fintech’s complementary aspects to social sustainability all are deemed relevant with the exception of suppliers. Below is a table depicting the consequences of Fintech for each entity:
TABLE 4
Fintech’s implications for social sustainability
Employees The integration of Fintech would mean the introduction of new skills into the organisation. Either by the introduction of new staff or the development of old staff. According to the theory Two-factor theory (Herzberg, 2003) the growth potential and learning is considered an intrinsic work motivator for employees and should be integrated into the retention policy. The nature of Fintech, which is continuously developing, thus requiring employees to continuously develop skills overtime is complementary to this.
Customers Fintech would increase the accessibility of the services of commercial banks in the sense of financial inclusion, but also in the sense of customer engagement. Financial inclusion refers to the customer group that could not earlier have access to traditional financial services. Fintech provides simple products at lower cost, whereas underbanked consumers are helped with innovative solutions, mainly consisting of small and medium sized enterprises (SMEs). The customer support would be digitalized with an 24/7 access, with robo-advice in its centre.
Community Fintech is accordingly to the changing customer expectations and their demand for digital services (KPMG, 2017) which have been initiated by technological driven companies such as Facebook. This is also reflected in the global adaption rate of Fintech (Bull et al., 2019).
Public Fintech promotes transparency, it increases the clarity of services and products with transparency on the fees and charges.
The economic sphere of sustainability in application to business is described as “the implementation of business practices with the assurance of future economic growth” (Beheiry, Chong, & Haas, 2006). One can derive from the 64% global fintech adoption rate of consumers (Bull et al., 2019) that Fintech has become a significant asset. As Fintech is expected to innovate continuously accordingly to the consumer demand (KPMG, 2017) it is necessary for commercial banks to have integrated Fintech in their operations to have a bright outlook on the future securing sustainable growth.
From an environmental perspective Fintech provides a decrease in the need of physical establishments due to its digital nature. Digital wallets for example, are significantly less costly in comparison to the physical establishments of banks. It also decreases the output of carbon footprints and waste due to the shift from paper-based to digital. Furthermore, Fintech can be used to accelerate the development of energy and environment projects, promoting ecological fronts like renewable energy and environmental infrastructure, thus leading to environmental development by providing adequate and accessible financing (Knuth, 2018). Derived from the analysis on Fintech’s implications on sustainability the following hypothesis can be formulated:
H3: Digital Commercial banks contributes to a more environmental-friendly future in the financial services industry.
H4. The integration of Fintech in commercial banks contributes to the firms’ sustainable growth in the industry.
Theoretical view on Fintech’s aspects of sustainability
The first approach to Fintech’s aspect to sustainability is the transaction cost economics. In this case the bounded rationality is significant as Fintech is still a new and developing area of finance. This requires the integrating firm to stay diligent in continuously analysing the changes in the Fintech environment, consumers, and its competitors. Therefore, increasing the complexity of the integration of Fintech. Thus, the integration of Fintech in commercial banks is not a one-time transaction but requires long-term commitment of commercial banks. To judge whether internalizing Fintech is viable, one should take into consideration the asset-specificity, uncertainty and complexity and frequency of the service. Fintech itself in comparison to the way traditional commercial banks provide services faster with a wider range of accessibility. Its asset-specificity is high as it services mainly targets the SMEs (KPMG, 2017), which could not otherwise acquire funds. This however, can be considered an opportunity for commercial banks to acquire a share of that side of the market. As mentioned before Fintech is high in complexity and uncertainty due to its innovative nature, suggesting that internalizing is more preferred. From a frequency perspective one could conclude based on the adoption index (Bull et al., 2019) that the reach of Fintech is significant, thus requiring a high amount of frequencies. Besides the additional services in financial inclusion Fintech also adds consumer convenience and complies to consumer trends. Thus, the high asset-specificity, high uncertainty/complexity and high frequency suggest the internalizing Fintech, which is complementary to Fintech’s aspect of sustainability.
The second approach is the application of the VRIO framework for the elaboration on the complementary aspects of Fintech in relation the sustainability, thus concluding whether the sustainable aspects of Fintech is viable or not as a sustained competitive advantage.
Second is the rareness. Fintech’s sustainable aspects are not rare, perhaps hard to implement as it requires expertise and the will to adapt to change overtime, but its acquirable for everyone in the industry. It may not be acquirable to the same level or degree as it is mainly dependent on the rate in which innovation occurs internally or externally in the market. Thus, the degree of rareness will be dependent on the creative aptitudes of the company itself and on the external stimulations for innovation in the market.
Next the degree to how inimitable the aspects are will be analysed. The effects are imitable, however the degree to how these effects influence the sustainable aspects and lead to a sustained competitive advantage may be exclusive to a firm. As it depends on how it is implemented and its policies regarding sustainability. A commercial bank can for instance broaden its financial inclusion with the use of Fintech by using predictive tools based on big data or another can specialize in customer experience with the use of AI and robo-advisors.
Finally, the dimension of organisation will be elaborated upon. This requires the organisation to be able to exploit the resource. In this case it requires commercial banks to embrace the potential of digitalisation and new technologies such as blockchain, big data and AI. Meaning that commercial banks should integrate change management into their organisation with the additional expertise to be able to meet the consumer demands.
As seen the sustainability aspects of Fintech does not adhere completely to the VRIO framework and therefore may not lead to a sustained competitive advantage. However, it is highly dependent on the degree and the way which commercial banks are willing to integrate Fintech into their organization. It can also be seen as a prerequisite for commercial banks to be competitive in the future considering the digital trend (KPMG, 2017). In addition, it may lead to a competitive advantage on the short-term based on the first-mover advantage (Lieberman & Montgomery, 1988) through innovative incentives. The following hypothesis can be formulated based on the analysis:
Conceptual model
H1: Digital Commercial banks adapt better to consumer trends when incorporating Fintech services. H2: Digital Commercial banks become more socially responsible when incorporating Fintech services.
H3: Digital Commercial banks contributes to a more environmental-friendly future in the financial services industry. H4. The integration of Fintech in commercial banks contributes to the firms’ sustainable growth in the industry.
H5: The complementary aspects of Fintech to sustainability are a potential source for sustained competitive advantage
Digital commercial banks Digitalization of the financial service industry
CONCLUSION
This paper’s aim was to elaborate on the following main question:
How does sustainability affect the role of Fintech in the commercial banking industry to create a sustained competitive advantage?
Derived from this main question are several hypotheses which have been formulated to address the individual elements of the main question. From the analysis and application of theoretical approaches the following two hypotheses are of most significance:
H4. The integration of Fintech in commercial banks contributes to the firms’ sustainable growth in the industry.
As it embodies the relationship between Fintech and sustainability, thus determining at what fronts the integration of Fintech in commercial banks are complementary to sustainability with the intention of creating a sustained competitive advantage. Analysis has shown that all three dimensions of sustainability are positively influenced with the integration of Fintech in commercial banks. Whereas socially stakeholders are stimulated, and the experiences of consumers are elevated to a more interactive and digital platform. From an economic perspective it leads to sustainable growth accordingly to the changing consumer demands. Environmentally with the transition from paper and brick to digital platforms results in reduction of carbon footprints and waste.
H5: The complementary aspects of Fintech to sustainability are a potential source for sustained competitive advantage
The most important hypotheses, as Fintech does improve sustainability, but the aspects of these may not always lead to a sustained competitive advantage. The transaction cost economics suggests that Fintech should be internalized, thus requiring commercial banks to elevate to a digital level and search for the required expertise. The degree to which the complementary aspects can be exploited by the commercial banks is therefore, dependent on the expertise and the willingness of the firm to change and adapt which eventually may or may not lead to a sustained competitive advantage.
Concluding is that Fintech and sustainability are complementary to each other when applied to the commercial banking industry, however it will not always lead to a sustained competitive advantage as it does not adhere completely to the criteria of the VRIO model.
future for commercial banks to be able to compete in the market, considering the shifting demand of consumers to a digital platform and Fintech’s increasing reach.
Limitations
Limitations of this research include the fact that solely archival research has been applied. Therefore, gaps may occur when applied to real life situations. Furthermore, the scarce amount of theoretical approaches limits the scope of the research as this paper was limited to two theoretical frameworks. Finally, is the current situation regarding the COVID-19 virus which obstructed several meetings with the professor and other contributors from the university.
Future research
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