RTÉ Brainstorm – Are banks and bankers capable of changing their tune?
Whitaker Institute member Professor Kate Kenny, cluster leader of Work, Organizations and Society, has written a new piece for RTÉ Brainstorm. Through the lens of the banking crisis, the article illustrates the importance of senior management to learn from past mistakes.
Are banks and bankers capable of changing their tune?
Opinion: as recent comments by KBC boss Johan Thijs show, banks are still displaying the gung-ho attitudes thought to be relics of the pastI am standing in a lecture hall and talking with students about business ethics. We are discussing how ethical judgements can be weakened when business leaders are busy chasing tough financial targets. We talk about recent scandals such as Boeing’s 737 Max crashes and the Wells Fargo loans debacle.
“And of course”, I say, “we all remember the financial crisis!”
I look at their faces. They don’t. They were eight years of age when that happened.
Memory of the crisis is fading. The new generation of bank staff were children when it happened so it is up to senior executives, who remember its effects, to keep its lessons alive in their banks. It is especially up to the most influential and powerful senior executive: the CEO. Continue reading…