Business culture and dishonesty in the banking industry

Pre-Reading
Read the title and abstract.
1. (In your opinion, behavior in the banking business culture should be based on (Check  the correct boxes
 Norms of honesty
 Tolerance of dishonesty
 Increasing profits in any possible way
 Materialistic values
 Ethical values

2. Read the title. What do you think could be ‘dishonest’ behavior in the banking industry?

3a. Why has the public lost confidence in the financial industry?
3b. What do contemporary commentators claim is the cause of the recent problems in the financial industry?
3c. What is the rationale for this study?

4. Did the study find a link between 'business culture' and 'dishonesty' in the banking sector?
 Yes  No
Support your answer.

Close Reading
Introduction Questions based on paragraphs 1 – 5
5. What effect do the problematic practices of the financial sector have on…
a. the economy
b. people’s perceptions of banks

6a. According to paragraph 2, what business culture exists in the banking industry today?
b. According to Lord Turner, what business culture should business executives be encouraging in the bank industry? Use your own words
"7a. Based on the economic theory of identity, explain “professional identity

b. Fill in the blanks with the correct word(s) from the list below.

professional identity
business culture
dishonest

If a bank’s _______ permits _________ behavior” then the workers’ ______________ will allow them to behave fraudulently.

8. Explain, in your own words, the phrase, “rendering their professional identity salient”

Paragraphs 6-9
9. What question do the researchers hope to answer by conducting this study?

10. Who were the subjects in the experiment?

11a. What was the difference in the questions that the two groups received?

11b. What was the psychological purpose of the questions given to the treatment group? Please note that you need to infer your answer.

12. The subjects were asked to toss a coin and report the results. Why were they told that they would get money for a specific result?

13. According to what you have read so far, which group would be likely to report results dishonestly and why? Please note that you need to infer your answer.

Paragraphs 10 – 14 are the statistical results

14. Look at Figure 1 which shows the results of the experiment. Each group is compared to the expected binomial result (binomial, in this case, means the results that are expected from a coin toss where 50% would be heads and 50% would be tails.)
a. Is the control group significantly different than the binomial expectation?
( Yes No (Check the correct answer
b. Is the treatment group significantly different than the binomial expectation?
(Yes No (Check  the correct answer
c. What is the explanation for this?

Questions based on paragraph 15 – 21
15. Why did the researchers replicate the experiment on people in other professions?

16. What was the finding about the honesty of people from other professions?

17. In paragraph 20 we are told about the results of a survey about the reputation of different groups.
a. What do we learn about the reputation of bank employees compared to the other groups?
b. How might this affect the economy

18. What is the first step required to improve the situation in the banking industry?

19. (These measures may be an important step…" (par.21"
a. List any TWO measures to create a more ‘honest’ business culture in the banking industry.

Post Reading
20. Think of another group or profession, aside from the business world where people may be more dishonest than average. Why do you think they might be dishonest?