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Power, corruption and lies: mis-selling, misconduct and the production of culture in financial services

Power, corruption and lies: mis-selling, misconduct and the production of culture in financial services Thumbnail


Abstract

The extent of recent misconduct in retail financial services questions assumptions that mis-selling is perpetrated by rogue traders dealing in sub-prime markets. Yet we know little about the organizational dimensions of mis-selling and specifically how new employees are introduced to and subsequently enact mis-selling behaviour when not explicitly encouraged to do so. This article seeks to understand the mechanics of mis-selling through an ethnographic account of the opening of a new retail financial services call centre, and analysis of the ritual nature of the sales interaction. The study documents the training, induction and initial work of direct sales agents to better understand the complexity, social relations and organization of mis-selling, together with the way in which regulation and management regimes shape sales practice and consequent employee behaviour. The critical analysis of sales rituals allows us to explain how mis-selling becomes embedded in organizational practice and contributes to our understanding of the everydayness of mis-selling in contrast to approaches that focus either on individual decision-making or on cultural explanations.

Acceptance Date Sep 12, 2016
Publication Date Nov 1, 2016
Publicly Available Date Mar 29, 2024
Journal Human Relations
Print ISSN 0018-7267
Publisher SAGE Publications
Pages 641-667
DOI https://doi.org/10.1177/0018726716673441
Keywords culture; ethnography; mis-selling; regulation; retail financial services; risk
Publisher URL https://doi.org/10.1177%2F0018726716673441

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