Formal ethics, content ethics and relational ethics: three approaches to constructing ethical sales cultures and identities in retail banking

Following the global financial crisis, banks have become more regulated to advance ethical sales cultures throughout the sector. Based on case studies of three retail banks, we find that they construct the "appropriate advisor" in different ways. Inspired by Bakhtin's work on ethics,...

Full description

Saved in:  
Bibliographic Details
Authors: Svane, Marita Susanna (Author) ; Frandsen, Sanne (Author)
Format: Electronic Article
Language:English
Check availability: HBZ Gateway
Journals Online & Print:
Drawer...
Fernleihe:Fernleihe für die Fachinformationsdienste
Published: Springer 2024
In: Journal of business ethics
Year: 2024, Volume: 189, Issue: 2, Pages: 269-286
Further subjects:B Ethical sales culture
B Alignment
B Ethical closure
B Ethical openness
B Aufsatz in Zeitschrift
B Formal ethic
B Relational ethic
B Bakhtin
B Identity
B Answerability
B Content ethic
Online Access: Volltext (kostenfrei)
Volltext (kostenfrei)
Description
Summary:Following the global financial crisis, banks have become more regulated to advance ethical sales cultures throughout the sector. Based on case studies of three retail banks, we find that they construct the "appropriate advisor" in different ways. Inspired by Bakhtin's work on ethics, we propose a vocabulary of relational ethics centered on the "answerable self." We argue that this vocabulary is apt for studying and discussing how organizations advance ethical sales cultures in ways that instead of encouraging value congruence and alignment allow for ethical openness. In such cultures, employees - as moral agents - are morally questioning, critically self-reflexive, and answerable for their own actions toward others in their social relationships. Our paper makes three theoretical contributions, namely, problematizing the idea of cultural alignment and value congruence, demonstrating that identity regulation can both comprise and support the "answerable self," and advancing our understanding of the interdependence of ethical openness and ethical closure in fostering ethical sales cultures.
ISSN:1573-0697
Contains:Enthalten in: Journal of business ethics
Persistent identifiers:DOI: 10.1007/s10551-023-05354-8