Power, corruption and lies

Mis-selling and the production of culture in financial services

Bibliographic Data

ID9890156
AuthorsMatthew Brannan (0000-0002-9818-5853, Keele University, corresponding author), Matthew J Brannan (Keele University)
Year2017
Volume70
Issue6
Pages641-667
Publication date2017-06-01
Peer ReviewedYes
Open AccessYes
TypeARTICLE
VenueHuman Relations (JOURNAL)
Journal identifiersISSN: 0018-7267 • E-ISSN: 1741-282X
PublisherSAGE Publications (PUBLISHER • US)
DOI10.1177/0018726716673441
OpenAlexW2548659944
LanguageEN
Citations received15
References cited64

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

Business · Economics · Financial services · Language change · Misconduct · Organizational culture · Political science · Power (physics · Production (economics · Public relations · Work (physics · Ethics in Business and Education · Finance · Law · Marketing · Psychology of Social Influence · Securities Regulation and Market Practices