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Managing from the echo chamber: Employee dismay and leadership detachment in the British banking and insurance crisis

Leo McCann (Manchester Business School, University of Manchester, Manchester, UK)

Critical Perspectives on International Business

ISSN: 1742-2043

Article publication date: 21 October 2013

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Abstract

Purpose

This paper aims to explore the culture of working life in British financial services multinationals in the period leading up to the financial crisis of 2007-2008.

Design/methodology/approach

Informed by labour process theory, the paper is based on a questionnaire survey and in-depth interviews with technicians and junior managers in British insurance and banking MNCs.

Findings

The data demonstrate widespread employee disaffection with a new culture of corporate life that has emerged in the last two decades. Employees faced work intensification and were highly critical of what they saw as detached, ruthless, and often incompetent top leadership. Senior management is described as operating in an “echo chamber”, insulated from the “realities” of the workplace.

Research limitations/implications

The paper argues that the unpleasant work culture experienced by employees at middle and lower levels closely mirrors the broader excesses and failings of banks and insurance firms during the recent financial crisis. Excessive risk-taking, short-termism, and inattention to detail are widely given as causes of the crisis. This paper argues that senior leadership failings are also manifest in short-sighted, undignified, and ethically unsound treatment of staff, leading to severe problems with staff morale.

Originality/value

The paper provides detailed qualitative data on the realities of working life in financial services before the recent financial crisis, and suggests ways for labour process theory to consider how restructuring is not only challenging for employees but can also be debilitating for the organisation itself.

Keywords

Acknowledgements

The author would like to thank Saba Mozakka at the trade union Unite for her help in circulating the survey to members, and to all Unite members who completed the survey and agreed to be interviewed. Thanks also to two anonymous reviewers and to Stephen Ackroyd for their thoughtful feedback on the paper, and to several colleagues at MBS who discussed this research with the author. The author also thanks the University of Manchester Faculty of Humanities' Research Support Fund for providing the means for the author to undertake the research.

Citation

McCann, L. (2013), "Managing from the echo chamber: Employee dismay and leadership detachment in the British banking and insurance crisis", Critical Perspectives on International Business, Vol. 9 No. 4, pp. 398-414. https://doi.org/10.1108/cpoib-06-2013-0016

Publisher

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Emerald Group Publishing Limited

Copyright © 2013, Emerald Group Publishing Limited

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