The Importance of Ethical Decision Making in the Mbbgs and the Implications for Bank Performance and Society

Executive Report

The Importance of Ethical Decision Making in the MBBGs and the Implications for Bank Performance and Society

3/23/2012

Glasgow Caledonian University School of Business and Society

Roland Adanu

Table of Contents

1.0 Introduction 2

2.0 Ethics in Decision Making 3

3.0 The MBBGs and Ethical Decision Making 4

3.1 Recent Controversies, the Rationale for Ethical Decision Making within the MBBGs 4

3.2 Conduct of Business and Ethical Policies 5

3.3 Relevance of Ethical Decision Making 6

4.0 Implications of Ethical Decision Making 7

4.1 Implications on Bank Performance 7

4.2 Implications on society 9

5.0 Conclusion 9

References 11

1. Introduction

Recent scandals in the United Kingdom concerning tax avoidance by the Barclays group, accusations of money laundering involving the Lloyds Banking group and the payment of huge bonuses to senior management by the Royal Bank of Scotland subsequent to the UK government bailouts, continue to prominently showcase the essence of business ethics in the financial services sector. Therefore the application of a moral code of conduct to the strategic and operational management of businesses is highly essential.

Business ethics is fundamentally the critical structural examination of how people and individuals should behave in a world of commerce. It encompasses the revision of proper business policies and practices regarding controversial issues, such as corporate governance, bribery, insider trading, discrimination, corporate social responsibility and fiduciary responsibilities (Fisher and Lovell, 2008; Crane and Matten, 2010).

A recent survey of chief financial officers in Europe by the Association of Certified and Chartered Accountants (ACCA) indicated that, all respondents believe an ethical business culture makes an important contribution to business performance. They see the specific benefits as intangible, such as improving...