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Weatherhead Doctor of Management Programs
Show moreAbsent from a quickly accumulating literature on job engagement is a focus on professionals in the financial industry. There is, in particular, little research on the organization or industry identity of bankers as a discrete group. Nor has the literature explored the relationship of these identities with job engagement or environmental duress. We seized an opportunity to study the effects of the 2007-2009 financial crisis on bankers’ identities and passion for their jobs. Semi-structured interviews with 28 mid-level bankers at five prominent US banks that accepted Toxic Asset Relief Program funding (TARP) captured insights about “normal state” (pre-crisis) versus mid-crisis engagement that appear to be associated with comparative institutional performance. The difference suggests a shift in engagement and identity linked to relative performance and, more specifically, to management practices. Our findings suggest mindful leadership can mitigate the deleterious effects of crisis generated stigma on professional identity.
Doctorate of Management Programs
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Show moreThe global financial crisis of 2007-2009 was particularly devastating to the financial services industry. Poor performance, mergers/acquisitions, and massive layoffs were characteristics of the crisis. For example, Citigroup lost almost $19 billion in 2008 and market capitalization for the top three U.S. banks for the period January 1, 2007 through January 15, 2009 fell $514 billion or 75%. It was reported that since the beginning of the financial crisis in July 2007, banks had shed over 186,000 positions and thousands more remained tenuously employed as banks struggled to sustain themselves in an increasingly volatile environment. Studies during this period reflected a reduction in employee engagement. Literature suggests that organizational results are positively correlated with employee engagement. Little of the substantial extant literature on employee engagement focuses specifically on the financial industry and seemingly none on employee engagement at financial institutions during times of disastrous economic circumstances. We propose a qualitative inquiry involving semi-structured interviews with managers at three major US banks under duress during this period to understand the effects of the financial crisis on their “lived worlds” of work. The results may provide management guidance for successful organizational actions to maximize employee engagement and job performance under stress.
Doctorate of Management Programs
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Show moreThe financial crisis served as an interesting backdrop for this study of the impact of identification upon banker engagement. Studies have shown that leadership style influences employee engagement, but little research reflects the impact of various levels of identity (nested identity) upon engagement. A survey of 511 mid-level bankers displayed the significance of career, organizational, and industry identity upon vigor, dedication, and absorption. Further, it was determined that organizational identity mediated the relationship between leadership and engagement. This research suggests that bank leadership would be wise to enact management tactics that elevate the level of career, organizational, and industry identity in order to improve company outcomes.
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