Discourse Theory and BE

21 Pages·0.581 MB·English

Discourse Theory and Business
Ethics. The Case of Bankers’
Conceptualizations of Customers1
Gjalt de Graaf
ABSTRACT. Within discourse theory, language is using discourse analysis. When confronted with
seen as constitutive of reality. Furthermore, facts and questions of how to describe the normative side
values are viewed as inseparable. This has conse- of banks, and how to compare the ways they treat
quences for business ethics. In this paper the rela- their customers, discourse theory turns out to be
tionship between discourse theory and business ethics
very helpful.
is discussed. Both the descriptive and prescriptive
aspects of business ethics are taken into account.
Furthermore, an example of an empirical study is
Describing the normative side of banks
presented. A discourse analysis is concluded to answer
the questions of how bankers in Holland concep-
In Holland the three largest banks dealing with
tualize and thus treat their customers and whether
there are differences between the largest three banks. private businesses are ING, ABN-Amro and
The article contains the description of five different Rabobank. In my research project I asked myself
discourses on customers within the banks. the following questions: how do the three largest
banks in Holland treat their customers? And: are
KEY WORDS: banks, customer relationships, there differences in the way they treat their
descriptive ethics, discourse analysis, discourse theory, customers?2 The answers to these questions are
Q-methodology
not only relevant from an ethicist’s point of view,
but the banks themselves are also very interested
in the answer.
Introduction
As far as the differences between the banks
are concerned, each of the three banks would
Within business ethics, discourse theory is mostly
argue that yes, they differ from each other. This
disregarded. Yet, discourse analysis can be very
is because all three have their own image and
insightful when describing the normative side of
see themselves as clearly different from their
a company. In this article I will first discuss
competitors. Rabobank for example is a co-
several possibilities that can be used to describe
operative company, not listed on any stock
and compare the way Dutch bankers treat their
exchange. Therefore it doesn’t have to satisfy
customers. I will conclude that discourse theory
shareholders and according to Rabobank this
is very promising for that purpose. Then I will
means more than just a different legal way of
discuss some of the effects discourse theory can
doing business. Rabobank claims that (partly)
have on (descriptive) business ethics and what
because they don’t have to make a profit to satisfy
applied ethics (prescription) would look like
shareholders, they treat their clients differently.
within discourse theory. After that I will give an
Before answering the two research-questions,
example of an empirical study of Dutch bankers,
I must first answer another question: what is the
best way to describe and compare the way in
Writing his Ph.D.-thesis, Gjalt de Graaf works at the which the Rabobank, ING and ABN-Amro treat
Faculteit der Bedrijfskunde/Rotterdam School of their customers? This question, with a clear
Management of the Erasmus University Rotterdam. normative side, is partly one of descriptive ethics.
Journal of Business Ethics 31: 299–319, 2001.
© 2001 Kluwer Academic Publishers. Printed in the Netherlands.
300 Gjalt de Graaf
In the business ethics literature, little atten- remains though, what this says about the orga-
tion is paid to the way in which the morally nization at large. What would happen if a
relevant aspects of a company can be described researcher would individually screen the
and analyzed (Kaptein, 1998, p. 5). In order to employees of an army (or a drug cartel) in this
give an ethical judgement though (and prescrip- way? Surely this wouldn’t reveal most (at least not
tion), the ethical issues must first be identified the most important) ethical questions about such
(description). an organization.
One way of describing and comparing com- I suggest an additional method for describing
panies in an ethical sense is looking at the normative issues of companies is looking at the
company as a moral entity and studying their way they talk about and view reality. Instead of
codes of conduct. ABN-Amro recently declared looking at the moral agents or the company as a
four basic values in their code of conduct: moral entity, one can study a company’s internal
respect, professionalism, integrity and teamwork. discourse. With a discourse defined as “a lin-
Rabobank on the other hand announced these guistic practice that puts into play sets of rules
three core values to the world: respect, expertise and procedures for the formation of objects,
and integrity. There is a striking similarity. Yet I speakers, and thematics” (Shapiro, 1992, p. 108).
am not sure my research questions are answered In discourse theory, language is seen as consti-
with the conclusion that both banks treat their tutive of reality. With this viewpoint discourse
customers in the same way. Codes of conduct are theory can have a very valuable contribution in
the result of lengthy consultations at the top-level business ethics, because it means that studying
of how management should act. But of course discursive practices within companies becomes
when formulating them, not only the real situ- very insightful and revealing for business ethicists.
ation, also the image of the company plays a big Discourses produce organizations and the other
role. And even when the difference between way around. Therefore, if the Rabobank, for
these is acknowledged and something is done example, really treats their customers differently
about it, the results are far from certain. Recent compared to their competitors, a researcher must
research concludes that “the use of codes of be able to find more than some official statements
conduct alone in defining conduct, culture and which say they do (or hear from individual
performance in the private sector may be less employees that they “always put the customer
effective than their proponents think, and of less first”). In that case, the Rabobank must also
impact on managers and employees, customers conceptualize “a customer” differently, the word
and stakeholders than they would wish” (Doig “customer” must function differently in their
and Wilson, 1998, p. 148). This conclusion is not internal discourse. In the next two paragraphs I
surprising. Morals and values must somehow lie wish to discuss discourse theory in more detail.
deeper than something you can easily influence First I will discuss the impact discourse theory
top-bottom with some statements (Warren, can have on description within business ethics,
1993). So if codes of conduct don’t tell the whole then I will do the same for applied ethics, pre-
story, what other ways are there to describe and scription.
compare companies in the way they treat their
customers?
Another possibility is looking at the moral Business ethics and discourse theory,
agent. In the association model, the ethical side description
of a company is reviewed by examining the
employees. The company is reduced to being the Discussions on the nature of truth have affected
sum of individual actions. Employees can be social research in a profound way during the last
screened, for example, on the way they deal with decades. Instead of assuming a given world out
things such as their personal responsibility there that is waiting to be discovered, attention
towards stakeholders, their own tasks and the is drawn by many to processes and ways through
company’s assets. The question then always which the world is represented in language.
Discourse Theory and Business Ethics 301
Discourses are constitutive of reality. By looking act, can act and should act” (1998, p. 1299). The
at what people say and write, we can learn how thesis that meaning is constructed by and through
they construct their world. In poststructuralism discourse has also implications for the notion of
for example, language is not looked upon as a ethics itself. It is, as Hackley (1999b, p. 38) notes,
neutral means of communication, but as a process “inseparable from ways of talking about and
that forms the objects and subjects of which we doing ethics and ethical things”.
speak: conversations always take place in a pre- When facts and values are thus viewed as
constituted meaning and value system (Shapiro, inseparable, this has an effect on business ethics:3
1992, p. 10). For business studies this means that the object of the study changes. Not only purely
language is not just seen as reflective of what goes normative aspects are relevant, as seen by
on in an organization; discourses and organiza- managers, but facts are important as well. The
tions are one in the same. “That is, organizing object of study becomes all discursive practices.
becomes communicating through the intersec- It is through studying these discursive practices,
tion of discourse and text” (Putnam, 2000, p. combined with the different status discourse
225). theory attributes to them, that discourse theory
This development is very important for adds a new way of describing the normative side
business ethics, since discourses necessarily of a company.
contain both facts and values. A different look A discourse analysis can reveal ethical issues
at the truth-untruth dichotomy also means a of a company that would remain unrevealed with
different idea about the fact-value dichotomy. To other methods. Traditional descriptive ethics
be more precise: the strict dichotomy ceases to deals with concepts like “normative choices” and
exist. The way one looks at the world, the way “decision-making”. When one adopts the post-
one perceives the facts, necessarily determines the structuralist view however, this can be seen as
way one values it. Not only meaning, but also only part of the picture at best. The traditional
values are immanent features of discourse. As view can easily ignore all the nuances and
soon as managers of soccer clubs start to talk, countless ways that determine the possible par-
for whatever reasons, about soccer as a “product” ticipants in the process in the first place, as well
(a relatively new development), a whole new as the terms in which things are problematized.
world opens up around the same old game with The study of discursive practices offers business
new opportunities, new managerial problems and ethics a possibility to go beyond the typical
new ethical issues (Hawkes, 1998). passive grammar (Shapiro, 1992, p. 127) of
The “is” and “ought” influence each other in managers “faced with problems”. It inquires into
countless ways. Without the subjects of a dis- the way in which management thinking within
course being aware of it, values, causal assump- companies tends to remain within narrow modes
tions and problem perceptions affect each other. of problematization and offers a narrative about
In our daily lives we jump so often between nor- the production of problems: why is something
mative and factual statements, that we don’t considered a problem (or not a problem), rather
realize how much our views of facts determine than just concentrate on answering the problem
whether we see problems in the first place. But at hand. If there are many ethical issues that are
when we study our discussions more carefully, we not perceived as such, just looking at the nor-
can see that the “is” and “ought” are in very mative choices managers say they face, is no more
close conjunction. The problem definition and than a small part of the normative picture. Many
the possible solutions are inseparable. Or as (ethical) aspects of society cannot be explained
Randels recently put it: “worldview narratives by fundamental ethical choices. Discourse theory
not only describe particular understandings of doesn’t consider concepts like “motivation”,
business, but have important normative consid- “intention” or “decisions” as the main causal
erations. They are not merely stories, but conditions to explain behavior.4 Managers of
construe how we do, can, or should view the company A that mainly talk among themselves
world, and how business people and corporations about customers as people out of which their
302 Gjalt de Graaf
company makes its profit, will ask themselves It would be more like accommodating a process
different (ethical) questions than managers from than prescribing an outcome based on a philo-
company B who view their customers as col- sophical ethical theory.5 Prescription within
leagues with shared interests. For example, discourse theory consists of conflicting existing
managers of company B might consider it unfair discourses and in that process try to influence
to sell a certain product to a client, knowing that them. Within discourse theory one deals with
a different, cheaper product would do just as discourses that are always “out there” (containing
well. Managers of company A would not see an both values and facts). Discourses are always
ethical problem here whatsoever. I am not saying within a context. When an ethicist wants to
either view is better in a business sense or in an change things in reality, discourse theory suggests
ethical sense, just that a different discourse (or it might be more effective to conflict existing
worldview/belief system/frame/paradigm) leads discourses, with their normative sides, instead of
to different ethical questions. confronting managers with philosophical ethics.
Roe (1994) and Van Eeten (1998) for example
have interesting ideas of how to confront existing
Prescriptive business ethics and discourse incommensurable discourses.
theory As I stated, every issue in daily management
has its value implications. But this is often
One of the main points I tried to make during without the managers being aware of it. This
my discussion of discourse theory is that whereas might be one of the reasons why applied business
in current business ethics facts and values are ethics as a field isn’t as evolved as applied legal
treated as ontologically different, discourse theory or medical ethics. Managers in these last two
treats them as different sides of the same coin. fields deal daily with issues they perceive as being
This, of course, also has implications and new ethical, so naturally they are more prone to turn
possibilities for prescription in business ethics. for help from philosophical ethics (Sorell, 1998).
If discourse theory is capable of revealing more But when a discourse doesn’t perceive an issue as
ethical issues, and if it brings different ethical being ethical, the ethical discourse runs a great
issues to the foreground, then this automatically risk of not being understood. Even when
leads to more issues/areas prescriptive ethics can business people find a certain philosophical
be applied to. First, one has to identify ethical discussion interesting, they have a hard time
issues before one can formulate an opinion on it. relating it to their daily problems. The ethics are
Applied ethics can be very helpful at the moment too far removed from daily practice. In other
an ethical question is raised. But when every words, the discourses are too different, they are
worldview contains many values, the fact that an incommensurable. When talking about the same
ethical question arises is as interesting as what issue, ethicists and business people sometimes use
question is asked, as is the fact that many ethical different terms and concepts and talk “past each
questions are not asked. Every (non-) decision of other”.6, 7 Within business ethics, philosophical
any manager in any company is a social activity ethics can play a very important role. But
and affects people’s lives (Hackley and Kitchen, somehow the philosophical discourse within a
1999a, p. 23). Therefore, applying ethics to field of applied ethics should move closer to daily
only obvious ethical questions within a company (business) practices, or it will suffer from what
deals at best with only a small portion (albeit Sorell (1998, p. 17) calls the alienation problem:
sometimes a very important one) of the value the problem of the alienation of ethicists from
questions involved. A discourse analysis is capable practitioners.
of revealing many different ethical sides and
leaves therefore more room for ethics to have a
say.
Applied ethics would look differently within
discourse theory than within philosophical ethics.
Discourse Theory and Business Ethics 303
An empirical study using discourse analysis customer as an organizing principle. All the
statements that used the word “customer” were
In order to show how discourse theory can be considered.
applied in empirical studies, I will now get back An important first decision is where exactly to
to the study I introduced earlier in this paper. look for the discourses. Because almost all
In the rest of this study I will describe and contact between companies and banks is at a local
compare the way Dutch bankers treat their level, I decided to look at the local branches of
customers using discourse analysis. I will show the three different banks for the statements of my
how discourse analysis can be used as an alter- concourse.10 As a representative of each local
native way for conducting descriptive ethics. bank, I took the local bank director. This is the
The way customers are described in the person in charge who should know how cus-
discourse of the three banks is ethically highly tomers are dealt with within the local bank.
relevant. If we can learn something about how Another advantage of local bank directors is that
the banks internally make sense of “customers”, they all have considerable personal experience
it can provide great insight into their moral in dealing with customers.
choices. According to discourse theory, if Ten open interviews were conducted with
bank-managers speak differently about their local bank directors (from the three different
customers, they will treat them differently. But banks). In these interviews the directors were
how can a researcher look at the way the word invited to talk about as many aspects of cus-
“customer” functions within the internal discur- tomers11 and dealing with customers as their time
sive practices of the Rabobank, ING and ABN- would allow. These interviews were taped. All
Amro? literal statements about customers and dealing
One of the ways the literature suggests to with customers were written down later. To these
analyze discourses is Q-methodology.8 This is the statements I added statements about customers
methodology used here. “Q study will generally that I found in written documents produced
prove a genuine representation of that discourse by the banks. I also looked into the academic
as it exists within a larger population of literature on customer views of companies. A few
persons . . . To put it another way, our units of statements were added from this source. After
analysis, when it comes to generalizations are not looking at these sources, the concourse contained
individuals, but discourses” (Dryzek and about 150 statements. All (largely) overlapping
Berejikian, 1993, p. 52). The discourses are statements were thrown out. Finally, this list was
examined without pre-developed categories of shown to the three participating banks and a few
the researcher. On the contrary, Q-methodology colleagues who are familiar with the banking
gives researchers the opportunity to reconstruct business. The question was then asked whether
the discourses, in their own words, using only the remaining statements contained all relevant
the words spoken by individuals actually involved issues. After suggestions from a bank and a col-
in the discourse. league, a few statements were added. At the end
In this article I won’t go into every detail of of this stage my concourse was formed: 52 state-
Q-research. Only the main steps and relevant ments were gathered (in Q-methodology this is
information for this study are presented.9 called the Q-set).12 I would like to stress that
First, for Q-research, a concourse had to be most statements are literal statements from bank
constructed. The concourse is supposed to directors. Some statements can be ambiguous to
contain all the relevant different aspects of all the some people. But that is the nature of language,
discourses. It is up to the researcher to draw a therefore most statements were not edited.
representative sample from the concourse at Ambiguity is resolved by each of the Q-sorters,
hand. In this case it contains statements used who gave their own interpretation to the
internally by the banks about the different aspects statements (every bank director interpreted the
of customers. In order to deconstruct the ways statements within his own worldview).
banks talk about their customers, I used the word The next step was to decide who would be
304 Gjalt de Graaf
Most disagree Most agree
(Statement Scores)
–3 –2 –1 0 +1 +2 +3
(2) (5) (11) (16) (11) (5) (2)
Figure 1.
asked their opinion about the Q-set, or, in other
Factor A B C D E
words, asked to Q-sort the statements. In Q-
subject
methodology one has to construct a P-set, the
person samples. The P-set is the set of persons
–1 –0.02 –0.10 –0.34 –(0.44) –0.30
who are relevant to the problem (Brown, 1980,
–2 –0.15 –0.04 –0.10 –(0.49) –0.37
p. 192). Following the same logic of the Q-set, –3 –0.26 –0.25 –0.33 –0.25 –(0.46)
I decided to let local bank directors13 Q-sort the –4 –0.02 –(0.67) –0.19 –0.24 –0.12
52 statements. These local bank directors were –5 –0.08 –0.09 –(0.65) –0.25 –0.10
randomly selected, 10 from each bank. –6 –0.03 –(0.57) –0.02 –0.02 –0.16
Furthermore, I decided to structure the P-set –7 –0.10 –(0.45) –0.16 –0.38 –0.27
according to the size of the municipality the –8 –0.12 –(0.67) –0.15 –0.24 –0.05
banks are located in, ranging from big cities to –9 –0.01 –0.08 –0.09 –0.34 –0.01
small rural villages.14 10 –0.04 –(0.65) –(0.50) –0.07 –0.24
11 –0.30 –0.40 –0.11 –0.33 –(0.43)
The 30 bank directors who were interviewed,
12 –0.24 –0.16 –0.23 –0.39 –(0.53)
were given a deck of 52 cards, containing the
13 –0.26 –0.23 –0.15 –0.12 –(0.59)
52 statements (the Q-set). Then they were asked
14 –0.41 –0.06 –0.26 –(0.47) –(0.48)
to arrange the cards according to the degree they
15 –0.15 –0.22 –0.20 –0.20 –(0.71)
agreed with the statements, with scores ranging
16 –0.23 –0.26 –0.30 –0.02 –(0.59)
from –3 to +3. The particular score an isolated
17 –0.01 –(0.65) –0.06 –(0.52) –0.18
statement received was not the most important
18 –(0.68) –0.33 –0.11 –0.35 –0.11
aspect. More importantly was the placement of
19 –(0.49) –0.01 –0.18 –0.36 –(0.48)
a particular statement among the other 51 state- 20 –0.41 –0.06 –0.14 –(0.47) –0.17
ments. That’s why the respondents were asked 21 –(0.61) –0.21 –0.07 –0.03 –0.22
to order the statements according to a fixed 22 –0.34 –0.37 –0.06 –(0.49) –0.17
distribution.15 (See Figure 1.) 23 –(0.44) –0.02 –0.01 –0.31 –(0.56)
The 2 statements they agreed with most, were 24 –0.35 –0.09 –0.05 –0.21 –(0.47)
put on the right, the two they disagreed with 25 –(0.56) –0.03 –0.24 –0.01 –0.35
most on the left. The statements they felt indif- 26 –0.18 –0.20 –(0.55) –0.16 –0.29
ferent about (or didn’t understand) were put in 27 –0.41 –0.00 –0.21 –0.33 –0.28
28 –0.13 –0.24 –0.17 –(0.50) –0.23
the middle (the 0 category). The final distribu-
tion is the Q-sort.16 After the Q-sorting, some 29 –(0.44) –0.29 –0.02 –0.03 –0.19
30 –0.37 –0.39 –0.11 –0.11 –0.36
open questions were asked. This was done in
order to check whether the bank directors missed
In parenthesis are the defining variates (loadings ≥
important issues, and also to gain more insight
0.43, p < 0.001).
into the discourses by asking about the reasons
The first ten subjects are from the Rabobank, from
behind the choices they made. This helped me
11 till 20 ABN-Amro and 21 till 30 ING.
with the final analysis of the different discourses
The first 3 of every bank are located in large cities 4
later on. through 7 from medium size communities and the
The 30 Q-sorts were analyzed using statistical last 3 from small villages (see footnote 14).
methods. The idea is to look for patterns among
the Q-sorts. Are there similar ways in which Figure 2. Subjects’ factor loadings.
Discourse Theory and Business Ethics 305
the 30 different directors have prioritized the 52 reconstructing the discourse, special attention was
statements? In this case I used factor-analysis, paid to the most salient statements and the
which is standard in Q-methodology. First a discriminating items. So the discourses are not
centroid factor analysis produced different factors, constructed by simply cutting and pasting state-
which were then rotated according to the ments, also taken into account is how the
varimax rotation. This analysis led to five dif- statements are comparatively placed in the dif-
ferent factors (an extraction of more than five ferent discourses (Dryzek and Berejikian, 1993,
factors, would have lead to statistically insignifi- p. 52). Furthermore, the interviews after the Q-
cant factors). In Figure 2 the loadings of the 30 sorting were used to gain extra insight into the
Q-sorts are given on the five different factors. reason why the directors ordered the cards in the
way they did. Some relevant statements for a
discourse are presented in smaller print, together
The five discourses with the idealized score of the five discourses.
The five factors form the backbone to recon-
struct five discourses, five different ways to con- Similarities between bankers
ceptualize customers. For each factor an idealized
Q-sort is computed (see the appendix). This Before I describe the five discourses, I would like
represents how a hypothetical bank director with to stress that I also found many similarities
a 100% loading on a factor would have ordered between all the discourses. Some discourses are
the 52 statements. Here, I will present the five highly correlated. Also, some statements were
discourses in the form of a label and a narrative ordered virtually the same by the bank directors.
(Dryzek and Berejikian, 1993, p. 52). When Here are some noticeable examples:
Discourse
A B C D E
36. Financial rates are an important part of doing business.
But just as important for customers are good service
and image. As a bank you should most of all
communicate that you have the knowledge. +3 +3 +2 +3 +3
12. Financial rates are more important to our customers than
a sense of involvement from our bank. –2 –1 –1 –2 –2
43. The average customer is someone who puts himself in
the center, and in general doesn’t like banks very much.
He is mainly focused on making profits. As a bank you
feel more as an opponent than as a partner. –2 –3 –2 –3 –2
19. Ethics play a role in our business. This means not
facilitating customers with activities that cross our
boundaries. These boundaries go clearly further than just
legal boundaries. We even ethically reprimand customers
sometimes. –0 –0 –0 –0 +1
306 Gjalt de Graaf
Furthermore, I did not find any bipolar Trust is seen as very important by all the
factors. This suggests the presence of consensus bankers. Almost by definition money is about
on several issues among the discourses. To anyone trust. When people lend or borrow money, they
familiar with the banking business it should come only periodically get to see printed figures on a
as no surprise that all the directors stressed in one cheap piece of paper. Therefore, they must trust
way or another that banking is a “people that their money is in good hands. Also, in
business”. For every discourse, money and finan- Western society money is a very private business.
cial rates certainly aren’t the all-dominating A bank must first of all be trusted to respect a
themes. Look for example at statement number customer’s privacy. Therefore, a bank can never
36: this is a statement with very high agreement be a pure opponent of a customer.
within all discourses, it certainly doesn’t dis- As far as the ethical rules within the three
criminate amongst them. largest banks in Holland are concerned, none of
To all banks, good service and knowledge the banks go as far as ethically reprimanding
about the business are very important. Earlier I customers. Furthermore, environmental sustain-
mentioned that every Q-sorter was asked ability is not a big issue. The environmental laws
whether he missed an important issue in the are taken very seriously, but there doesn’t seem
statements. Even though most of them said no, to be an active policy that goes any further than
the issues that were sometimes mentioned were the legal restrictions of the Netherlands.
that professionalism and especially knowledge There are also very clear differences between
didn’t get enough attention given their impor- the five discourses in the way they conceptualize
tance. customers. The five discourses now follow.
Discourse A: Together for ourselves
A B C D E
–2. Financial service is a matter of live and let live (between
customers and banks). +2 –0 +1 +2 +1
28. Rates differ with us from client to client. +3 –0 –0 –0 +1
35. Desperate cases require desperate remedies. You should let
weak companies know as soon as possible that we want to
end the relationship. In the end, that’s also the best for
the customer. +2 –0 –0 –0 +1
30. For starters, the threshold to our bank is not the lowest. +2 –2 –0 –0 –0
24. Often we give starting businesses a chance, that otherwise
wouldn’t get a chance with other banks. –3 +1 –2 –1 –1
32. We ask ourselves constantly: what can we do for the region,
which means more than just our customers and prospects.
It means that we initiate things, that we contact people
ourselves to see how we can contribute to all kinds of
societal developments. –2 +3 +1 0 –1
37. We don’t do too much sponsoring. We just have a certain
amount of money for relationship-marketing in general.
That means doing everything to bond with our clients
and prospects. +1 –3 –3 –1 0
Discourse Theory and Business Ethics 307
For the bankers in discourse A, the relation- Since the relationship with the customer is
ship with customers must be mutually benefi- very important, bankers of discourse A have
cial. The relationship with the customer is seen some demands of their customers. Not just
as one both have to gain from. The customers anyone is accepted. Starters for example have the
are very much seen as partners. Once a rela- most trouble getting a loan from bankers of factor
tionship is established, the bankers of factor A A. After all, a new business is more risky and
want much more out of their customers than just the question is whether you will ever be able to
making a profit. There is a strong bonding with make a profit out of it. Accepting starters because
the customer. This certainly doesn’t mean that it is good for the region as a whole, is not an
the customer is always right. Nothing is done for issue. The region is of no concern to the banks
free. Financial service is a matter of live and let in discourse A. This also means that sponsoring
live. It is seen as very inefficient to work hard for is not considered important, apart from pro-
a customer who doesn’t make you better. The moting their own name. Customers are purely
bankers of discourse A are very focused on judged on their own merits. They call this being
making both better. They are constantly looking “positively critical”.
for win-win situations while working together Once accepted however, customers get a very
with the customer against the rest of the world. personal treatment. Bankers of discourse A don’t
Consequently, when the relationship is no longer look for automatic solutions. And since every
mutually beneficial, these bankers are not the customer is different, the treatment of each
most loyal, considering it best to end the rela- customer is different, thus financial rates differ
tionship. This is considered to be the most very strongly from customer to customer.
‘honest’ thing to do.
Discourse B: Using the bank to improve the region
A B C D E
50. A customer is someone with whom you have partly common
and partly opposing interests. He is a colleague and a
competitor in one. –1 –2 +3 –0 –0
–6. When a customer is in financial difficulty, we are more focused
on helping the customer, than on reducing the financial risk
of the bank. Even if the risk of losing money increases. –1 +1 +1 –2 –3
22. At our bank, every customer pays the same rate for the same
service. –3 –1 –3 –3 –3
32. We ask ourselves constantly: what can we do for the
region, which means more than just our customers and
prospects. It means that we initiate things, that we contact
people ourselves to see how we can contribute to all
kinds of societal developments. –2 +3 +1 –0 –1
37. We don’t do too much sponsoring. We just have a certain
amount of money for relationship-marketing in general. That
means doing everything to bond with our clients and prospects. +1 –3 –3 –1 –0
30. For starters, the threshold to our bank is not the lowest. +2 –2 –0 –0 –0
–4. We have strong ethical boundaries, which means we do not
want to do business with just any customer. I am talking
about things such as abiding by the law and absolutely never
accepting large gifts. +1 +2 –0 +1 +1
308 Gjalt de Graaf
The correlation between discourses A and B The financial rates are not the same for
is the lowest on any of the factors. The only everyone, but are certainly more flat than at other
thing they agree on is that the customer is cer- banks. For customers, negotiating with bankers
tainly not seen as a competitor. But for the rest of factor B is the least useful of all the factors.
the concept “customer” is completely different. No two customers are the same, but in principle
For discourse B the main purpose of the rela- if two customers are the same, they should pay
tionship is not just to have a win-win situation. the same rate for the same service. Just as rela-
Profit is not their main goal. There are other tionships in life, it is very important for these
important issues in the world besides each other bankers that they have “a good feeling” about
(more on this later). Money is not so much the their customers. They also want customers to
goal, it is more the means to other things. “feel at home” in their bank. The client is more
The broader interest of the customer is very like a partner. You can never have the feeling that
important, not just the direct interests. Within a customer is your competitor. Loans are given
discourse A the interest of the customer is the a little more on intuition than on pure business
interest of the bank. In discourse B however, the plans, compared to the other discourses.
customer is seen within a broader societal It is considered important to be an active party
context. Yet, the direct interests of the customer in society, especially in one’s own region. Bankers
are also very much in the foreground for bankers of discourse B do not feel like this because it is
in discourse B. This inevitably leads to conflicts. good for business, there is a genuine idealism.
Sometimes the broader context demands some- Both the bank and the customers are seen as part
thing else from a banker than the direct finan- of the region the bank is located in. Again, this
cial interest of a customer (for example how far is very much in contrast with discourse A. A lot
do you go with ethically reprimanding a of money is spent on sponsoring, because it helps
customer who crosses some ethical boundaries in organizations in the region, not so much the
polluting the environment, when he doesn’t cross bank itself. Sponsoring is not just for their own
any legal boundaries). This conflict was often clients and prospects. Starters are seen as very
mentioned and seems to be one of the defining important to the region, thus they give these
daily struggles of bankers in discourse B. businesses many opportunities.
When a customer is in trouble, of all the The interests of the customers play a role, but
banks, bankers of discourse B are the most pre- when bankers of factor B have to make choices,
occupied with helping the client, instead of it’s not that they want to improve the world no
reducing their own financial risk. Not that the matter what. It is certainly not the case that they
differences in this respect are very big, banks will have very stringent environmental rules for their
be banks and all the banks have to keep a customers. When they say that ethics are impor-
constant strong eye on their own financial situ- tant, they mean respecting the law and never
ation. They will never go so far as structurally accepting a bribe, not in a wider ethical sense:
not making a penny out of a customer. They they are not moralists with a clear idea of how
certainly do not see themselves as charity insti- to improve the world. They don’t reprimand
tutions. There is even less understanding, their customers in pure ethical terms.
compared to the other discourses, for a customer
who also has a relationship with other banks.