“How to measure culture and ethics in the financial world?” Subject proposed by the KBC, this includes literature and research and a structure or a pilot to implement it in the financial institution

Details

Supervisors

Desmet, Carlos

Faculty

Louvain School of Management

Degree label

Master [120] en sciences de gestion, à finalité spécialisée

Abstract

Throughout this work, we have tried to answer the question of how best to measure culture and ethics within the financial institution, KBC. This research has been conducted using a qualitative approach. One of the goals is to try to understand what corporate culture is on the one hand, and what ethics is on the other hand, by means of a literature search. Finally, we conclude the review of the literature with the cultural measurement dashboard. Through this work, we did a due diligence of the KBC to understand the context in which this research evolves. We made a benchmark to identify the opinions of experts in the financial sector in order to understand an appropriate way to develop a Cultural Dashboard proposal for the KBC Bank. This proposal aims to provide the premises for the development of a cultural dashboard for the bank. The purpose of this project is to initiate a broader reflection on the measurement of culture and ethics within the group. In order to respond to this project research in a relevant way, it was necessary to take into account several studies and sources of information. Indeed, this thesis was lucky enough to be able to count on the opinion of experts in the field, as well as interviews conducted within various institutions. The conclusion of the study is that it is necessary to allocate enough time for this kind of activity and to raise enough questions in the boardroom in order to effectively target 4 to 5 KPIs for measuring culture and ethics. These can be completed with compliance indicators to have a more assertive picture on the Dashboard. For the construction of a Cultural Dashboard we discovered that the environment is the major element to keep an eye on to improve. To establish the right KPis, it is important to consider, for example, five major questions that need to be answered. Each KPi will be completed with relevant data sources. It is often not a question of creating new data but of taking data that is often simple and available. Be aware that measuring culture and ethics are qualitative measures and that it is not always easy to transform them into quantitative data. As an extension of this research, we also introduce the concept of culturescope, which is an advanced KPi design and which is, according to experts, an effective method for mixing qualitative and quantitative data. This thesis deals with a complex, innovative and exciting, if sometimes philosophical, topic. We wish the reader a good reading and discoveries of the developed remarks.