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ACCA Applied Knowledge · Business and Technology · Organisational culture

A bank's published values emphasise customer care, but staff are paid bonuses solely on the volume of products sold, and several have mis-sold products to meet targets. Which statement best explains the problem in cultural terms?

The problem is a mismatch between espoused values and actual behaviour. The bank says it values customer care, but a volume-only bonus scheme rewards selling, so staff follow the incentives and mis-sell products, showing the stated culture is not the lived culture.

  1. AThe artefacts of the bank are too informal
  2. BThere is a mismatch between espoused values and the behaviour that the reward system encouragesCorrect
  3. CThe bank has adopted a person culture
  4. DThe bank's culture is too strong to be changed by management

Explanation

The stated values (customer care) conflict with the incentives actually in place (sales volume), so real behaviour follows the rewards. This gap between espoused values and practice weakens ethical conduct. Nothing in the scenario indicates a person culture or informal artefacts.

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