Importance of Ethics and Workplace Culture in Financial Services Industry

This group research report discusses the importance of ethics and workplace culture in the financial services industry, with a focus on Philips Financial Services. It covers challenges faced by companies, organizational structure, workplace culture, and recommendations for workplace bullying prevention.

GROUP RESEARCH REPORT
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GROUP RESEARCH REPORT: IMPORTANCE
OF ETHICS AND WORKPLACE CULTURE
• Introduction
• Philips Financial Services is a full service independent
company providing a wide range of comprehensive financial
services. The company’s sales agents and the management
staff have work experience spanning many years and are
always willing and free to provide our customers with
impeccable and unrivalled customer service.
• Philips Financial Services specializes in business advisory.
Currently, the company serves as a business advisor to
multiple organizations. The company has the ability to tailor
products to the client’s needs. Philips Financial Services also
specializes in individualized services that range from
accounting and tax services, to self-management super
funds.

• Many companies in the financial services sector deal with a multitude of
challenges that if not addressed might lead to the collapse of their
organizations Some of these challenges faced by companies such as
Philips Financial Services include; trying to thrive in a competitive and
crowded market (Chua, 2017, p. 6). The competition within the financial
services sector is cut-throat.
• To address the cut-throat competition challenge and stay afloat in the
crowded market, it is imperative for Philips Financial Services to
completely understand who their competitors are and learn how to
navigate in the murky waters of getting ahead in competitive markets.
Additionally, the company should understand all their products flaws
and figure out how to enhance their services to attract more clients.
Also, by effectively and aggressively marketing their services, it will be
easier for their products to stand out in the market and thus gaining more
new clients.

• Moreover, most financial services companies struggle with
raising enough revenue. For small companies such as Philips
Financial Services, it is even harder for them to get customers
since most clients prefer to work with the big four companies in
the industry such as KPMG, PwC, Deloitte, and Ernst and
Young. The best ways to deal with this challenge is by striving
to establish a great relationship with all the clients. The
company should also strive to maintain a great status with the
newly acquired clients by providing impeccable customer
services. Finally, by resolving customer issues raised by
customers faster will help Philip Financial Services to retain
their clients and thus raise more revenue.

• One of the biggest challenges faced by companies in the
financial services industry is cybersecurity.
Cybersecurity, essentially, is the protection of
companies’ intellectual property, and business data and
information against unauthorized use and theft.
According to research conducted by PwC, cybersecurity
is a huge challenge faced by companies not only in
Australia but all around the globe.
• Currently, most companies are struggling to find the
aptest solution for managing cyber security risk. To
address this issue, it is advisable for the Philips
Financial Services CEO and the whole management
team to conduct a program for risk awareness and
preparedness.

Organisational Structure
• Managing the company’s staff welfare and requirements is often
complex and intricate than even managing the company’s operational
challenges. From recruitment of the best talents to establishment of a
celebrated culture in a company, handling the human welfare side of a
company is an intricate issue that should be handled as such. As a
company grows, the management usually wrestles with numerous
challenges and one of the most significant ones is designing the best
organisational structure. The questions that the management has to
answer in determining the most appropriate structure include; How
many layers the business should have or at what level the other
leadership roles, besides the CEO role, are required. For an
organisation to continue growing smoothly, the aforementioned
questions have to be answered fully.

The Aptest Organisational Structure for Philips Financial Services
• The most common organizational structures are five established
types namely; Professional Bureaucracy, Machine Bureaucracy
structure, Simple Organisational Structure, Adhocracy Structure
and Divisional Form Structure. For young and growing
organisations such as Philips Financial Services, the most
suitable organisational structure would be the Adhocracy
organisational structure. This form of organisational structure
readily adapts and quickly meets all the needs of an organisation.
• Adhocracy works best for small organisations that do not have
technological resources that are sophisticated. Furthermore, this
structure works best in organizations that do not work on rigid
and fast formalities. These organisations are also dependent on
the relationships among the people in the organisation.

Workplace Culture at Philips Financial Services
• A company’s strategic assets include elements such as operational
efficiency, the company’s market development and its sales. The
organisational structure is tightly tied to the company’s strategy ( Steiger,
Hammou & Galib, 2014, p. 1).
• An organisation’s culture can considerably affect the process of filtering
information and the general perspective of the organisation. For instance, a
conservative organization’s culture innately rejects the fact that the
organisation needs change. Naturally, the tendency to preserve the status
quo is characteristically human (Wasdell, 2011, pp. 20-57.)
• The current workplace culture at Philips Financial Services is a negative
one based on the observations of behaviours such as bullying. This
negative culture can lead to detrimental effects such as mental health issues
to the affected staff members (Cotton, 2016).

• To create a positive workplace culture, it is imperative
for the management team to create unambiguous ethos
and define the organisation’s core values. It is
considerably important for the company to have core
values that are well-communicated. The management
should also discuss the organisation’s core values with
the staff to make them feel involved and part of the
company (Agarwal, 2018). Moreover, the
organisation’s leadership should foster the spirit of
openly communicating and collaborating among the
employees. A leadership style that encourages honest
communication is greatly instrumental in creating a
positive workplace environment (Forbes, 2018, par. 4).

Program for Workplace Bullying Prevention
• Corporate bullying primarily involves
deliberate and repeated interpersonal hostility
that is severe enough to harm the economic or
health status of the victim. One of the biggest
causes of workplace bullying is the
organisational structure and workplace culture
of the company. Besides the company’s
organisational structure, the workplace’s
psychosocial environment is a huge
contributing factor in the bullying instances at
work.

Recommendations
• To deal with workplace bullying, the management team at
Philips Financial Services should declare the bullying behavior
as unacceptable. This declaration should be well articulated at
all levels in the organisation. Behaviors that are considered to be
bullying should be formally and clearly defined and well
communicated to all the staff members. Additionally, the
management should establish procedures and organisational
policies that reflect the significance and gravity of the bullying
issue. Finally, the executive management should institute a
credible system and clearly defined procedures for receiving
bullying complaints and investigating the complaints (Carter &
Vandersteen, 2014, par. 23).

Conclusion
• Generally, even though most organisations are in the right
path and are taking appropriate measures in tackling bad
workplace behaviors, it is not correct to assume that all
organisations in Australia have addressed the issue
adequately. Moreover, it is erroneous to dismiss the
discussion of workplace bullying as interpersonal issues
among the employees. A positive workplace environment
stems from a well-motivated and loyal taskforce.
Therefore, as the leader, Nick Philips should assume the
role of managing conflicts within the company to curb
distractions and create a positive workplace culture.

References
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