Commonwealth Bank: Ethical Learning Organization Analysis Report

This report provides an analysis of the Commonwealth Bank of Australia (CBA) as an ethical learning organization. It begins with an overview of CBA and then explores the attributes of learning organizations using Senge's model. The report analyzes CBA's unethical practices, identifies barriers to ethical implementation, and recommends improvements such as focusing on quality and fostering an effective organizational culture. It also includes a need analysis and proposes an ethical training plan for the organization, including implementation and evaluation strategies. The report concludes by mentioning CBA's corporate social responsibility programs.

Running head: ETHICAL LEARNING ORGANISATION
Ethical Learning Organization
Name of the Student:
Name of the University:
Author’s Note:

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Executive Summary
This report intends to shed light on the concept of ethical learning organization in the
particular context of the organization Commonwealth Bank of Australia (CBA). The report
begins by offering an overview of the organization CBA. The report also sheds light on the
various attributes of the learning organizations through the use of Senge’s learning
organization model. The report next undertakes an analysis of the unethical practices of CBA
on the basis of this model and also mentions the barriers that hinder the implementation of the
same. Finally, the report recommends some measures like focus of quality and also the use of
an effective organizational culture for the improvement of the prospects of the organization.
The report concludes by suggesting an ethical training plan on the basis of the need analysis
of the organization and also suggests the manner in which the organization can implement
and evaluate the same.

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Table of Contents
1.0 Introduction..........................................................................................................................3
1.1 Company Background......................................................................................................3
2.0 Learning Organization Process............................................................................................4
2.1 Structural Roles Related to Organizational Learning......................................................4
2.2 Application of Learning Organization Model..................................................................5
3.0 Analysis of Ethical Issues....................................................................................................6
4.0 Analysis of repeated ethical scandals...................................................................................6
5.0 Analysis of existing barriers.................................................................................................7
6.0 Recommendations................................................................................................................8
6.1 Need Analysis..................................................................................................................8
6.2 Ethical Training Plan........................................................................................................9
6.3 Implementation..............................................................................................................10
6.4 Evaluation......................................................................................................................10
7.0 Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) Programs.............................................................10
8.0 Conclusion..........................................................................................................................11
9.0 References..........................................................................................................................12

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1.0 Introduction
As argued by Trevino and Nelson (2016), the nature of the contemporary business
world has undergone a substantial amount of transformation and the business enterprises are
often in a dilemma whether they should focus on the attribute on the quality or quantity.
Crane and Matten (2016) are of the viewpoint that the extensive focus on the attribute of
profitability often makes the organizations to take the help of measures which are not only
unethical but at the same time unfair as well. More importantly, it is seen that these measures
although offer short-term benefits to the organizations yet in the longer they inordinately
affect the business prospects of the concerned organization in an adverse manner (North and
Kumta 2018). This report will analyze the concept of ethical learning organizations and also
the manner in which the organizations can take into effective consideration the attribute of
ethics for the process of their business operations.
1.1 Company Background
The Commonwealth Bank of Australia (CBA), founded in 1911 and headquartered in
Sydney is the largest bank not only of Australia but also of the southern hemisphere as well
(Commbank.com.au 2019). The financial institution offers a plethora of financial services to
the customers starting from retail or commercial loans, personal loans to insurances, pension
plans and others (Commbank.com.au 2019). More importantly, in the present times it is seen
that the bank is operational in different nations of the world like United Kingdom, China and
others and has more than 1100 business centers (Commbank.com.au 2019). The gross
revenue of the financial institution under discussion here for the year 2017 was more than
A$26.005 billion and it also offers employment to more than 51,800 people not only in
Australia but in other nations as well (Commbank.com.au 2019). However, in the recent
times the bank had been adversely affected because of the revelations of the Royal Banking

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Commission of 2017 which revealed the unethical as well as fraudulent practices used by the
bank.
2.0 Learning Organization Process
2.1 Structural Roles Related to Organizational Learning
Jiménez-Jiménez et al. (2015) have argued that a learning organization is the one
which creates the kind of workplace that facilitates learning and thereby helps in the
improvement of the concerned organization so as to match the requirements of the industry in
which it is operational. This term was coined by Peter Senge and is being extensively used by
the different organizations for the improvement of their overall business performance
(Zeimers et al. 2018). However, at the same time it needs to be said that for the effective
utilization of this concept an effective interaction between the different employees and also
exchange of knowledge is important along with a congenial workplace wherein learning can
take place (Duffield and Whitty 2015). In this regard, it can be said that within the framework
of an organization there are various individuals which facilitates such a process, namely,
cultural leader, diversity and inclusion leader, diversity leader, employee engagement leader,
director of leadership training and others who facilitate the process of learning (Sujan and
Furniss 2015). These individuals are required to not only enhance the level of engagement
among the different employees but also to offer the right kind of training and facilitate the
process of knowledge exchange so that they are being learn new things related to their job in
an effective manner.
An analysis of the organization CBA reveals the fact that these designations are not
present within the organizational structure of the bank and the employees had to rely just on
the various kinds of on-job trainings and also the advanced training programs which are given
to them. The primary objective of these training programs is to ensure the fact that the

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employees had the right kind of skill sets which are likely to help them to perform their job
roles in an effective manner. However, no emphasis is being placed on the process of
continuous learning and this in turn affects the performance level of the employees and also
the bank in an adverse manner.
2.2 Application of Learning Organization Model
As per Senge’s Learning Model there are five essential entities of a learning
organization, namely, shared vision, system thinking, mental models, team learning and
personal mastery which are important for an organization to foster continuous learning
(Timanson and Da Costa 2016). The concept of shared vision refers to the process through
which the organizations try to foster unanimity of vision or goal among all the different
employees so as to achieve it in the best possible manner (Payne and Calton 2017).
Furthermore, the entity of system thinking is the one through which the organization integrate
the different constituents of their organization so as to improve the performance level of these
constituents and also of the organization (Chew, Tan and Hamid 2016). More importantly, it
is seen that the effective usage of the concept of mental models enables the organizations to
utilize the mental thoughts or the perceptions of the individual employees to foster the kind of
environment wherein continuous learning is possible and also for the improvement of their
performance (Ehrich et al. 2015). Moreover, the aspect of team learning is being utilized by
the organization to foster the kind of team environment wherein interaction and also the
transfer of knowledge is being encouraged not only by the members of the team but the team
leaders as well (Moghaddam, Akhavan and Mehralian 2015). Lastly, the attribute of personal
mastery is being used by the organizations to help the employees create a personal vision for
themselves and also to achieve it through continuous learning (Sujan and Furniss 2015).
Thus, it can be said that it is the effective correlation of all these attributes that enables an
organization to become a continuous learning one.

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3.0 Analysis of Ethical Issues
CBA in order to enhance the profit earned not only miss-sold the various insurance,
pension plan and other financial services but at the same time charged extra amount of capital
from the customers on the personal or the commercial loans (Hutchens 2019). Furthermore,
the results of the Royal Banking Commission (2017) also revealed the fact that the bank used
to offer loans to the customers who failed to provide any credible documents to the customers
and in return charged extra amount of capital from them (ABC News 2019). In addition to
this, the results of the commission revealed the fact that more than 75% of the employees
failed to comply with the customer financial advice stipulations given by the national
government (Hutchens 2019). The net result of these malpractices followed by the bank
becomes apparent in the 4.6% increase in the profit margin of the bank in 2018 which was
more than $9.8bn in addition to the $4.6 trillion which the bank held in different kinds of
assets (ABC News 2019). The bank because of these unethical and fraudulent practices
followed by the employees was imposed a penalty of $250m which was to be paid by the
bank to the customers for miss-selling the services and also to the national government
(Hutchens 2019).
4.0 Analysis of repeated ethical scandals
An analysis of the unethical practices used by CBA reveals the fact that although the
organization followed Senge’s learning organization model within its framework yet the
model was not being used to foster a continuous learning environment but to make the
organization a more profitable one. The different employees of CBA had a shared vision but
it was not intended for harmonious growth but to coerce more money from the customers
through the use of unethical and fraudulent practices (Payne and Calton 2017). Furthermore,
the approach of system thinking was used by the organization to correlate the different

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constituents or the services offered by it to the customers and thereby to extract money from
them. In addition to this, it was seen that through the use of mental model the different
workers of bank were imbibe the view in them that the sole focus of the organization should
be to earn a higher amount of profit regardless of the means which the employees take to
enhance the same. Moreover, the team learning process was also used by the organization and
also the employees to learn the best possible means from their colleagues through which they
can extract more money from the customers (ABC News 2019). Lastly, through the usage of
the concept of personal mastery the employees were trained to develop a personal vision for
themselves so as to generate the maximum amount of money from the customers and thereby
to enhance the profitability of the organization. Thus, it can be said that although the bank
followed Senge’s learning organization model yet it was for the wrong reasons.
5.0 Analysis of existing barriers
There are various barriers to the process of continuous learning in the organization
under discussion which actually inhibits the actual implementation of the process in the true
sense of the term. For example, the extreme focus of the organization on the aspect of
profitability actually refutes the entire goal of the learning organization concept and the
employees thus focus solely on the manner in which they can enhance the profitability of the
organization rather than focusing on learning (Zeimers et al. 2018). Secondly, the greed
culture that the organization had fostered within its framework is another barrier which
hinders the implementation of the continuous learning model within the organization (North
and Kumta 2018). Thirdly, lack of ethical training to the employees and also the lack of the
usages of the concepts of ethics and morality within the framework of the activities followed
by the employees is another significant barrier (Payne and Calton 2017). Fourthly, in the
absence of ethical leadership and also effective monitoring the employees are resorting to the

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kind of practices which yield maximum benefit rather than taking into effective consideration
the factors of ethics and morals (Timanson and Da Costa 2016).
6.0 Recommendations
Some of the measures that the organization can utilize for fostering a continuous
learning environment within the organization are listed below-
 Organizational Culture: The organization needs to discard the greed culture which it is
following and evolve the kind of culture within its workplace which will facilitate
continuous learning. In this regard, it needs to be said that the use of ethical leadership
is one measure which is likely to improve the organizational culture of the bank in an
effective manner and also encourage the employees to use the concepts of ethics and
morality.
 Focus on Quality: The bank rather than focusing on the entities of quantity and
profitability needs to focus on the attribute of quality which is likely to improve the
services offered by them to the customers in a substantial manner. In this regard, it
can be said that the bank can take the help of the construct of performance
management.
6.1 Need Analysis
Current Activity Actual Activity which is required
Misleading the customers The employees need to offer actual
information to the customers
Offering loans to the customers without
proper documentation
The bank needs to offer loans to the kind of
customers with proper documentation

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Charging the customers extra amount of
money on loans and other services
The bank needs to charge only the amount
which has been stipulated by the government
Ineffective customer relationship The bank needs to maintain effective
relationship with all its customers
Use of unethical and fraudulent practices The bank needs to use the concepts of ethics
and morals within the framework of the
services offered by them
6.2 Ethical Training Plan
Task Person Responsible Timeframe
Offering education regarding
the ethical theories
Trainer 1 month
Teaching the employees to
use ethical decision making
model
Trainer 1 month
Teaching the employees to
be transparent with the
customers and not mislead
them
Trainer 2 months
Enhancing employee
engagement and transfer of
knowledge
Trainer, Team leader,
manager
3 months
Using the practice of
thorough document check
and stating the exact amount
Trainer, Manager 2 months

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of interest that the customers
need to pay
6.3 Implementation
The organization for the effective implementation of this plan can take the help of
Lewin’s change management model. In this first step, the organization would have to state
the actual reason for the implementation plan and also the likely benefits that they are likely
to derive from it. In the second stage, the organization would have to offer the right kind of
training to employees so that they would be able to use it. In the third stage, the organization
would have to integrate the plan within its organization.
6.4 Evaluation
The evaluation process will require the organization to monitor the performance of the
employees in an effective manner over a period of atleast 3 months to see the manner in
which they are using the concept of ethics within the job roles that they are doing. In addition
to this, collecting feedbacks from the customers would also help the organization to find out
the extent to which the plan had been successful.
7.0 Corporate Social Responsibility (CSR) Programs
The organization in order to restore its brand image can take the help of different
kinds of CSR programs. Some of the most important ones are listed below-
 Pollution is one of the most important wicked problems which is inflicting the world
and thus the organization by taking up the initiative to mitigate this problem would be
able to enhance its brand image in a significant manner.

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 Women empowerment is another social issue which has gained a significant amount
of prominence in the recent times and the organization by fostering gender equality
within its workplace and also helping to resolve the issue of gender inequality is likely
to gain in a significant manner.
8.0 Conclusion
To conclude, the notion of ethics has emerged as one of the most important ones that
the different business enterprises need to take into effective consideration within the process
of their business operation. More importantly, in order to effectively utilize this concept the
organizations need to foster a continuous learning environment within its workplace wherein
human interaction would be there and also the transfer of knowledge.

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9.0 References
ABC News 2019. How the Commonwealth Bank laid the groundwork for a royal
commission. [online] Available at: https://www.abc.net.au/news/2017-08-07/commonwealth-
bank-laid-the-groundwork-for-royal-commission/8779598 [Accessed 22 Jan. 2019].
Chew, B.C., Tan, L.H. and Hamid, S.R., 2016. Ethical banking in practice: a closer look at
the Co-operative Bank UK PLC. Qualitative Research in Financial Markets, 8(1), pp.70-91.
Commbank.com.au 2019. Personal banking including accounts, credit cards and home loans
- CommBank. [online] Available at: https://www.commbank.com.au/ [Accessed 22 Jan.
2019].
Crane, A. and Matten, D., 2016. Business ethics: Managing corporate citizenship and
sustainability in the age of globalization. Oxford University Press.
Duffield, S. and Whitty, S.J., 2015. Developing a systemic lessons learned knowledge model
for organisational learning through projects. International journal of project
management, 33(2), pp.311-324.
Ehrich, L.C., Harris, J., Klenowski, V., Smeed, J. and Ainscow, M., 2015. Ethical leadership
in a time of increasing accountability. Leading and Managing, 21(1), p.22.
Hutchens, G. 2019. Banking royal commission: all you need to know – so far. [online] the
Guardian. Available at: https://www.theguardian.com/australia-news/2018/apr/20/banking-
royal-commission-all-you-need-to-know-so-far [Accessed 22 Jan. 2019].
Jiménez-Jiménez, D., Martinez-Costa, M., Martínez-Lorente, A.R. and Rabeh, H.A.D., 2015.
Total quality management performance in multinational companies: A learning
perspective. The TQM Journal, 27(3), pp.328-340.

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Moghaddam, J.Y., Akhavan, P. and Mehralian, G., 2015. Intellectual capital, ethical climate
and organisational performance: an interaction analysis. International Journal of Learning
and Intellectual Capital, 12(3), pp.232-250.
North, K. and Kumta, G., 2018. Knowledge management: Value creation through
organizational learning. Springer.
Payne, S.L. and Calton, J.M., 2017. Towards a managerial practice of stakeholder
engagement: Developing multi-stakeholder learning dialogues. In Unfolding stakeholder
thinking (pp. 121-135). Routledge.
Sujan, M. and Furniss, D., 2015. Organisational reporting and learning systems: Innovating
inside and outside of the box. Clinical Risk, 21(1), pp.7-12.
Timanson, P. and Da Costa, J., 2016. Learning Organisations and their Relationship to
Educational Improvement. In The Best Available Evidence (pp. 99-112). SensePublishers,
Rotterdam.
Trevino, L.K. and Nelson, K.A., 2016. Managing business ethics: Straight talk about how to
do it right. John Wiley & Sons.
Zeimers, G., Anagnostopoulos, C., Zintz, T. and Willem, A., 2018. Organisational learning
for corporate social responsibility in sport organisations. European Sport Management
Quarterly, pp.1-22.