Business Briefing

Commonwealth Bank of Australia CEO Ian Narev attends the parliamentary inquiry into the banking system. AAP Image/Lukas CochAustralian banks have been under intense scrutiny this year after various scandals called into question the culture of the industry. But it seems there’s no easy answer to improving culture. Professor Paul Kofman from Melbourne University was a panellist at an event discussing this exact issue. He says the heart of the problem is the lack of evidence for what types of cultural interventions translate into good business outcomes. Kofman says bank executives can’t ignore culture anymore because their jobs are on the line, but he also notes they aren’t trained sociologists, so they might not notice problems in culture when they occur. Instead of looking at the conduct of employees when trying to improve culture, the focus should instead be on the customer and if they are being best served, most of the panellists at the event agreed. In an industry that has changed a lot over time, Kofma