In the world of banking, JP Morgan has had a reputation of always hiring the best, and of those in the banking community, we have all embraced the image of the solid, British banker as the rock-solid, unflappable personality. The British banker was always – to our mind – of being without peer and always, impenetrable in terms of scandal or poor behavior.
Now, we have learned our impressions may need an ethical revamping as banker trainees caught cheating in ethical scandal.
Holly Elliot, for CNBC (October 23, 2015), in an article entitled: “British trainees at JPMorgan fired for cheating tests: Report,” reported the following:
“Nearly a dozen junior bankers, some from the U.K., have been sacked by JPMorgan in New York after being discovered “cheating” at a basic math test, according to a report in The Telegraph newspaper.
The trainee bankers are said to have been told to pay for their own flights home after instructors discovered that they were sneaking notes into the exam room or copying fellow trainees’ answers.”
There are several strange twists to this scandal. The first, is that the test, while apparently based on common accounting principles, was not an exam based on advanced calculus and Ph.D. level mathematics; it is a test that any business or finance student should pass. The students who were caught cheating were from Harvard, Oxford and Cambridge. Why they felt a need to cheat is a complete mystery.
Adding to it, is this fact:
“JPMorgan staff …claimed cheating was commonplace. The report comes after another American banking behemoth, Goldman Sachs, fired around 20 junior analysts at its London and New York offices for the same misdemeanor.”
My friend Mary
I have a friend who is a college professor (and Ph.D.) at a large university. Her specialties are in linguistics and Latin. She and many of her fellow professors are on the verge of quitting because cheating and the sense of entitlement have grown so strong that it is just not worth it.
Why or how this unethical behavior has gotten such a foothold is difficult to say. Mary has seen it worsen with each passing year.
We are, unfortunately, living in a time where shortcuts (“hacks”) have become so pervasive, that many wonder why do any real work at all? There are hacks for computers of course, for cleaning, for building, for housework, for parenting and most everything else imaginable.
Therefore, if a simple mathematics test to qualify to be a banker is deemed as unnecessary, why not cheat on it? The thought is that the test has nothing to do with banking. Here is a question: what has to do with banking?
Personally, if a person is a commercial lender and handles the business of my company, wouldn’t I at least expect my banker to understand basic accounting principles? Apparently, the trainees do not believe so.
The “hacks” of life are following children from their earliest stages of development into adulthood. Again, I think it does revert (at least in part) to the participation trophies that are handed out like candy, rather than awards reflective of working hard for something and succeeding. If I am awarded for participating and I get to wear a spiffy game jersey just like the guys who have worked their butts off for it, why bother working at all?
We have an ethical problem
The problem with entitlement rather than performance is exactly what just occurred at JP Morgan. I imagine there was a great deal of whining and protestation when the trainees were caught. It undoubtedly served them well at Harvard, Oxford and Cambridge; it will not serve them in the real world.
The problem is reality. It is life.
There will come a time when people must meet expectation, when the kid wearing the spiffy uniform must play; when the bank trainee must stand on her own two feet; when there is no alternative but to make a good decision.
Ethical behavior can be a great leveler. Far better to work hard, score lower, and pass than to be perfect and cheat. It may not seem that way to start, but over time, it makes for knowledge and understanding.
YOUR COMMENTS ARE WELCOME!
