Marius van Dijke: Your cocoon dictates what's good or bad Tuesday, 30 September 2014
Bankers’ bonuses continue to receive plenty of criticism; many people call them unethical. Most people find it difficult to understand why bankers keep on giving themselves more money when banking was the sector that was blamed for the financial crisis. But bankers don’t seem to mend their ways.
“Your cocoon determines a large part of your outlook on the world, including what’s good and what’s bad.”
This makes us wonder: how do bankers accept their bonuses without feeling they have done something completely unethical? Why do they see salary issues in such a different way to the general public? It can be traced back to one simple word, says RSM’s professor of behavioural ethics. He says it’s our personal ‘cocoon’.
Marius van Dijke is also the Scientific Director of the Erasmus Centre of Behavioural Ethics, which focuses on the global challenges of responsible leadership and decision making.
