Financial services and social structures: a comparative analysis
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Date
26/11/2014Author
Hernandez, Javier
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Abstract
Although there is an increasing interest in social sciences amongst policy makers in
financial services and investment organisations, not enough is known about the way
financial organisations and activities interact with their social environments. In
particular, there is a need for more research into the way financial activities are integrated
into broader social structures. This thesis will report on a comparative study analysing
the practices of financial organisations and their employees in two very different social
environments: the UK and Chile. From 38 in-depth interviews with financial
practitioners in London, Edinburgh and Santiago de Chile about their job trajectories and
experiences, it was possible to analyse the practices of financial organisations in the UK
and Chile, with an emphasis on the way they interact with global financial trends and
local distributions of power and resources. A sociological account of organisational
processes such as recruitment, socialisation, staff allocation, promotion and organisation
of work within firms in these countries allowed for description and analysis of the way
firms’ practices are related to their social (structural, symbolic and institutional) contexts.
The research shows that Chile’s position in the global financial market and local
distribution of resources encourage more traditional organisational practices, especially
in terms of recruitment, socialisation, staff allocation and promotion, as well as activities
performed and the way services are provided. In the UK, on the other hand, all of the
above-mentioned processes are more technical, formally designed and competitive.
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