16 May 2022

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The 1920 Farrow's Bank Failure: A Case of Managerial Hubris

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Thomas' level of managerial hubris was affected by Corporate culture, leadership, power, and motivation because he developed the propensity to view the banking industry in the United Kingdom as a living organic entity rather than a business venture but as an avenue to pursue his moral crusade (Hollow, 2014) . As the Bank continued to expand, so did Thomas' self-image and self-confidence; this led him to be detached from reality as he perceived his interests, that of the Bank, and its customers synonymously related with his own. The independent accountants hired by Norton, Read, and Co. found that Thomas had followed the rules, regulations, and norms of standard bookkeeping practice when they discovered a deficiency of about £2,685,757 from the Bank's accounts (Hollow, 2014) . By isolating himself from the rest of the Bank's employees, Thomas lost interest in the daily operations and management of the Bank, that he decided to cover the Bank's losses by formulating and publishing dishonest balance sheets to the public, clients, and investors. 

Managerial hubris is a cognitive state where individuals develop excessive confidence and price in their own abilities, judgment, and talent to obtain positive outcomes (McManus, 2016) . Managerial hubris is also a result of the culmination of successive wins that result in an individual being delusional, seeing themselves as exceptional relative to peers, and believing that normal societal conventions do not apply to them (McManus, 2016) . Individuals suffering from hubris attribute their achievements to their own abilities and efforts while ignoring the meaningful contribution of others (Hollow, 2014) . Thus, managerial hubris influences individuals to participate in less exhaustive analyses of external environments, conditions, potential risks, and strategic alternatives. 

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On the other hand, ethical decision-making refers to the process of assessing and selecting among alternatives in issues that implicate ethical consideration and cognitively process these options and the choice of outcomes. In ethical decision-making, the alternative decision must morally and legally acceptable to the general public (McManus, 2016) . The four-stage approach in ethical decision-making implies that an individual must be aware of the current ethical issue, apply moral reasoning to the problem, resolve to act in a principled manner, and convert this resolve into action (McManus, 2016)

At Farrow's Bank, Thomas would have promoted the use of standard bookkeeping practice norms and conventions (Hollow, 2014) . Accounting conventions and standards stipulate that reports and records, irrespective of the business or form of ownership, should be prepared similarly. Farrow's Bank had never conducted an independent audit in 9 years (Hollow, 2014) . George Hart, Farrow's chief accountant, was responsible for drawing and auditing the Bank's books. After George Hart's retirement, without prior experience and training, Fredrick Hart, who was George Hart's son, took over as the chief accountant at Farrow. In addition, the Bank had two ledgers that George Hart and Fredric Hart could only access. This disregard for rules and regulations allowed Farrow to engage in unethical practices, fostering fraudulent practices at the Bank. Ethical decision-making principles would have forced the Bank to employ an accounting professional, strictly follow accounting conventions and standards, and subject its books to an external audit (Hollow, 2014) . Instead, Thomas resolved to the aforementioned unethical practices resulting in fraudulent activities at the Bank. 

If Farrow had an ethical corporate culture, the level of managerial hubris would have declined, which could have had a positive outcome for the Bank. An ethical corporate culture would have made Thomas choose humility instead of pride in his actions. This would have developed an ethical culture at Farrow's grounded in respect, outcomes, and tolerance that are mutually beneficial to the Bank and Thomas (McManus, 2016) . Actions by ethical leaders shape what employees pay attention to and model and significantly impacts their behaviors positively or negatively on what should be valued and emulated (McManus, 2016) . An ethical corporate culture would have made Farrow's Bank successful, as the institution would have complied with applicable laws and regulations (McManus, 2016) . An understanding of the relevant regulations would not have resulted in the Bank incurring unnecessary costs., reputational damage, being prosecuted for breaking the law, losing business, and closure. 

References

Hollow, M. (2014). The 1920 Farrow's Bank failure: A case of managerial hubris? Journal of Management History , 20 (2), 164-178. https://doi.org/10.1108/jmh-11-2012-0071

McManus, J. (2016). Hubris and unethical decision making: The tragedy of the uncommon. Journal of Business Ethics , 149 (1), 169-185. https://doi.org/10.1007/s10551-016-3087-9

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