Each organisation is different and to find out who has the most power and influence many factors should be taken into account, such as the type and size of the industry and any outside pressure they face. Barclays are trying to satisfy their diverse stakeholders and have developed policies to deal with each accordingly.
This organisation has realised that without exemplary employees their business would not flourish. Employees are individuals who work for an organisation and include both managerial and non-managerial staff. Barclays have recognised the importance of these two groups and know that one cannot function without the other so they have tried to appease them both. In this type of industry the employees have high power, because a strike by the employees could bring this company to a standstill and high interest in what the organisation does in order to ensure their livelihood. Below is a table showing some of the policies Barclays have concerning their employees.
To this extent as Maitland (2004) states that Barclays was one of the first employers to offer contract cleaners an hourly rate of £6 and 28 days holiday, after 6 months service they qualified for 15 days sick pay and a contributory pension. The assertion of Maitland (2004) is that “Barclays deal broke the mould” and soon others must follow. Another development that needs to be taken into consideration is a deal they have signed to consult their staff before jobs are transferred overseas. Have their efforts paid off? According to the Ethical Investment Research Service (2004), Barclays has ‘… advanced employee policies and there are clear evidence to support it.’ Acknowledging the significance of their employees, their customers are also vital to them. Since this is a multinational company and their customer base is very wide measures are taken to also placate them. Customers have high power and low interest. High power because this organisation has to keep them satisfied and low interest because they are not really concerned with the internal affairs of the business. Barclay’s policy concerning customers states that ‘…they are committed to treating customers fairly and making products and services easily accessible.’ In the past this policy has been challenged when in 2003 The Office of Fair Trading found them guilty of misleading customers about a current promotion they had. Since then the bank has raised its standards to improve its image. To confirm this a survey carried out by MORI (2003) on the public’s view about organisations and whether they were fulfilling their obligations to their customers and Barclays ranked 18th out of the 50 companies that were analysed . Furthermore, reconciling the fact that employees and customers come first then shareholders’ profits will be optimised, the agenda has been to focus on them next. Shareholders are people who own shares in an organisation and they are looking for a return on the money they have invested. As already stated Barclays have different types of shareholders but the emphasis will be centred around it’s two main ones, which are personal holders and insurance companies. These shareholders have high power because they are the owners and it’s their money that’s financing the organisation and low interest because as long as they are getting a return on their investment, they don’t mind about what’s happening at all. Barclays policy concerning them’… is providing attractive returns to shareholders on a long-term basis while behaving in a responsible manner.’ Barclays has fulfilled this obligation because profits are increasing every year and the shareholders dividend has also gone up so they are getting a good return on their investment. Testament to this fact was when one newspaper criticised Barclays for putting profits first, but they have to be careful though to satisfy the local communities in which they operate or it will all go awry. They have been castrated in the past for closing 171 local branches and this sparked an outrage amongst the communities because local jobs were lost as well. Since then Barclays have been trying to commiserate their failings by letting their employees get involved in the issues surrounding the communities and also investing heavily in the areas in which they operate. Is it going according to plan? Figures taken from FTSE 100 shows when it comes to community involvement Barclays ranked 26th and they outperformed their major competitors. They have also received an award from Business in the Community in 2004 for their commitment to socially responsible behaviour.
In addition to the policies addressing their stakeholders, Barclays has policies concerning the environment and lending money. This bank wants to be better and have signed up with the Equator Principles. The Equator Principles involves a collection of banks that have signed a document stating ways they will protect the environment. Although Barclays have used their initiative by signing up to this principle they haven’t followed it too rigorously. An article published by Friends of the Earth (2002) claims that after agreeing with the principles, Barclays were still supporting organisations that were violating environmental laws. The timing of this article coincides with the release of their 2002 corporate report which was titled ‘Making business sense’ and they were accused of putting profits first before the environment. They have listened to these criticisms and have made changes. The title of their 2004 report was ‘Behaving responsibly.’ They have made a lot of progress and this was confirmed when EIRIS (2004) rated the bank’s environmental policies as very good. The other issue that will be taken in context is their lending policies. Following its involvement in the oppressive apartheid regime that’s even plaguing them to this day, Barclays has developed a set of a rules as a guide when lending out money. They have claimed that they will not lend money to organisations that support oppressive regimes. A recent study has contradicted that claim. An article published by The Guardian (2005) shows that Barclays is one of the major financial institutions lending money to Angola, a country that has high human rights violation.
Overall, considering the current climate where many firms are facing increasing public scrutiny Barclays is making progress in the right direction. They were once a bank that was making ethical gaffes to one that has won awards for its policies. Barclays is an example of an ethically engaged company, it has listened to criticisms faced in the past and is trying to respond in a positive way. This was recognised by the title of their 2004 report ‘Behaving responsibly’ which contradicts their previous report about putting profits first. More need to be accomplished at Barclays though; they should state some of their policies more clearly (as in the case of the Angolan government and the support of oppressive regimes). Despite all this, there is evidence to suggest that Barclays is doing as much as possible to satisfy all its various stakeholders but more progress needs to be made. In order to achieve their aim of becoming a leader in ethical and socially responsible behaviour they just need to continue in the same direction and respond to the changing needs of society.
