IDEAS home Printed from https://ideas.repec.org/a/taf/bushst/v59y2017i2p231-249.html
   My bibliography  Save this article

‘The computer says no’: the demise of the traditional bank manager and the depersonalisation of British banking, 1960–2010

Author

Listed:
  • Pål Vik

Abstract

This article examines the role of the British bank branch manager in the context of the transformation of banking since the 1980s, and discusses its implications for British banking. The analysis was based on interviews with retired bank managers and suggests that they viewed their role as being based on skill, authority and autonomy. The centralisation of authority and increasing targets deskilled and disempowered their profession. Drawing on Weber’s theory of bureaucratisation, this article argues that the loss of agency of managers depersonalised service provision as they could no longer base their decisions on personal considerations.

Suggested Citation

  • Pål Vik, 2017. "‘The computer says no’: the demise of the traditional bank manager and the depersonalisation of British banking, 1960–2010," Business History, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 59(2), pages 231-249, February.
    • Handle: RePEc:taf:bushst:v:59:y:2017:i:2:p:231-249
    DOI: 10.1080/00076791.2016.1177024
    as

    Download full text from publisher

    File URL: http://hdl.handle.net/10.1080/00076791.2016.1177024
    Download Restriction: Access to full text is restricted to subscribers.
    File URL: https://libkey.io/10.1080/00076791.2016.1177024?utm_source=ideas
    LibKey link: if access is restricted and if your library uses this service, LibKey will redirect you to where you can use your library subscription to access this item
    ---><---

    As the access to this document is restricted, you may want to search for a different version of it.

    References listed on IDEAS

    as
    1. Collins, Michael & Baker, Mae, 2003. "Commercial Banks and Industrial Finance in England and Wales, 1860-1913," OUP Catalogue, Oxford University Press, number 9780199249862.
    Full references (including those not matched with items on IDEAS)

    Most related items

    These are the items that most often cite the same works as this one and are cited by the same works as this one.
    1. Steven Toms, 2019. "Financial scandals: a historical overview," Accounting and Business Research, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 49(5), pages 477-499, July.
    2. Vincent Bignon & Marc Flandreau & Stefano Ugolini, 2012. "Bagehot for beginners: the making of lender‐of‐last‐resort operations in the mid‐nineteenth century," Economic History Review, Economic History Society, vol. 65(2), pages 580-608, May.
    3. Ponce, Jorge, 2010. "Lender of last resort policy: What reforms are necessary?," Journal of Financial Intermediation, Elsevier, vol. 19(2), pages 188-206, April.
    4. Acheson, Graeme G. & Turner, John D., 2008. "The death blow to unlimited liability in Victorian Britain: The City of Glasgow failure," Explorations in Economic History, Elsevier, vol. 45(3), pages 235-253, July.
    5. Bogle, David & Coyle, Christopher & Turner, John D., 2020. "Capital Market Development Over the Long Run: The Portfolios of UK Life Assurers Over Two Centuries," QBS Working Paper Series 2020/11, Queen's University Belfast, Queen's Business School.
    6. Jens Hagendorff & Michael Collins & Kevin Keasey, 2007. "Bank Governance and Acquisition Performance," Corporate Governance: An International Review, Wiley Blackwell, vol. 15(5), pages 957-968, September.
    7. Knott, Samuel & Richardson, Peter & Rismanchi, Katie & Sen, Kallol, 2014. "Financial Stability Paper 31: Understanding the fair value of banks’ loans," Bank of England Financial Stability Papers 31, Bank of England.
    8. Jansson, Walter, 2018. "Stock markets, banks and economic growth in the UK, 1850–1913," Financial History Review, Cambridge University Press, vol. 25(3), pages 263-296, December.
    9. Mae Baker & Caroline Eadsforth & Michael Collins, 2009. "Avoiding toxic assets and ensuring bank stability: English commercial bank investments, 1880-1910," Business History, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 51(6), pages 854-874.
    10. Campbell, Gareth & Coyle, Christopher & Turner, John D., 2016. "This time is different: Causes and consequences of British banking instability over the long run," Journal of Financial Stability, Elsevier, vol. 27(C), pages 74-94.
    11. David A Bogle & Christopher Coyle & John D Turner, 2022. "Capital market development over the long run: the portfolios of UK life assurers over two centuries [Corporate ownership and control in Victorian Britain]," European Review of Economic History, European Historical Economics Society, vol. 26(3), pages 370-398.
    12. Ian Webster, 2018. "The Public Works Loan Board and the growth of the state in nineteenth‐century England," Economic History Review, Economic History Society, vol. 71(3), pages 887-908, August.
    13. Mark Billings & Forrest Capie, 2011. "Financial crisis, contagion, and the British banking system between the world wars," Business History, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 53(2), pages 193-215.
    14. Bogle, David A. & Coyle, Christopher & Turner, John D., 2020. "Capital market development over the long run: The portfolios of UK life assurers over two centuries," QUCEH Working Paper Series 2020-09, Queen's University Belfast, Queen's University Centre for Economic History.
    15. Flandreau, Marc & Chavaz, Matthieu, 2016. "“High & Dry†: The Liquidity and Credit of Colonial and Foreign Government Debt and the London Stock Exchange (1880-1910)," CEPR Discussion Papers 11679, C.E.P.R. Discussion Papers.
    16. Button, Richard & Knott, Samual & Macmanus, Conor & Willison, Matthew, 2015. "Desperate adventurers and men of straw: the failure of City of Glasgow Bank and its enduring impact on the UK banking system," Bank of England Quarterly Bulletin, Bank of England, vol. 55(1), pages 23-35.
    17. Mark Billings & Simon Mollan & Philip Garnett, 2021. "Debating banking in Britain: The Colwyn committee, 1918," Business History, Taylor & Francis Journals, vol. 63(6), pages 944-965, August.

    More about this item

    Statistics

    Access and download statistics

    Corrections

    All material on this site has been provided by the respective publishers and authors. You can help correct errors and omissions. When requesting a correction, please mention this item's handle: RePEc:taf:bushst:v:59:y:2017:i:2:p:231-249. See general information about how to correct material in RePEc.

    If you have authored this item and are not yet registered with RePEc, we encourage you to do it here. This allows to link your profile to this item. It also allows you to accept potential citations to this item that we are uncertain about.

    If CitEc recognized a bibliographic reference but did not link an item in RePEc to it, you can help with this form .

    If you know of missing items citing this one, you can help us creating those links by adding the relevant references in the same way as above, for each refering item. If you are a registered author of this item, you may also want to check the "citations" tab in your RePEc Author Service profile, as there may be some citations waiting for confirmation.

    For technical questions regarding this item, or to correct its authors, title, abstract, bibliographic or download information, contact: Chris Longhurst (email available below). General contact details of provider: http://www.tandfonline.com/FBSH20 .

    Please note that corrections may take a couple of weeks to filter through the various RePEc services.

    IDEAS is a RePEc service. RePEc uses bibliographic data supplied by the respective publishers.