Bonusregn över svenska storbanker : En studie om belöningssystemens utformande för legitimitet

Sammanfattning: The current financial crisis has left its mark. It has even hit the major Swedish banks who have shown large losses. The media has not been slow to take note of this, and the constant political debate about the bonus culture has been reinvigorated. Our aim is to find out how the major Swedish banks relate to the publicity and describe how and why senior executives are rewarded, and what strategies banks are using in the design of their reward system to maintain a legitimate behavior, and thus the confidence of its stakeholders. As a starting point to answer our purpose we have used the agency theory that describes our view of how various problems occurs and how incentives can be established in order to get senior executives to act for their owners' interests. Modern theories of reward systems are taken from a variety of authors, these theories give us an insight into how reward systems can be designed in banks. The final piece is to get insight into what legitimacy might look like in our society. In this area there were a couple of different researchers who were influential in our study. We have chosen a qualitative study. In our opinion, a study based on interviews and words is necessary so as to get as close to the truth as possible. In this way we can discover whether or not the banks take into consideration mass Media attention and incorporate a reward system into their strategies. We have interviewed individuals with expertise in the subject, at the bank's HR department. It's mostly where our empirical data is collected, but we have also supplemented this with secondary data. In conclusion, we have, among others, found that major banks are taking account of the mass Media debate. They try to participate in the debate, communicate and be open with their reward systems. Clarity is crucial, especially for systems acceptance, among the bank's customers. Having the confidence of its customers is central to the banking business. Thus, banks' teaching ability is the biggest challenge, to maintain legitimacy in the reward system in relation to their stakeholders.