The Wells Fargo and Co., a leading US-based banking and financial services company was in the

news in September 2016 for alleged unethical customer relationship management practices. While

the management blamed the employees for the practices, the employees claimed that some of them

had resorted to such practices to meet the targets set under a scheme called Gr-eight initiative,. The

employees accused the management of putting pressure on them to achieve targets, and of harassing

those who complained against the practices. The bank admitted that it had been indulging in

unethical practices and agreed to pay the compensation to the affected customers. It also accepted the

conditions specified by various regulatory agencies in making changes to the existing employees

compensation packages and as well as to initiate changes in the customer relationship practices. The

fact that the bank had indulged in unethical practices severely dented its reputation and put pressure

on the top management to regain the name the bank had so carefully built for itself over a period of

100 years. The present case study focuses on the reasons for the employees indulging in such

practices, the problems of the employees, the role of the management in ensuring timely achievement

of targets, and the role of various regulatory agencies in enquiring into the various practices of Wells

Fargo and Co. The cases discusses the challenges that lay ahead of the new CEO, Tim Solan, and the

initiatives he needed to take to ensure a change in the corporate culture and regain the trust and

confidence of the customers.

Required Answers:

The case is structured to achieve the following objectives:

Various factors that contributed to the unethical practices in Wells Fargo.

The challenges employees faced in accepting orders from the managers.

The objectives of the management in promoting the Gr-eight initiative.

The implications of the scandal for the management and the employees.

The challenges ahead of the management in its bid to regain its reputation