ArticlePDF Available

Modernism, Christianity, and Business Ethics: A Worldview Perspective

Authors:

Abstract

Despite growing interest in examining the role of religion in business ethics, there is little consensus concerning the basis or standards of “good” or ethical behavior and the reasons behind them. This limits our ability to enhance ethical behavior in the workplace. We address this issue by examining worldviews as it relates to ethics research and practice. Our worldview forms the context within which we organize and build our understanding of reality. Given that much of our academic work as well as business practice operate from a modern worldview, we examine how modernism shapes our beliefs and approaches to ethics in business and academia. We identify important limitations of modernism in addressing moral issues and religion. We then introduce the Christian worldview as an alternative approach to examining ethical issues in business
Modernism, Christianity, and Business
Ethics: A Worldview Perspective
David Kim
Dan Fisher
David McCalman
ABSTRACT. Despite growing interest in examining the
role of religion in business ethics, there is little consensus
concerning the basis or standards of ‘‘good’’ or ethical
behavior and the reasons behind them. This limits our
ability to enhance ethical behavior in the workplace. We
address this issue by examining worldviews as it relates to
ethics research and practice. Our worldview forms the
context within which we organize and build our under-
standing of reality. Given that much of our academic
work as well as business practice operate from a modern
worldview, we examine how modernism shapes our
beliefs and approaches to ethics in business and academia.
We identify important limitations of modernism in
addressing moral issues and religion. We then introduce
the Christian worldview as an alternative approach to
examining ethical issues in business
KEY WORDS: Christianity, business ethics,
modernism, religion, worldview
Introduction
In the midst of ongoing corporate ethics violations,
there has been great interest in discussing moral issues
related to business including the corporate social
responsibility debate and the introduction of business
ethics in management programs (Conroy and Emer-
son, 2004; McWilliams and Siegel, 2001; Shannon and
Berl, 1997). One intriguing outcome of this discussion
has been attempts to integrate spirituality and religion
into business practice as a means to address the seem-
ingly intractable ethical problems that plague con-
temporary organizations (Gotsis and Kortezi, 2007;
Singhapakdi et al., 2000). We say this is intriguing,
because for hundreds of years, religion and spirituality
have been literally exorcised from modern forms of
institutional organization. But does a blending of spir-
ituality with commerce, a religious worldview with a
modern one, offer a way to rethink our approach to
business ethics? We explore this question in detail. In
particular, we consider the Christian worldview as an
alternative to the dominant modernist paradigm as a
useful ethical perspective in the realm of business.
Different faiths including Christianity, Judaism,
and Islam have much to say about business practice
either directly or by implication. Arising from
Judaism, Christianity values one’s work as fulfillment
of spiritual life. In a similar vein, Islamic teaching
promotes economic activity as a means to social
justice and spiritual enhancement (Brammer et al.,
2007; Epstein, 2002; Weaver and Agle, 2002). The
positive link between one’s beliefs and higher ethical
attitudes in the workplace is well documented (e.g.,
Conroy and Emerson, 2004; Longenecker et al.,
2004). More recent research has examined work-
place spirituality (e.g., Gotsis and Kortezi, 2007;
Pava, 2003) and discussed the merits of integrating
religion with corporate practice (Calkins, 2000;
Epstein, 2002). In 2004, Business & Professional Ethics
Journal devoted an entire issue to living the Christian
life in the corporate world (see Chase, 2004). In
practice, many business leaders have been explicit in
basing their business decisions on their religious
convictions. For instance, Truett Cathey, founder
and chief executive of Chick-fil-A, decided to close
the restaurant chain on Sundays in honor of the
Sabbath (Weaver and Agle, 2002).
Despite extensive work in this area, there is little
consensus concerning the basis or standards of
‘‘good’’ or ethical behavior and the reasons behind
them. Ethical standards are often implicitly assumed,
or religious values such as those found in the golden
rule or what is common across religions are strongly
Journal of Business Ethics ÓSpringer 2009
DOI 10.1007/s10551-009-0031-2
favored as a normative foundation for business ethics
(Brammer et al., 2007). However, others have per-
suasively argued that attempts to establish universal
standards of right versus wrong are futile given that
each person has his/her own moral philosophy (e.g.,
Forsyth 1992), such that religion can be, but does
not have to be, the source of ethical standard. This
current approach to religion and business ethics
constrains our attempts to enhance ethical behavior
in the workplace. To date, there has been little or no
evidence that corporate ethics has improved overall.
We address this issue by examining worldviews as it
relates to ethics research and practice. The term
worldview is a translation of the German word
Weltanschauung, or a way of looking at the world
(Pearcey, 2004). Our worldview forms the context
within which we organize and build our under-
standing of reality. It is the presuppositions we have
about the nature of reality, knowledge, morality, and
life’s meaning and purpose. Everyone has convictions
about how reality functions and how s/he should live.
Everyone decides what is real and important, or un-
real and unimportant. Our beliefs and values are
imbedded in our worldview (Sire, 1997; Walsh and
Middleton, 1984). Collective worldviews change
over time. What was once considered to be eminently
true and right is no longer the case. Conduct and
behavior once widely held as unacceptable or even
perverse is now tolerated or has become the norm
(Daniels et al., 2000; Pearcey, 2004).
A worldview shapes our culture and expresses
itself in all social institutions including the arts,
religion, education, media, and business. In the
academic arena, the researcher’s worldview has
enormous implications in that it affects the way
studies are designed and how conclusions are drawn.
In business practice, it dictates the way we resolve
ethical issues and make decisions at work. Much of
our academic literature is framed from a modern and
postmodern worldview. According to the modern
worldview (modernism), reality, knowledge, and
morality are founded in science, human reasoning,
and objective evidence. Faith in God along with
other beliefs and values are entirely personal and
subjective and, therefore, has no place in the realm
of objective truth (Pearcey, 2004). With the post-
modern worldview (postmodernism), the nature of
reality, knowledge, and morality is self-defined
and self-referential. Postmodernism questions
whether we can know anything with certainty
(Daniels et al., 2000). Depending on one’s world-
view, knowing what is (or should be) true versus
false or ethical versus unethical will differ substan-
tially.
Therefore, we ask the question: has the triumph
of modernism in so many areas, including ethics,
marginalized other useful worldviews that may offer
insight and guidance for businesses and researchers?
To answer, we first explore how modernism shapes
our beliefs and approaches to ethics in business and
academia. We describe the basic tenets of modern-
ism and their impact on religion and business ethics
and practice. In this analysis, we develop the reasons
from a modernist vantage point for excluding spiri-
tuality and religion from the domain of business.
Second, this inquiry enables us to call to attention
important limitations that result from the modern
worldview. These are the ethical blind spots of
modernism that cause problems. Based on these
shortcomings, we introduce alternative worldviews
into the ethical conversation, and in particular,
Christianity. We use Christianity as an illustration
because it is still the major religion in the West and
serves as an ethical framework for many in their
personal lives. Historically, Christianity was the main
target for exclusion by modernist thinkers. And yet
there is a growing stream of corporate practice and
academic research that is fruitfully exploring and
implementing the Christian ethic (e.g., Calkins,
2000; Epstein, 2002). In the next section, we look at
how modernism triumphed over religion and
rewrote the basis for business ethics, an approach that
dominates to this day.
Opposing worldviews: modernism
and Christianity
Christianity arose out of the unique worldview, as
well as the ethical practices of Judaism. As in the
case of Islam later, Christianity acknowledged the
authority of Hebrew Scriptures (Latourette, 1975;
Schaff, 1994; Tierney and Painter, 1983). The
Christian worldview was dominant in Europe prior
to the Enlightenment. This view holds that there are
valid, non-empirical sources of knowledge about the
nature of reality. Specifically, there is a God who
existed before the world existed, and he is the
David Kim et al.
ultimate origin of everything else. The basis of this
worldview is found in scriptures and the culture that
was born from the early church (Daniels et al., 2000;
Pearcey, 2004).
Modernism represents the post-Enlightenment
philosophy of empiricism and human reason. In
opposition to the preceding Judeo-Christian and
Islamic worldviews, modernism held that only
physical matter exists. Nothing exists outside the
material world, which itself can be known and
understood through the physical senses in conjunc-
tion with the scientific method. This view denies
the transcendent, or supernatural, dimension and
excludes all non-empirical ways of knowing. In
other words, modernism rejects the possibility that
there is more to the world than what we can directly
access with our senses, or that there is a dimension of
reality underlying what we can see that provides a
source of meaning, purpose, and coherence beyond
the physical events that we observe. The focus is
restricted to cause and effect relationships in a closed
system (Daniels et al., 2000; Yaman, 2003).
Modernism has its origins in the Enlightenment,
the age of reason, scientific discovery, and human
autonomy (Veith, 1994). The emerging sciences
during the Enlightenment were founded on the
Biblical view that nature is the good and orderly work
of a personal God and in the classical view that abso-
lute rational laws govern nature. Early scientists such
as Francis Bacon (1561–1626), Copernicus (1475–
1543), Galileo (1564–1642), and Kepler (1571–1630)
among others shared the Christian view that God had
created the universe, and that man, by use of his rea-
son, could discover the mysteries of the universe
(Schaeffer 1968).
1
By the 1700s science progressed so rapidly that it
seemed as if science could explain everything. The
rise of modern science during this period was truly
impressive. It was characterized by a rapid growth in
knowledge in many different areas including medi-
cine, biology, anatomy, electricity, mechanics, and
astronomy. Scientists developed knowledge by build-
ing on the works of others and relied heavily on logic,
observation, and experimentation (Hunt, 1991).
Some saw no limits to the power of human reason
operating upon the data of the senses.
As modernism continued to gather momentum
into the nineteenth century, reference to God was
essentially eliminated. Charles Darwin argued that
God was not even necessary to explain the creation.
In describing the ‘‘origin of species’’ in terms of the
closed natural system of cause and effect, Darwin
removed the need for any kind of creator. Nature
became completely self-contained. Science could
now explain everything. Modernists believed the
growth of newly discovered facts based on human
reasoning, and the scientific method would yield a
unified answer for all knowledge and life (Veith,
1994).
Modern thinking led to the development of social
sciences such as sociology and psychology. Meth-
odologies designed to study nature were applied to
human beings. Sociology examined human institu-
tions while psychology sought to explain the inner
life of human beings, all in terms of a closed natural
system accessible by empirical scientific methods
(Veith, 1994).
Later, the development of business disciplines
such as management and marketing would owe
much to the methodologies, theories, and world-
views of sociology and psychology researchers.
With modernism, Christianity was no longer
compatible with truth (answers for all knowledge
and life). Truth resided in the scientific community,
in a closed natural system of cause and effect. Over
time, references to Christianity were removed from
the public arena such as schools and government.
Religion was simply a matter of personal choice and,
thus, did not belong in public institutions such as the
state, academia, and large corporations which are
considered to be objective, scientific, and value-free.
Through science and reason there is universal
truth or truth that is binding on everyone. Religion
would have no claim to objective knowledge
(Pearcey, 2004).
Modernism, morality, and business ethics
Throughout most of Western history, moral issues
were very much tied to Christianity. But as mod-
ernism became increasingly dominant, ethical ques-
tions were addressed without referencing God or
his word. The emergence of Utilitarianism offered
a different approach to moral issues. Utilitarians
decided moral issues not by appealing to transcen-
dent absolutes but by studying the effect of an action
upon the system. Stealing was wrong, not because
Modernism, Christianity, and Business Ethics
the Ten Commandments say so, but because stealing
interfered with the economic functioning of society.
Practicality became the sole moral criterion. If it
worked, it must be good (Veith, 1994). The influ-
ential pragmatist philosophers William James (1907)
and John Dewey (1920,1922) explicitly argued for
functionality as the measurement both of ethics and
indeed of truth itself. Schiller (1912) equated truth
with ‘‘good,’’ asserting that truth is determined by
those actions which have good consequences.
Furthermore, intellectuals of the Enlightenment
argued that since God was no longer needed to explain
creation, he was no longer needed to determine moral
laws. Reason would replace God to establish morality.
Ethics would be discussed increasingly in philosoph-
ical and scientific terms, as opposed to theology.
Without God or transcendent truth to establish one’s
values, modernism turned to science and philosophy
along with tradition and cultural norms as the basis of
what is good or right (Calkins, 2000; Daniels et al.,
2000). However, attempts to resolve ethical issues
without God could only result in moral relativism
where ethical standards were relative to a particular
culture, individual, or time in history.
Moral relativism is expressed in our culture where
conduct once considered immoral or even perverse
is now tolerated or has become the new norm
(Pearcey, 2004). Tolerance is increasingly viewed as
the highest ethic. This is not the traditional view of
tolerance in which one tries to recognize and respect
other people’s values without necessarily accepting
those values as being correct. Instead, tolerance
implies that all values, beliefs, and claims to truth and
lifestyles are equal. However, if all of these things are
equal, no one could claim that one person’s ethics
are any better than another’s (Cotton, 1996).
In business ethics literature, Singhapakdi et al.
(2000) and Tsalikis et al. (2001) among others
acknowledge moral relativism as the main orienta-
tion of moral thought. Ferrell and Gresham (1985)
in discussing their contingency framework for
understanding ethical decision making recommend
focusing on contexts and variables that influence
ethical behavior instead of attempting to discover
universal moral principles. The context in which an
ethical act can be viewed can be historical, cultural,
situational, or individual. Forsyth (1992) notes that
attempts to determine right versus wrong in business
would be fruitless given that each individual applies
different moral philosophies. At best we can aim for
a fuller understanding of our own and others’ reac-
tions to various types of business practices.
Ethical standards are often implicitly assumed, or
religious values such as the golden rule or what is
common across religions are strongly favored as a
normative foundation for business ethics (Brammer
et al., 2007). Non-religious frameworks such as the
social contract theory (Dunfee et al., 1999) and Kan-
tian deontology (Racheals, 1986; Raphael, 1989),
among others, have been applied to address corporate
ethics. However, attempts to identify and apply
absolute standards for ethical conduct have been
unsuccessful as researchers and practitioners search for
a relative balance between ethics and the bottom line
and personal values. A serious limitation of moral
relativism, then, is the inability to determine an
absolute standard of good or ethical behavior and the
reasons behind it (Shaw and Barry, 1992).
Besides moral relativism, modernism helped to
shape the meaning and purpose of one’s vocation or
business. The rejection of God and the Biblical view
of creation meant that human beings were no longer
God’s handiwork but instead were merely a part of
nature, driven by self-interest and expediency. The
Protestant work ethic was separated from its Christian
context of stewardship and service and viewed only as
a means to material success.
In the late eighteenth century, for example, Adam
Smith defined work solely as a means of fulfilling
one’s self-interest. Whereas Christian ethics had
regarded self-interest as a vice to be overcome for the
common good, Smith contended that self-interest
was actually good for society that the best thing for
the economy is for everyone to stand out of its way
and give free reign to ‘‘the invisible hand,’’ which
ensures that supply and demand will always balance.
This system promoted what Christianity had tradi-
tionally renounced as immoral: self-interest instead of
concern for the common good, personal ambition
instead of altruism, and drive for personal gain and
self-advancement instead of self-sacrifice and charity
(Colson and Pearcey, 1999). Without God, the
purpose of work or vocation changed to personal
achievement, material possessions, and status.
From a modernist perspective, business ethics is
justified because of its impact on corporate out-
comes such as reduced employee turnover, increased
productivity, and profitability (e.g., Daniels et al.,
David Kim et al.
2000). Although maximizing corporate profits in an
ethical manner is paramount, the essence of integ-
rity, altruism, and corporate social responsibility is
trivialized when their purpose is solely to enhance
the bottom line (Gotsis and Kortezi, 2007).
Christianity and business ethics:
alternative perspective
To this point, our discussion has centered on the
limitations of modernism on business ethics – namely,
moral relativism and a materialistic focus regarding
ethical behavior. We next examine how the Christian
worldview addresses these issues followed by how it
might influence ethics research.
Christian ethics founded on Scripture gives moral
standards or a common platform that allow us to judge
between right and wrong. In business situations,
people must decide what they ought to do and what
ethical principles to follow. They must know that
these principles are right and that it is reliable. This is
not to say that an absolute moral law must be strictly
followed given that the boundaries of moral law and
its varied applications will always be debated. But the
very idea of right and wrong makes sense only if there
is a final standard by which we can make moral
judgments (Colson and Pearcey, 1999).
Furthermore, much of what researchers and
business professionals seek as ethical standards and
behavior are found in Scripture. For instance, the
Ten Commandments provides the foundation for
many of today’s laws governing business practices
including truthfulness in business transactions, pro-
per entitlement, and so forth. Also, the life and
teachings of Jesus provide moral guidance in busi-
ness. The parable of the rich fool and the parable of
the talents teach about proper management of pos-
sessions and diligence at work. The primacy of love
and service to others is consistent with the goals of
corporate social responsibility (Calkins, 2000).
It should be noted that simply citing a chapter and
verse for the moral statement being made, or
insisting that God has demanded it, is not sufficient
to a make a Christian ethic (Rossouw, 1994).
Likewise, Christian ethics is not a set of isolated
moral principles but is dependent on a prior Chris-
tian view of reality as expressed in the relationship
between God and his people. What is expressed in
Scripture is not a set of principles or rules, but rather
a comprehensive understanding of reality such as all
life originating from God, the nature of God and
man, and life’s meaning. Christian ethics requires the
use of reason to derive from Scripture certain pre-
cepts and narratives that guide human action and
bring about certain consequences, primarily to pur-
sue the ideals of love and service to others (Calkins,
2000) and practicing good stewardship of money and
resources.
Rossouw (1994, p. 564) offers the following
illustration:
Someone with a Christian understanding of the
unconditional value of life, cannot be careless in the
workplace about products and quality-standards that
pose a threat to the lives of consumers or employees.
Neither can someone who believes that humans have
the responsibility to cultivate and protect nature, be
careless about pollution and ozone- depletion. In the
same way, someone with a conviction that special care
should be taken of the unfortunate in society, cannot
be unconcerned about employment practices that
cause hardships for employees in their old age.
In recent years, the assumptions of modernism
have been challenged by the postmodern worldview
which questions whether we can know anything
with certainty (Daniels et al., 2000). And as post-
modern thinking has become more dominant in our
culture and academe, it has opened the door for
business ethicists to explore alternative worldviews,
like Christianity, to explain the nature of reality,
knowledge, and morality.
Approaching business ethics research from a
Christian worldview requires us to re-think our
assumptions and beliefs about religion and the nature
of reality. Works by Christian writers and thinkers
would suggest that Christianity is more than a reli-
gion or a set of moral guidelines or beliefs. It is a
worldview that applies to all areas including social
issues, history, politics, science, and anthropology
(Pearcey, 2004). Whereas modernism assumes that
knowledge, truth, and morality are founded in sci-
ence and reason, Christianity is based on the
understanding that God was the creator of the uni-
verse, and that man, by use of his reason, could
discover the mysteries of the universe. Contrary to
popular notion, Christian thinking is not opposed to
science and scientific discoveries or to a rational
Modernism, Christianity, and Business Ethics
understanding of the world as evidenced by the
works of early scientists.
Finally, Scripture has much to say about human
nature and behavior that is consistent with what we
observe in ourselves and others. Given the challenge
among business ethicists and business leaders to
create a more ethical environment, ethics research
from a Christian viewpoint may offer insights that
promote morality in the workplace.
Note
1
Some of these men indeed clashed with particular
ecclesiastical bodies in their days, but notwithstanding
the conflicts they had with church governments, theirs
was always a firmly grounded, implicit Christian world-
view.
References
Brammer, S., G. Williams and J. Zinkin: 2007, ‘Religion
and Attitudes to Corporate Social Responsibility in a
Large Cross-Country Sample’, Journal of Business Ethics
71, 229–243. doi:10.1007/s10551-006-9136-z.
Calkins, M.: 2000, ‘Recovering Religion’s Prophetic
Voice for Business Ethics’, Journal of Business Ethics 23,
339–352. doi:10.1023/A:1005989824688.
Chase, K. R.: 2004, ‘Christian Perspectives on Business
Ethics: Faith, Profit, and Decision Making’, Business &
Professional Ethics Journal 23(4), 3–12.
Colson, C. W. and N. R. Pearcey: 1999, How Now Shall
We Live? (Tyndale House Publishers., Inc, Wheaton,
IL).
Conroy, S. J. and T. L. N. Emerson: 2004, ‘Business
Ethics and Religion: Religiosity as a Predictor of
Ethical Awareness Among Students’, Journal of Business
Ethics 50, 383–396. doi:10.1023/B:BUSI.0000025040.
41263.09.
Cotton, R.: 1996, ‘Business and Ethics’, http://www.
probe.org/site/c.fdKEIMNsEoG/b.4227383/k.FE33/
Business_and_Ethics.htm.
Daniels, D., R. S. Franz and K. Wong: 2000, ‘A Class-
room with a Worldview: Making Spiritual Assump-
tions Explicit in Management Education’, Journal of
Management Education 24(5), 540–561. doi:10.1177/
105256290002400503.
Dewey, J.: 1920, Human Nature and Conduct (Henry Holt
and Company, New York, NY).
Dewey, J.: 1922, Reconstruction in Philosophy (Henry Holt
and Company, New York, NY).
Dunfee, T. W., N. C. Smith and W. T. Ross Jr: 1999,
‘Social Contracts and Marketing Ethics’, Journal of
Marketing 63, 14–32. doi:10.2307/1251773.
Epstein, E. M.: 2002, ‘Religion and Business – The
Critical Role of Religious Traditions in Management
Education’, Journal of Business Ethics 38, 91–96.
doi:10.1023/A:1015712827640.
Ferrell, O. C. and L. G. Gresham: 1985, ‘A Contingency
Framework for Understanding Ethical Decision-
Making in Marketing’, Journal of Marketing 49(3), 87–96.
doi:10.2307/1251618.
Forsyth, D. R.: 1992, ‘Judging the Morality of Business
Practices: The Influence of Personal Moral Philoso-
phies’, Journal of Business Ethics 11(5, 6), 461–470.
Gotsis, G. and Z. Kortezi: 2007, ‘Philosophical Founda-
tions of Workplace Spirituality: A Critical Approach’,
Journal of Business Ethics 78, 575–600. doi:10.1007/
s10551-007-9369-5.
Hunt, S. D.: 1991, Modern Marketing Theory: Critical Issues
in the Philosophy of Marketing Science (South-Western
Publishing Co., Cincinnati, OH).
James, W.: 1907, Pragmatism ((Longmans, Green &
Company, New York, NY)).
Latourette, K. S.: 1975, A History of Christianity (Prince
Press, Peabody, MA).
Longenecker, J. G., J. A. McKinney and C. W. Moore:
2004, ‘Religious Intensity, Evangelical Christianity,
and Business Ethics: An Empirical Study’, Journal of
Business Ethics 55, 373–386. doi:10.1007/s10551-004-
0990-2.
McWilliams, A. and D. Siegel: 2001, ‘Corporate Social
Responsibility: A Theory of the Firm Perspective’,
Academy of Management Review 26, 117–127. doi:
10.2307/259398.
Pava, M. L.: 2003, ‘Searching for Spirituality in All the
Wrong Places’, Journal of Business Ethics 28(4), 393–
400. doi:10.1023/B:BUSI.0000005730.37745.07.
Pearcey, N. R.: 2004, Total Truth: Liberating Christianity
from Its Cultural Captivity (Crossway Books, Wheaton,
IL).
Racheals, J.: 1986, The Elements of Moral Philosophy
(Random House, New York).
Raphael, D. D.: 1989, Moral Philosophy (Oxford Uni-
versity Press, Oxford).
Rossouw, G. J.: 1994, ‘Business Ethics: Where have All
the Christians Gone?’, Journal of Business Ethics 13(7),
557–570. doi:10.1007/BF00881301.
Schaeffer, F.: 1968, Escape from Reason (Inter-Varsity
Fellowship, England).
Schaff, P.: 1994, History of the Christian Church
(Wm. B. Eerdmans Pub. Co., Grand Rapids, MI).
David Kim et al.
Schiller, F.C.S.: 1912, Humanism (The MacMillan Co.,
New York, NY).
Shannon, J. R. and R. L. Berl: 1997, ‘Are We Teaching
Ethics in Marketing?: A Survey of Students’ Attitudes
and Perceptions’, Journal of Business Ethics 16(10),
1059–1075. doi:10.1023/A:1017922005651.
Shaw, W. H. and V. Barry: 1992, Moral Issues in Business
(Wadsworth Publishing Company, Belmount, CA).
Singhapakdi, A., J. K. Marta, K. C. Rallapalli and
C. P. Rao: 2000, ‘Toward an Understanding of Reli-
giousness and Marketing Ethics: An Empirical Study’,
Journal of Business Ethics 27, 305–319. doi:10.1023/
A:1006342224035.
Sire, J.: 1997, The Universe Next Door: A Basic Worldview
Catalog (Intervarsity Press, Dowers Grove, IL).
Tierney, B. and S. Painter: 1983, Western Europe in the
Middle Ages (Alfred A. Knopf, New York, NY).
Tsalikis, J., B. Seaton and P. L. Shepherd: 2001, ‘Rela-
tivism in Ethical Research: A Proposed Model and
Mode of Inquiry’, Journal of Business Ethics 32(3), 231–
246. doi:10.1023/A:1010700308774.
Veith, G. E.: 1994, Postmodern Times: A Christian Guide to
Contemporary Thought and Culture (Crossway Books,
Wheaton, IL).
Walsh, B. and J. Middleton: 1984, The Transforming Vision
(Intervarsity Press, Dowers Grove, IL).
Weaver, G. R. and B. R. Agle: 2002, ‘Religiosity and
Ethical Behavior in Organizations: A Symbolic Inter-
actionist Perspective’, Academy of Management Review
27(1), 77–97. doi:10.2307/4134370.
Yaman, H. R.: 2003, ‘Skinner’s Naturalism as a Paradigm
for Teaching Business Ethics: A Discussion from
Tourism’, Teaching Business Ethics 7(2), 107–122.
doi:10.1023/A:1022636929914.
University of Central Arkansas,
Conway, U.S.A.
E-mail: davidk@uca.edu
Modernism, Christianity, and Business Ethics
... Religious faith exerts a multilevel and multidimensional influence on individuals and organisations, even in a secular environment (Cadge and Konieczny 2014;Griebel et al. 2014;. Religious faith and values are elements of a socio-cultural worldview that influences individual, organisational and entrepreneurial behaviour (Hoogendoorn et al. 2016;Kim et al. 2009;Werner 2008). Thus, a religious worldview context brings to the foreground the considerable influence that faith-derived values exert on individual, organisational and societal behaviour (Tracey et al. 2014). ...
... This conclusion offers a compelling alternative view of how social enterprises manage institutional complexity by examining them through a lens of non-transactional giving motivated by religion-inspired altruistic love that is expressed organisationally and individually (McCann 2011). I extend scholarship by suggesting in the model that a religious worldview underpins the foundation of other-regarding values in social enterprises, whether explicitly in faith-based and faith-inspired initiatives or implicitly in secular organisations (Cadge and Konieczny 2014;Goetz et al. 2010;Kim et al. 2009;Spear 2010). ...
Article
Full-text available
This paper develops a model that advances our understanding of how social enterprises respond to the complexity of a constellation of multiple, often competing goals, referred to here as institutional logics. Introducing a religious logic to the recognised social welfare and commercial logics of social enterprise, this model builds on a religious worldview foundation and incorporates religion-inspired altruistic love and non-transactional giving as its scaffolding. A comparative case study of faith-based, faith-inspired and secular organisations located in Southeast Asia demonstrates the origin and applicability of the model. Findings highlight that religion serves as an overarching logic, or “metalogic”, and frame of reference. Faith-based social enterprises use this religious logic to redefine perceived paradoxical tensions between the social welfare and commercial objectives they embody. Study results advance knowledge on organisational responses to multiple logic prescriptions, underscores the influence of religion, altruistic love and giving on organisational behaviour and contributes to the scarce literature on faith-based social enterprises.
... El siguiente documento de esta categoría abordó otro tema recurrente. La moral cristiana como referente para la ética organizacional y la ética del marketing (Kim et al., 2009). En este trabajo analizan primero las visiones al respecto de la investigación y la practica ética desde un punto de vista moderno. ...
... En este trabajo analizan primero las visiones al respecto de la investigación y la practica ética desde un punto de vista moderno. Sin embargo, se sugiere que los entendimientos modernos de lo bueno y lo malo no garantizan un comportamiento ético y por lo tanto se considera el empleo de la moral cristiana como el mejor referente para abordar los problemas éticos en las organizaciones (Kim et al., 2009). ...
... Religion has rules that are philosophical and clear as ethics that serve as guidelines for carrying out business activities (Kim et al., 2009). The basis of ethics and humanity must always be inherent in the implementation of a business (Ali et al., 2013). ...
Article
Full-text available
The current business environment and financial performance are focus of current Islamic banking empirical research. Optimizing wealth is the main objective of the business environment of companies in all countries, including Islamic banking, where this may have eliminated the intermediation function of Islamic banks to carry out activities that are more in line with the framework of the Maqasid Syariah approach. This research aims to analyze whether there are differences in the influence of index EII on performance between sharia banking in three area with muslim majority. The research method uses content analysis of the 2016-2020 financial reports and multiple regression analysis. Samples were taken from three regions with the largest market shares, including Indonesia, Malaysia and countries in the GCC. The research results show that in Indonesia and Malaysia, EII has no effect on financial performance, while in the GCC EII has an effect on financial performance. This illustrates that there are differences between Indonesia-Malaysia and the GCC, where in Indonesia and Malaysia, customer preferences do not focus on how widely banks implement Islamic ethical identities. Meanwhile, in the GCC, customers consider the application and disclosure of Islamic ethical identity to be taken into consideration in determining a sharia bank. Abstrak Lingkungan bisnis dan kinerja keuangan saat ini menjadi fokus penelitian empiris perbankan syariah saat ini. Optimalisasi kekayaan merupakan tujuan utama lingkungan bisnis perusahaan di semua negara, termasuk perbankan syariah, dimana hal ini mungkin telah menghilangkan fungsi intermediasi bank syariah untuk melakukan aktivitas yang lebih sejalan dengan kerangka pendekatan Maqasid Syariah. Penelitian ini bertujuan untuk menganalisis apakah terdapat perbedaan pengaruh indeks EII terhadap kinerja antara perbankan syariah di tiga wilayah yang mayoritas penduduknya beragama Islam. Metode penelitian menggunakan analisis isi laporan keuangan tahun 2016-2020 dan analisis regresi berganda. Sampel diambil dari tiga wilayah dengan pangsa pasar terbesar, antara lain Indonesia, Malaysia, dan negara-negara di GCC. Hasil penelitian menunjukkan bahwa di Indonesia dan Malaysia, EII tidak berpengaruh terhadap kinerja keuangan, sedangkan di GCC EII berpengaruh terhadap kinerja keuangan. Hal ini menggambarkan adanya perbedaan antara Indonesia-Malaysia dan GCC, dimana di Indonesia dan Malaysia, preferensi nasabah tidak fokus pada seberapa luas bank menerapkan identitas etis Islam. Sedangkan di GCC, nasabah menilai penerapan dan pengungkapan identitas etis Islam menjadi pertimbangan dalam menentukan bank syariah. 83 JURNAL PENDIDIKAN AKUNTANSI INDONESIA
... Their power lies in providing a context to convince, encourage, reaffirm, and challenge understandings by placing a particular moral issue in a greater context of "fidelity, integrity, courage, discovery, empathy, fear, anger, and hatred" (Camery-Hoggatt, 2007, 777). Moreover, since Christianity has been one of the strongest religions in the Western world (Kim et al., 2009;Rossouw, 1994), many of its narratives have become familiar for its inhabitants, whether Christians or not. In this article, we turn our attention to some passages from the Epistle of James to read them in the light of entrepreneurial relationships and learn about entrepreneurs' virtues and temptations. ...
Article
The essence of entrepreneurship has to do with a social practice in which multiple stakeholders, interests, and values are in conflict. Entrepreneurs will have to develop certain moral habits to assure the creation of truthful relationships among the different groups of interest involved in the business. In their attempts to perform virtuously this task, temptations often come raising moral questions and dilemmas. In this scenario, the morality embedded in religious writings can be helpful to bring relevant criteria to the current context. This paper aims to reflect on this issue from a dual view: firstly, by bringing to the discussion the theoretical ideas arising around religion-economic relationships from both Christian and economic perspectives; secondly, through the inspiration offered by Christian narratives, such as those included in the Epistle of James.
... Scripture's teachings of love and service to others (Kim et al., 2009). Furthermore, the approach to entrepreneurial activity is a ected by Christian values embedded in a faith-based family business and impacts its organizational practice of stewardship (Carradus et al., 2019). ...
Chapter
This Handbook presents what world and regional religions teach about economic morality. It also compares the major religions, especially the Abrahamic faiths, in their positions on various social, business, and policy themes, such as feminism, competition, and the ecology, among others. The concluding chapter is an analytical synthesis that presents and explains the patterns that emerge from the various religions in this Handbook. Readers will find a remarkable convergence in religions’ teachings on economic morality, despite their wide differences in dogma, ecclesial structures, and social practices. This confluence can be traced to similarities in the underlying anthropologies and cosmologies of these faiths. Readers will also discover that these religions’ economic teachings are the antithesis of contemporary market ethos, policy, and praxis. This Handbook underscores a symbiosis between religion and economic life as they mutually enrich each other. On the one hand, religion improves the efficiency and efficacy of economic life by lowering the frictional and monitoring costs of market operations. Virtuous market participants internalize norms of good economic conduct and behave accordingly. On the other hand, socio-economic life offers manifold enticements, comforts, and overindulgences that paradoxically push devout adherents to invest themselves even further in their beliefs. Socio-economic life provides an opportunity for religions to build strong faith communities and for believers to reify their religion in their economic conduct. This Handbook presents the richness, nuances, and rationale of religions and their economic ethics based on their vision of a natural and divine order. It shows that they share far more in common than whatever divides them, at least when it comes to economic morality.
Chapter
Many in religious and secular organizations have been confronted with succession. Succession and succession planning is defined as a proactive process that leadership engages in to properly train and equip potential successors to fulfill a position before replacing leadership (Atwood, C. G., in Succession planning basics (2nd ed.). ATD Press, 2020). From a Biblical perspective, an excellent example of succession can be found in the relationship between Jesus and His disciples.
Chapter
Full-text available
This chapter focuses on El Buen Pastor's family business (The Good Shepherd), which harvests and commercializes specialty coffee. The family business is located in the central region of Honduras, Central America. The firm has begun exporting its coffee-to-coffee trading companies in the U.S. Firm leaders wanted to integrate principles of the Christian faith into developing their business. The development of the case allows readers to consider an approach to integrating faith through entrepreneurial stewardship and entrepreneurial mindset in aspects such as branding strategy and diversification. This case addresses two fundamental questions: How can a young family firm integrate a Christian perspective into its growth and development? How can such integration enhance its diversification strategy?
Article
In this article, the authors describe the need and the search to date for a normative moral foundation for marketing. Social contract theory appears promising because of its clear correspondence to the exchange relationships central to marketing thought and practice. The authors introduce it in a specific formulation known as Integrative Social Contracts Theory (ISCT). This theory provides a coherent framework for resolving ethical issues that arise among different communities and is therefore particularly appropriate because marketers frequently engage in boundary-spanning relationships and cross-cultural activities. The authors explore the application of ISCT to ethical decision making in marketing through the use of bribery as a major illustrative example. They discuss implications for managers and researchers.
Article
This article addresses a significant gap in the theoretical literature on marketing ethics. This gap results from the lack of an integrated framework which clarifies and synthesizes the multiple variables that explain how marketers make ethical/unethical decisions. A contingency framework is recommended as a starting point for the development of a theory of ethical/unethical actions in organizational environments. This model demonstrates how previous research can be integrated to reveal that ethical/unethical decisions are moderated by individual factors, significant others within the organizational setting, and opportunity for action.
Article
This article addresses a significant gap in the theoretical literature on marketing ethics. This gap results from the lack of an integrated framework which clarifies and synthesizes the multiple variables that explain how marketers make ethical/unethical decisions. A contingency framework is recommended as a starting point for the development of a theory of ethical/unethical actions in organizational environments. This model demonstrates how previous research can be integrated to reveal that ethical/unethical decisions are moderated by individual factors, significant others within the organizational setting, and opportunity for action.
Article
Claims that religion can influence ethical behavior in business are plausible to many people but problematic in light of existing research. Our analysis indicates that religious role expectations, internalized as a religious self-identity, can influence ethical behavior. However, relationships of religious role expectations to behavior are moderated by religious identity salience and religious motivational orientation. We conclude by discussing the influence of organizational context on religious identity salience and the need for innovative and interdisciplinary empirical research on religion and ethical behavior in organizations.