Believing at Work : modeling the interplay of religious faith and business

Abstract

Believing at Work asks what difference religious faith makes in business. It suggests that professionals who infuse their work with transcendent, religious purposes may experience a shift in their mental models, which can become a marketplace advantage. This shift moves individuals from being internally focused on pursuing happiness to being externally, other-focused, driven to improve the world. In business terms, this translates to a shift from profit-centrism to Corporate Social Responsibility. While some modern theorists maintain that business' only responsibility is to maximize shareholder value, this is increasingly a minority view. In the modern, global economy, decisions by individuals and firms are widely recognized to have deep impacts the world over-not only on shareholder value, but on the environment, and on human rights. In this context, firms are finding that Corporate Social Responsibility is not only politically expedient, but strategically necessary. To effectively make this shift, firms must become more externally focused, recognizing and acting upon their potential to impact the world for good or ill.

(cont.) As this same external focus is fundamental to many of the world's religions, this thesis argues that those who are grounded in such values can realize marketplace advantage over their secular peers. To develop this argument, we begin with a survey of modern business literature. This highlights both the obstacles to integrating religious faith and business, and the range of views for how they can and should (or shouldn't) come together. From there, we search for historical precedent for these views. Anchored in Adam Smith's Theory of Moral Sentiments and Max Weber's Protestant Ethic and the Spirit of Capitalism, we explore the fundamental dynamics driving human behavior in capitalist systems, in addition to the tensions and possible synergies between religious faith and secular work. We then synthesize these concepts in a causal loop diagram, which allows us to suggest the perspectives and behaviors that may manifest when faith-work integration is low, moderate, or high. Finally, we test and refine these hypotheses against experiences of contemporary businesspersons and religious leaders. These allow us to examine and articulate real examples of faith-based marketplace advantage.