Orbital Engine Corporation
Journal of Business Ethics (2009) 90:115–121 DOI 10.1007/s10551-009-0031-2
Ó Springer 2009
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 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 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 Emerson, 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 seemingly intractable ethical problems that plague contemporary 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 spirituality with commerce, a religious
Ó Springer 2009
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 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 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 Emerson, 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 seemingly intractable ethical problems that plague contemporary 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 spirituality with commerce, a religious
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