Business organizations should not be afraid of allowing religion into CSR, says David Miller
Many in the corporate world would rather not bring religion into the
boardroom. Fair enough, especially if the purpose is to misuse religion
for selfish or inappropriate purposes. But if advocates of CSR are
interested in finding new allies in the quest to encourage businesses
to become more responsible, they should think anew about the role of
faith in the workplace.
There are many reasons that leaders interested in CSR might reconsider
the role of faith and business. First, if we look at the five main
religious traditions and their offshoots (the three Abrahamic faiths of
Judaism, Christianity and Islam, and Hinduism and Buddhism), we quickly
discover that each of these traditions and their holy teachings are
very interested in the material world and how one takes care of it.
Advocates of CSR might be pleasantly surprised to find that, for
example, classic Jewish and Christian teachings encourage a responsible
tending of the garden (environmentalism), the decent treatment of
workers (human rights) and attention to the nature and purpose of work
(goals other than maximization of shareholder returns).
Second, many adherents of these great traditions ground their ethics
– their understanding of right and wrong, good and evil, and
beauty and falsehood – and their sense of life purpose in the teachings
of their faith. If much of CSR is about going beyond the customs and
dynamics of the marketplace, might not faith be a resource to help
business leaders and organizations think afresh about their duties to
the broader community in which they live and work?
Finally, faith brings a different kind of vision. When one accepts the
existence of a transcendent being or higher power, the result is that
believers see the world differently. One sees beyond the immediate
problem or pressure to meet quarterly returns. One’s sense of time is
much more long term, thinking of the eternal value of one’s work and
how one does it. God is interested in what we do and how we do it; God
values us doing creative, excellent work. But surely God is also
interested in more than just earnings per share.
Of course, intentionally engaging the resources of faith to help
business consider its wider responsibilities also brings certain risks
that too often seem to accompany religion, not least the historic
friction between different traditions. But as I continue to study and
conduct research into these questions, I conclude that faith is indeed
a valuable force that ought to be recognized as a legitimate resource
for business leaders to draw upon. And while not without its
challenges, there are appropriate and respectful ways to draw on one’s
religion in a pluralistic marketplace. Authentic faith might be
precisely the new dimension needed for tomorrow’s global corporate
leaders to succeed responsibly.
David Miller is executive director of
the Yale Center for Faith & Culture. A former business executive,
he is author of God at Work: the history and promise of the faith at
work movement (Oxford University Press, 2007).
