Religious belief, corporate leadership, and business ethics

American Business Law Journal

Volumn 33, Issue 3, 1996, Pages 451-472

  Fort, Timothy L ^a  

^a NONE

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EID: 21344461390     PISSN: 00027766     EISSN: None     Source Type: Journal    
DOI: 10.1111/j.1744-1714.1996.tb00896.x     Document Type: Article

References (108)

1. See Timothy L. Fort, The Dialectic of Business Ethics (1995) (unpublished Ph.D. dissertation, Northwestern University). The dissertation addresses the subject of this article more comprehensively and includes some of the material used herein See also Timothy L. Fort, Religion and Business Ethics: The Lessons From Political Morality, J. BUS. ETHICS (forthcoming 1996) (manuscript on file with author). This article confronts this issue from a more historical perspective.
2. See Timothy L. Fort, The Dialectic of Business Ethics (1995) (unpublished Ph.D. dissertation, Northwestern University). The dissertation addresses the subject of this article more comprehensively and includes some of the material used herein See also Timothy L. Fort, Religion and Business Ethics: The Lessons From Political Morality, J. BUS. ETHICS (forthcoming 1996) (manuscript on file with author). This article confronts this issue from a more historical perspective.
3. See, e.g., THOMAS DONALDSON, CORPORATIONS & MORALITY (1984); R. EDWARD FREEMAN STRATEGIC MANAGEMENT: A STAKEHOLDER APPROACH (1984); ROBERT SOLOMON, ETHICS AND EXCELLENCE: COOPERATION AND INTEGRITY IN BUSINESS (1993); PATRICIA WERHANE, PERSONS, RIGHTS & CORPORATIONS (1985); Thomas Donaldson & Thomas Dunfee, Toward a Unified Conception of Business Ethics Integrated Social Contract Theory, 19 ACAD. MGMT. REV. 252 (1994).
4. See, e.g., THOMAS DONALDSON, CORPORATIONS & MORALITY (1984); R. EDWARD FREEMAN STRATEGIC MANAGEMENT: A STAKEHOLDER APPROACH (1984); ROBERT SOLOMON, ETHICS AND EXCELLENCE: COOPERATION AND INTEGRITY IN BUSINESS (1993); PATRICIA WERHANE, PERSONS, RIGHTS & CORPORATIONS (1985); Thomas Donaldson & Thomas Dunfee, Toward a Unified Conception of Business Ethics Integrated Social Contract Theory, 19 ACAD. MGMT. REV. 252 (1994).
5. See, e.g., THOMAS DONALDSON, CORPORATIONS & MORALITY (1984); R. EDWARD FREEMAN STRATEGIC MANAGEMENT: A STAKEHOLDER APPROACH (1984); ROBERT SOLOMON, ETHICS AND EXCELLENCE: COOPERATION AND INTEGRITY IN BUSINESS (1993); PATRICIA WERHANE, PERSONS, RIGHTS & CORPORATIONS (1985); Thomas Donaldson & Thomas Dunfee, Toward a Unified Conception of Business Ethics Integrated Social Contract Theory, 19 ACAD. MGMT. REV. 252 (1994).
6. See, e.g., THOMAS DONALDSON, CORPORATIONS & MORALITY (1984); R. EDWARD FREEMAN STRATEGIC MANAGEMENT: A STAKEHOLDER APPROACH (1984); ROBERT SOLOMON, ETHICS AND EXCELLENCE: COOPERATION AND INTEGRITY IN BUSINESS (1993); PATRICIA WERHANE, PERSONS, RIGHTS & CORPORATIONS (1985); Thomas Donaldson & Thomas Dunfee, Toward a Unified Conception of Business Ethics Integrated Social Contract Theory, 19 ACAD. MGMT. REV. 252 (1994).
7. See, e.g., THOMAS DONALDSON, CORPORATIONS & MORALITY (1984); R. EDWARD FREEMAN STRATEGIC MANAGEMENT: A STAKEHOLDER APPROACH (1984); ROBERT SOLOMON, ETHICS AND EXCELLENCE: COOPERATION AND INTEGRITY IN BUSINESS (1993); PATRICIA WERHANE, PERSONS, RIGHTS & CORPORATIONS (1985); Thomas Donaldson & Thomas Dunfee, Toward a Unified Conception of Business Ethics Integrated Social Contract Theory, 19 ACAD. MGMT. REV. 252 (1994).
8. LaRue T. Hosmer, Why Be Moral?: A Different Rationale for Managers, 4 BUS. ETHICS Q. 191 (1994).
9. Andrew Stark, What's The Matter With Business Ethics?, 71 HARV. BUS. REV. 38 (May-June 1993).
10. LAURA NASH, BELIEVERS IN BUSINESS: RESOLVING THE TENSIONS BETWEEN CHRISTIAN FAITH, BUSINESS ETHICS, COMPETITION AND OUR DEFINITIONS OF SUCCESS 124 (1994).
11. Id. at 221-39.
12. See, e.g., A VIRTUOUS LIFE IN BUSINESS: STORIES OF COURAGE AND INTEGRITY IN THE CORPORATE WORLD (Oliver Williams & John Houck eds., 1992).
13. Joseph P. Sullivan & Thomas F. McMahon, Faith That Mandates Justice: A Case Study, 28 CHI. STUDIES 3 (1989).
14. Id. at 21-23. Sullivan, for instance, as head of an agribusiness conglomerate, met personally with employees who were let go as part of a restructuring. Although exhausting and perhaps questionable from a perspective of the value of the CEO's time, the approach -combined with extensive advance notice, outplacement assistance, and severance pay-treated the employees as human beings with feelings and dignity.
15. TOM CHAPPELL, THE SOUL OF A BUSINESS: MANAGING FOR PROFIT AND THE COMMON GOOD (1993).
16. ROBERT K. GREENLEAF, SERVANT LEADERSHIP: A JOURNEY INTO THE NATURE OF LEGITIMATE POWER AND GREATNESS (1977).
17. JAMES AUTRY, LOVE AND PROFIT: THE ART OF CARING LEADERSHIP (1991).
18. STEVEN R. COVEY, THE 7 HABITS OF HIGHLY EFFECTIVE PEOPLE: POWERFUL LESSONS IN PERSONAL CHANGE (1989).
19. William Marshall, The Other Side of Religion, 44 HASTINGS L.J. 843, 852-53 (1993).
20. NASH, supra note 5.
21. NASH, supra note 5, at 266.
22. NASH, supra note 5, at 22.
23. NASH, supra note 5, at 76.
24. NASH, supra note 5, at 102.
25. NASH, supra note 5, at 131.
26. NASH, supra note 5, at 149.
27. NASH, supra note 5, at 159.
28. NASH, supra note 5, at 245.
29. NASH, supra note 5, at 159.
30. NASH, supra note 5, at 246.
31. PETER BERGER, THE SACRED CANOPY 135 (1967), reprinted in NASH, supra note 5, at 240.
32. PETER BERGER, THE SACRED CANOPY 135 (1967), reprinted in NASH, supra note 5, at 240.
33. See JOHN RAWLS, POLITICAL LIBERALISM 135 (1993). Rawls argues that many kinds of comprehensive moral positions can sustain the demands of political morality which is why he advocates for a "public reason" arising out of an "overlapping consensus" from among various comprehensive moral positions. Thus, the issue for this paper is not simply one of religion, but for any moral position.
34. See BRUCE ACKERMAN, SOCIAL JUSTICE IN THE LIBERAL STATE (1980) [hereinafter SOCIAL JUSTICE]; STEPHEN L. CARTER, THE CULTURE OF DISBELIEF: HOW AMERICAN LAW AND POLITICS TRIVIALIZE RELIGIOUS DEVOTION (1993); RICHARD J. NEUHAUS, THE NAKED PUBLIC SQUARE: RELIGION AND DEMOCRACY IN AMERICA (1984); MICHAEL J. PERRY, LOVE AND POWER: THE ROLE OF RELIGION AND MORALITY IN AMERICAN POLITICS (1991) [hereinafter LOVE AND POWER]; RAWLS, supra note 27; Larry Alexander Liberalism, Religion and the Unity of Epistemology, 30 SAN DIEGO L. REV. 763 (1993); Richard Jones, Concerning Secularists' Proposed Restrictions of the Role of Religion in American Politics 8 B.Y.U. J. PUB. L 343 (1994); Thomas Nagel, Moral Conflict and Political Legitimacy, 16 PHIL. & PUB. AFFAIRS 215 (1993); Michael J. Perry, Religious Morality and Political Choice: Further Thoughts - and Second Thoughts-on LOVE AND POWER, 30 SAN DIEGO L. REV. 703 (1993) [hereinafter Religious Morality].
35. See BRUCE ACKERMAN, SOCIAL JUSTICE IN THE LIBERAL STATE (1980) [hereinafter SOCIAL JUSTICE]; STEPHEN L. CARTER, THE CULTURE OF DISBELIEF: HOW AMERICAN LAW AND POLITICS TRIVIALIZE RELIGIOUS DEVOTION (1993); RICHARD J. NEUHAUS, THE NAKED PUBLIC SQUARE: RELIGION AND DEMOCRACY IN AMERICA (1984); MICHAEL J. PERRY, LOVE AND POWER: THE ROLE OF RELIGION AND MORALITY IN AMERICAN POLITICS (1991) [hereinafter LOVE AND POWER]; RAWLS, supra note 27; Larry Alexander Liberalism, Religion and the Unity of Epistemology, 30 SAN DIEGO L. REV. 763 (1993); Richard Jones, Concerning Secularists' Proposed Restrictions of the Role of Religion in American Politics 8 B.Y.U. J. PUB. L 343 (1994); Thomas Nagel, Moral Conflict and Political Legitimacy, 16 PHIL. & PUB. AFFAIRS 215 (1993); Michael J. Perry, Religious Morality and Political Choice: Further Thoughts - and Second Thoughts-on LOVE AND POWER, 30 SAN DIEGO L. REV. 703 (1993) [hereinafter Religious Morality].
36. See BRUCE ACKERMAN, SOCIAL JUSTICE IN THE LIBERAL STATE (1980) [hereinafter SOCIAL JUSTICE]; STEPHEN L. CARTER, THE CULTURE OF DISBELIEF: HOW AMERICAN LAW AND POLITICS TRIVIALIZE RELIGIOUS DEVOTION (1993); RICHARD J. NEUHAUS, THE NAKED PUBLIC SQUARE: RELIGION AND DEMOCRACY IN AMERICA (1984); MICHAEL J. PERRY, LOVE AND POWER: THE ROLE OF RELIGION AND MORALITY IN AMERICAN POLITICS (1991) [hereinafter LOVE AND POWER]; RAWLS, supra note 27; Larry Alexander Liberalism, Religion and the Unity of Epistemology, 30 SAN DIEGO L. REV. 763 (1993); Richard Jones, Concerning Secularists' Proposed Restrictions of the Role of Religion in American Politics 8 B.Y.U. J. PUB. L 343 (1994); Thomas Nagel, Moral Conflict and Political Legitimacy, 16 PHIL. & PUB. AFFAIRS 215 (1993); Michael J. Perry, Religious Morality and Political Choice: Further Thoughts - and Second Thoughts-on LOVE AND POWER, 30 SAN DIEGO L. REV. 703 (1993) [hereinafter Religious Morality].
37. See BRUCE ACKERMAN, SOCIAL JUSTICE IN THE LIBERAL STATE (1980) [hereinafter SOCIAL JUSTICE]; STEPHEN L. CARTER, THE CULTURE OF DISBELIEF: HOW AMERICAN LAW AND POLITICS TRIVIALIZE RELIGIOUS DEVOTION (1993); RICHARD J. NEUHAUS, THE NAKED PUBLIC SQUARE: RELIGION AND DEMOCRACY IN AMERICA (1984); MICHAEL J. PERRY, LOVE AND POWER: THE ROLE OF RELIGION AND MORALITY IN AMERICAN POLITICS (1991) [hereinafter LOVE AND POWER]; RAWLS, supra note 27; Larry Alexander Liberalism, Religion and the Unity of Epistemology, 30 SAN DIEGO L. REV. 763 (1993); Richard Jones, Concerning Secularists' Proposed Restrictions of the Role of Religion in American Politics 8 B.Y.U. J. PUB. L 343 (1994); Thomas Nagel, Moral Conflict and Political Legitimacy, 16 PHIL. & PUB. AFFAIRS 215 (1993); Michael J. Perry, Religious Morality and Political Choice: Further Thoughts - and Second Thoughts-on LOVE AND POWER, 30 SAN DIEGO L. REV. 703 (1993) [hereinafter Religious Morality].
38. See BRUCE ACKERMAN, SOCIAL JUSTICE IN THE LIBERAL STATE (1980) [hereinafter SOCIAL JUSTICE]; STEPHEN L. CARTER, THE CULTURE OF DISBELIEF: HOW AMERICAN LAW AND POLITICS TRIVIALIZE RELIGIOUS DEVOTION (1993); RICHARD J. NEUHAUS, THE NAKED PUBLIC SQUARE: RELIGION AND DEMOCRACY IN AMERICA (1984); MICHAEL J. PERRY, LOVE AND POWER: THE ROLE OF RELIGION AND MORALITY IN AMERICAN POLITICS (1991) [hereinafter LOVE AND POWER]; RAWLS, supra note 27; Larry Alexander Liberalism, Religion and the Unity of Epistemology, 30 SAN DIEGO L. REV. 763 (1993); Richard Jones, Concerning Secularists' Proposed Restrictions of the Role of Religion in American Politics 8 B.Y.U. J. PUB. L 343 (1994); Thomas Nagel, Moral Conflict and Political Legitimacy, 16 PHIL. & PUB. AFFAIRS 215 (1993); Michael J. Perry, Religious Morality and Political Choice: Further Thoughts - and Second Thoughts-on LOVE AND POWER, 30 SAN DIEGO L. REV. 703 (1993) [hereinafter Religious Morality].
39. See BRUCE ACKERMAN, SOCIAL JUSTICE IN THE LIBERAL STATE (1980) [hereinafter SOCIAL JUSTICE]; STEPHEN L. CARTER, THE CULTURE OF DISBELIEF: HOW AMERICAN LAW AND POLITICS TRIVIALIZE RELIGIOUS DEVOTION (1993); RICHARD J. NEUHAUS, THE NAKED PUBLIC SQUARE: RELIGION AND DEMOCRACY IN AMERICA (1984); MICHAEL J. PERRY, LOVE AND POWER: THE ROLE OF RELIGION AND MORALITY IN AMERICAN POLITICS (1991) [hereinafter LOVE AND POWER]; RAWLS, supra note 27; Larry Alexander Liberalism, Religion and the Unity of Epistemology, 30 SAN DIEGO L. REV. 763 (1993); Richard Jones, Concerning Secularists' Proposed Restrictions of the Role of Religion in American Politics 8 B.Y.U. J. PUB. L 343 (1994); Thomas Nagel, Moral Conflict and Political Legitimacy, 16 PHIL. & PUB. AFFAIRS 215 (1993); Michael J. Perry, Religious Morality and Political Choice: Further Thoughts - and Second Thoughts-on LOVE AND POWER, 30 SAN DIEGO L. REV. 703 (1993) [hereinafter Religious Morality].
40. See BRUCE ACKERMAN, SOCIAL JUSTICE IN THE LIBERAL STATE (1980) [hereinafter SOCIAL JUSTICE]; STEPHEN L. CARTER, THE CULTURE OF DISBELIEF: HOW AMERICAN LAW AND POLITICS TRIVIALIZE RELIGIOUS DEVOTION (1993); RICHARD J. NEUHAUS, THE NAKED PUBLIC SQUARE: RELIGION AND DEMOCRACY IN AMERICA (1984); MICHAEL J. PERRY, LOVE AND POWER: THE ROLE OF RELIGION AND MORALITY IN AMERICAN POLITICS (1991) [hereinafter LOVE AND POWER]; RAWLS, supra note 27; Larry Alexander Liberalism, Religion and the Unity of Epistemology, 30 SAN DIEGO L. REV. 763 (1993); Richard Jones, Concerning Secularists' Proposed Restrictions of the Role of Religion in American Politics 8 B.Y.U. J. PUB. L 343 (1994); Thomas Nagel, Moral Conflict and Political Legitimacy, 16 PHIL. & PUB. AFFAIRS 215 (1993); Michael J. Perry, Religious Morality and Political Choice: Further Thoughts - and Second Thoughts-on LOVE AND POWER, 30 SAN DIEGO L. REV. 703 (1993) [hereinafter Religious Morality].
41. See BRUCE ACKERMAN, SOCIAL JUSTICE IN THE LIBERAL STATE (1980) [hereinafter SOCIAL JUSTICE]; STEPHEN L. CARTER, THE CULTURE OF DISBELIEF: HOW AMERICAN LAW AND POLITICS TRIVIALIZE RELIGIOUS DEVOTION (1993); RICHARD J. NEUHAUS, THE NAKED PUBLIC SQUARE: RELIGION AND DEMOCRACY IN AMERICA (1984); MICHAEL J. PERRY, LOVE AND POWER: THE ROLE OF RELIGION AND MORALITY IN AMERICAN POLITICS (1991) [hereinafter LOVE AND POWER]; RAWLS, supra note 27; Larry Alexander Liberalism, Religion and the Unity of Epistemology, 30 SAN DIEGO L. REV. 763 (1993); Richard Jones, Concerning Secularists' Proposed Restrictions of the Role of Religion in American Politics 8 B.Y.U. J. PUB. L 343 (1994); Thomas Nagel, Moral Conflict and Political Legitimacy, 16 PHIL. & PUB. AFFAIRS 215 (1993); Michael J. Perry, Religious Morality and Political Choice: Further Thoughts - and Second Thoughts-on LOVE AND POWER, 30 SAN DIEGO L. REV. 703 (1993) [hereinafter Religious Morality].
42. See BRUCE ACKERMAN, SOCIAL JUSTICE IN THE LIBERAL STATE (1980) [hereinafter SOCIAL JUSTICE]; STEPHEN L. CARTER, THE CULTURE OF DISBELIEF: HOW AMERICAN LAW AND POLITICS TRIVIALIZE RELIGIOUS DEVOTION (1993); RICHARD J. NEUHAUS, THE NAKED PUBLIC SQUARE: RELIGION AND DEMOCRACY IN AMERICA (1984); MICHAEL J. PERRY, LOVE AND POWER: THE ROLE OF RELIGION AND MORALITY IN AMERICAN POLITICS (1991) [hereinafter LOVE AND POWER]; RAWLS, supra note 27; Larry Alexander Liberalism, Religion and the Unity of Epistemology, 30 SAN DIEGO L. REV. 763 (1993); Richard Jones, Concerning Secularists' Proposed Restrictions of the Role of Religion in American Politics 8 B.Y.U. J. PUB. L 343 (1994); Thomas Nagel, Moral Conflict and Political Legitimacy, 16 PHIL. & PUB. AFFAIRS 215 (1993); Michael J. Perry, Religious Morality and Political Choice: Further Thoughts- and Second Thoughts-on LOVE AND POWER, 30 SAN DIEGO L. REV. 703 (1993) [hereinafter Religious Morality].
43. KENT GREENAWALT, PRIVATE CONSCIENCES AND PUBLIC REASONS (1995).
44. See, e.g., Meltebeke v. Bureau of Labor and Indus., 852 P. 2d 859 (Or. App. 1993).
45. See, e.g., EEOC v. Townley Eng'g & Mfg. Co., 859 F.2d 610 (9th Cir. 1988), cert. denied, 489 U.S. 1077 (1989).
46. NASH, supra note 5, at 102.
47. While an interesting and important area of study, the First Amendment implications of religious speech and conduct in the workplace are important Constitutional issues More often, this has been manifested in questions where an employee has asked for protection of First Amendment unemployment compensation claims such as Frazee v. Employment Sec. Dep't, 489 U.S. 829 (1989); Hobbie v. Employment Appeals Comm'n of Florida, 480 U.S. 136 (1987); Sherbert v. Verner, 374 U.S. 398 (1963).
48. Nagel, supra note 28, at 232.
49. Bruce Ackerman, Why Dialogue?, 86 J. PHIL. 5-22 (1980).
50. PERRY, LOVE AND POWER, supra note 28, at 13.
51. Alexander, supra note 28.
52. CARTER, supra note 28, at 241; Jones, supra note 28, at 346.
53. GREENAWALT, supra note 29.
54. Perry, Religious Morality, supra note 28, at 23.
55. Perry, Religious Morality, supra note 28, at 23.
56. Perry, Religious Morality, supra note 28, at 23.
57. Perry, Religious Morality, supra note 28, at 18.
58. The heart of Greenawalt's argument (as well as the other theorists presented herein) is about politics. My position in such debates would be similar to what am arguing for in the context of business. As Greenawalt does specifically include business persons in his list of public persons who should exercise restraint in using religious belief to justify a moral position, business does become a relevant topic for critical reflection and a test case for understanding the legitimacy of the distinction Greenwalt and others make.
59. GREENAWALT, supra note 29, at 4. Specifically Greenawalt sketches seven possible answers to his question: 1) Citizens may rely upon whatever beliefs that are personally meaningful; 2) Citizens may only rely upon common, nonreligious grounds; 3 Citizens may rely upon any beliefs if they are ordinary citizens but not if they are officials; 4) Citizens may rely upon religious beliefs to reach a political decision, but not employ them in political discussions; 5) Citizens may rely upon religious beliefs for some political subjects, but not others; 6) Citizens may rely upon some kinds of religious beliefs, but not others; and 7) Citizens may rely upon a combination of these options. GREENAWALT, supra note 29, at 4.
60. GREENAWALT, supra note 29, at 180.
61. GREENAWALT, supra note 29, at 180.
62. GREENAWALT, supra note 29, at 139, 163.
63. GREENAWALT, supra, note 29, at 70.
64. GREENAWALT, supra note 29, at 45-46.
65. GREENAWALT, supra note 29, at 45-46.
66. GREENAWALT, supra note 29, at 45-46.
67. GREENAWALT, supra note 29, at 129.
68. Nagel, supra note 28, at 12.
69. Nagel, supra note 28, at 232.
70. Perry, Religious Morality, supra note 28, at 12.
71. Perry, Religious Morality, supra note 28, at 12.
72. ACKERMAN, SOCIAL JUSTICE, supra note 28, at 195.
73. ACKERMAN, SOCIAL JUSTICE, supra note 28, at 11.
74. GREENAWALT, supra note 29, at 24.
75. GREENAWALT, supra note 29, at 25.
76. GREENAWALT, supra note 29, at 27.
77. GREENAWALT, supra note 29, at 27.
78. GREENAWALT, supra note 29, at 28.
79. GREENAWALT, supra note 29, at 28.
80. HILLARY PUTNAM, THE MANY FACES OF REALISM 45 (1985), noted in GREENAWALT, supra note 29, at 28-29.
81. GREENAWALT, supra note 29, at 29.
82. Jurgen Habermas, A Review of Gadamer's 'Truth and Method,' in THE HERMENEUTIC TRADITION: FRAM AST TO RICOUER 239 (Gayle L. Ormiston & Alan D. Schrift eds., 1990).
83. GREENAWALT, supra note 29, at 31.
84. GREENAWALT, supra note 29, at 31.
85. GREENAWALT, supra note 29, at 32.
86. GREENAWALT, supra note 29, at 32.
87. GREENAWALT, supra note 29, at 32.
88. GREENAWALT, supra note 29, at 32.
89. GREENAWALT, supra note 29, at 32.
90. GREENAWALT, supra note 29, at 69-70.
91. Marshall, supra note 14, at 847.
92. Marshall, supra note 14, at 851.
93. Marshall, supra note 14, at 852-59.
94. Marshall, supra note 14, at 858.
95. Marshall, supra note 14, at 860-63.
96. GREENAWALT, supra note 29, at 70.
97. GREENAWALT, supra note 29, at 70.
98. GREENAWALT, supra note 29, at 58.
99. GREENAWALT, supra note 29, at 58.
100. GREENAWALT, supra note 29, at 58.
101. GREENAWALT, supra note 29, at 129.
102. GREENAWALT, supra note 29, at 67.
103. GREENAWALT, supra note 29, at 67.
104. GREENAWALT, supra note 29, at 168.
105. This is true of all business ethics theories.
106. Cass Sunstein, Beyond the Republican Revival, 97 YALE L.J. 1539, 1567 (1988).
107. Jones, supra note 28, at 346.
108. GREENAWALT, supra note 29, at 152.