What can business and religion learn from each other

Religion is the opium of the masses- Karl Marx

This article is not about a particular religion. It is also not about how religion is a business. It is about the parallels I was able to draw between the two value systems and a reflection on my learnings.

I recently came across a book called ‘Church on Sunday, Work on Monday: The Challenge of Fusing Christian Values with Business Life’. In this book, the authors argue that in both business and religion, there are some hard decisions that have to be made and the underlying fundamentals that can guide such decision making are more similar than different. The three themes that the authors explore are problem identification, morality and globalization. I’ll borrow these themes and expand on them below.

Business is made up of many relationships and actions that represent every human emotion possible and every human motivation — Laura Nash

Problem and Value Identification

When we think of religion, we often consider the existence of god or a supernatural power that’s higher and beyond our control. This behaviour has often been viewed by some academics to be immune to the rationality. Regardless, people use economic resources to practice their religion and that, to economists and society, is important.

Religion, then, is more than just a value system. It is an economic behaviour that can help us understand that the range of choices individuals make and understanding these choices can help businesses define problems that are often complex. Instead of disregarding religion, businesses can use religious congregations to better understand community building. Religion can also remind business that maximizing profits alone will not ensure their survival and that creating value, the impact of which can be tangibly realized, is essential.

On the other hand, religion can learn from businesses to recognize that the responsibility of management is something that can be addressed, rather than swept under the carpet.

Morality

Morality concerns both value systems. While the utility of religion could be argued to be maximizing afterlife benefits or the benefits of networking and socialization that come from physically or emotionally being attached to a group, it is not very different from that businesses strive towards maximizing.

Beyond profits and returns to its shareholders, businesses care about legacy, the livelihood of its employees, and for the one’s which are too big to fail, the continued existence of the market and the economic system they are an integral part of. As such, the morality that guides both systems overlap. The restrictions that religions sometime pose on its followers can remind businesses of its limitations.

“Capitalism looks like it has won the day, but if it suffers from some kind of moral bankruptcy, it isn’t going to last”- Scotty McLennan

Globalization

Laura Nash says that there now is an awareness that if you are in any kind of a global corporation, you’ll be dealing with multiple religious world views somewhere under the surface. A lot of times they’re very obvious, but a lot of times they’re just slightly under the surface. And there’s a kind of humility in the face of “Gosh, I don’t know anything about Islam, I don’t know anything about Buddhism, what is religious conflict in India going to have to do with my factory?” There’s a lot of curiosity to know this foundational religious information better than we have in the past and that makes recognizing the place of religion in society important for businesses.

Karsten Aichholz, an entrepreneur, shared his experience running a software company in South East Asia. He said “It comes with its own challenges, especially when it comes to religion. Whether it’s prayer breaks for Muslim employees, custom holiday requests, blessing of office locations by local monks or re-using holiday decorations for a total of three new years every year (Western, Chinese and Thai), you want to take everyone’s requests and beliefs into account while at the same time making sure there is no preferential treatment either. It can be a source of light-hearted worries if certain rituals require attendance of a specific number of people of a specific religion and gender — not uncommon in a primary Buddhist country — and you are struggling to find the necessary employees.”