New hope--and new light--for the corporate world

By Amy Uelmen

An interdisciplinary interfaith conference at Fordham University in New York explores the role of religious values in corporate decision-making and the proposal of the Economy of Communion

The Economy of Communion’s Contribution to Economic Theory

After a brief introduction on the origins and principles of the Economy of Communion, Luigino Bruni, Professor of Economics at the University of Milan-Bicocca, drew out some of the project’s contributions to economic theory. Because it has emerged based on spirituality, he explained, experience is prior to the theory: “It’s not that we write first and then apply the principles to life; as scholars we are listening to what is going on in practice.”

He acknowledged how difficult it may be for economists who work within the framework of contemporary economics to grasp its novelty, for their “methodological and theoretical tools” may not be able to explain “an experience based on a community and relationality.” But from the analysis presented, he already seems to have made quite a bit of headway.

For example, as an economic historian he has been able to recover the early aspiration of economic theory to explore “public happiness”—public by definition. “You can be rich alone, but if you would like to be happy—Professor Bruni explained—there must be at least two people; happiness is relational.”

Similarly, he sees much promise in recovering the public dimensions of what it means to be an “entrepreneur.” As Italian Maffeo Pantaleoni and American Thorstein Veblen explained in the early twentieth century, there is a marked difference between the speculator, whose exclusive goal is profits, the entrepreneur, a “person with a project” who gives intrinsic rather than simply instrumental value to economic activity.

Finally, Professor Bruni proposed that economic theory be fleshed out with a robust principle of sincere “gratuity”—the capacity to act “not for instrumental reasons but because it is good in itself.” He opined that this theory may actually work better than instrumental market-based incentive schemes.

From the positive and hopeful reaction of the conference participants, it was clear that the Economy of Communion, an experience based on trust and genuine personal relationships, can provide rich and fertile ground for further reflection on the contribution and challenge it poses for current economic theories and models. —A. U.

For background on the Economy of Communion, see the recently published collection of essays, The Economy of Communion: Toward a Multi-Dimensional Economic Culture (L. Bruni, ed., New City Press, 2002) available online.

Even a glance at the headlines lately would reveal that it has been a rough few years for “corporate America.” As the woes of Enron, Tyco, WorldCom and Martha Stewart have flashed across our television screens, who hasn’t mused that honesty and integrity seem pretty hard to come by in the business world?

Less noticed in the press, but perhaps just as important, are promising seeds of hope. Some of these projects are not so much a bandage to cover over ugly wounds in the midst of a crisis, but deeper and more consistent efforts to construct positive models for business life. In this light, it is not surprising to see that business professionals are increasingly considering a number of creative resources that might help sustain their commitment to professional integrity and social responsibility—among them religious values.

It was in this spirit that lawyers, corporate executives and academics in the fields of management, economics and law gathered recently at Fordham University in New York City for a conference on Religious Values and Corporate Decision-Making. The event was sponsored by Fordham’s Institute on Religion, Law & Lawyer’s Work, which holds an annual conference to explore how religious values might permeate a particular area of the legal practice.

Discussions did not shy away from some of the more difficult questions. As Mark Sargent, Dean of Villanova Law School, explained, “there should be a place for people to incorporate religious values into corporation decision-making, but as an empirical matter there is very little room.” Others were especially cautious because they saw that the effort to draw on religious values could become a source of conflict.
But in their discussion of particular problems, many of the panelists were clear that it would be impossible for them to wall off their personal values. As Joseph Geoghan, Esq., former General Counsel of Union Carbide Corp., explained, “I strongly believe in the maxim that there is no rule of separation whatsoever between the principle that I apply in my personal life as a Roman Catholic and those applied in my business career. The norms and standards I would apply [to the case at hand] would be influenced by the social justice teachings of the Church, beginning with the primacy of labor over capital.”

Similarly Talat Ansari, Esq., a partner in the law firm of Kelley, Drye & Warren, who has had extensive experience in counseling large corporations, explained that because “Islam was brought to this world by a person who before achieving his status as a prophet was also a trader, in addition to universal ethical norms, Islam also contains certain norms of business which have to be kept in mind and followed when any believer engages in business.” For example, Islam includes specific guidance on adherence to contracts, fair treatment of workers, as well as prohibitions against false advertising, misrepresentation, hoarding and profiteering.

Perhaps one of the most compelling arguments for the role of religious values in corporate decision-making is that market itself requires such a complex analysis. As Stefano Zamagni, Professor of Economics from the University of Bologna, Italy, explained in his keynote, recent theories have moved away from the idea of “consumer as customer,” who utilizes purchasing power to maximize utility, toward a model of the “consumer as citizen,” who “also wants to express his feeling about the way the menu of commodities is produced and the way commodities are sold.” For example, “if I happen to know that a shoe or a balloon is produced in a country where human rights are severely violated, I might object to buying that commodity even though the price and the quality of the commodity are good.” Through this lens, moral and religious values are not so much a constraint on bad behavior but more of a preference which should be accounted for in the market.

The afternoon panels devoted to exposition and discussion of “viable pilot projects” illustrated how religious values can inform and enrich corporate decision-making, and confirmed Professor Zamagni’s insight that the idea of “consumers as citizens” is indeed alive and well in many of the projects which aim to express and increase corporate social responsibility (see boxes).

In the final discussion, the word that most frequently emerged was “dialogue.” Participants expressed the desire for further opportunities for a rich exchange between different faith traditions and academic disciplines. And as one participant put it, in the efforts to “change minds and hearts,” a dialogue which sees “as persons” not only those affected by the actions of large business, but also the people who work in corporations, had caught their imagination and inspired hope for positive change.

Amy Uelmen is the Director of the Institute on Religion, Law & Lawyer’s Work at Fordham University School of Law

The papers and proceedings from the February 2004 Conference on Religious Values & Corporate Decision-Making will be published in Fall 2004 in the Fordham Journal of Corporate and Financial Law.