Ethics and Entrepreneurship

Business Ethics and Entrepreneurship

Here are a couple business ethics guidelines from Darrin Clement (and one from Glen Watson):

Business typically calculates results as Strategy x Execution, but there is a Trust Multiplier that is an important factor in long term success:

(Strategy x Execution) x Trust = Results

Here is Darrin’s 10-Point Ethics Checklist, I hope you enjoy it!

1. The Golden Rule: Would I want people to do this to me?
2. The Fairness Test: Who might be affected and how? Is this fair to everyone?
3. The ‘What if everybody did this?’ Test: Would I want everyone to do this? Would I want to live in that kind of world?
4. The Truth Test: Does this action represent the whole truth and nothing but the truth?
5. The Parents Test: How would my parents feel if they found out about this? What advice would they give me?
6. The Children Test: Would I be willing to explain everything about this to my kids and expect them to act in the same way?
7. The Religion Test: Does this go against my religion?
8. The Conscience Test: Does this go against my conscience? Will I feel guilty?
9. The Consequences Test: Are there possible consequences of this action that would be bad? Would I regret doing this?
10. The Front Page Test: How would I feel if my action were reported on the front page of my hometown paper?

I think you could probably cut the list to 2 or 3 to make it easier to remember and to execute, but I think they are helpful in creating a more ethical workplace. I worry that the fairness test, while important, is largely silent on the issue of wages or price. It ends up being just (an important) gut check.

Jennifer Lawton of Just books has a very simple code of business ethics:

I’ve always lived by a set of simple morals, bounded by what I believe are the tenets of our country’s ethics. Be honest. Don’t lie. Admit mistakes. Treat people with respect. Be bounded by the ethics of “do unto others&help,” “inalienable rights,” “innocent until proven guilty,” and “free speech.” And I’ve always conducted business that way. Whether public or private, I told the truth.

I find Jennifer’s use of the phrase “our country’s ethics” both a positive as it recognizes a core corpus of norms that (generally) help guide our nation’s business, and it seems odd because ethics isn’t (directly) related to some democratic vote on what the principles of morality are most important.

Interpersonal Christian Conflict Resolution

How Can You Resolve Interpersonal Conflicts in the Home and Workplace?

In Thought

Accept conflict Acknowledge together that conflict is a normal part of our life in the church. Romans 14:1-8, Romans 14:10- 12, Romans 14:17-19; Romans 15:1-7

Affirm hope Affirm that as God walks with us in conflict, we can work through to growth. Ephesians 4:15-16

Commit to prayer
Admit our needs and commit ourselves to pray for a mutually satisfactory solution (no prayers for my success or for the other to change but to find a joint way). James 5:16

In Action
Go to the other: Go directly to those with whom we disagree; avoid behind-the-back criticism.* Matthew 5:23-24; Matthew 18:15-20 …in the spirit of humility

Go in gentleness, patience and humility. Place the problem between us at neither doorstep and own our part in the conflict instead of pointing out the others’. Galatians 6:1-5

Be quick to listen
Listen carefully, summarize and check out what is heard before responding. Seek as much to understand as to be understood. James 1:19; Proverbs 18:13

Be slow to judge
Suspend judgments, avoid labeling, end name calling, discard threats and act in a nondefensive, nonreactive way. Romans 2:1-4; Galatians 5:22-26

Be willing to negotiate
Work through the disagreements constructively. Acts 15; Philippians 2:1-11

• Identify issues, interests, and needs of both (rather than take positions).
• Generate a variety of options for meeting both parties’ needs (rather than defending one’s own way).
• Evaluate options by how they meet the needs and satisfy the interests of all sides (not one side’s values).
• Collaborate in working out a joint solution (so both sides gain, both grow and win).
• Cooperate with the emerging agreement (accept the possible, not demand your ideal).
• Reward each other for each step forward, toward agreement (celebrate mutuality).

In Life
Be steadfast in love Be firm in our commitment to seek a mutual solution; be stubborn in holding to our common foundation in Christ; be steadfast in love. Colossians 3:12-15

Be open to mediation Be open to accept skilled help. If we cannot reach agreement among ourselves, we will use those with gifts and training in mediation in the larger church. Philippians 4:1-3

Trust in the community We will trust the community and if we cannot reach agreement or experience reconciliation, we will turn the decision over to others in the congregation or from the broader church. Acts 15

• In one-to-one or small group disputes, this may mean allowing others to arbitrate.
• In congregational, conference district or denominational disputes, this may mean allowing others to arbitrate or implementing constitutional decision-making processes, insuring that they are done in the spirit of these guidelines, and abiding by whatever decision is made.

Be the Body of Christ
Believe in and rely on the solidarity of the Body of Christ and its commitment to peace and justice, rather than resort to the courts of law. 1 Corinthians 6:1-6

What social obligations does a business have

Defining Business Ethics and Obligations

Corporate social responsibility is increasingly making news headlines. Two rubrics which are popular are the double bottom line and triple bottom line (people, planet, and profit) as rubrics for doing business ethically:

• Fair and Just Wage: Businesses should provide fair wages usually defined as a living wage
• Dignity: Respect human dignity and diversity
• Health and Welfare: Affirm the whole person, including health and family of its workers.
• Honesty: Honesty in all business dealings.
• Do No Harm: Where ever possible, businesses should do no harm to community, environment, or economy.
• Community Commons: Organizations which use the community commons of natural resources arguably have a responsibility to replenish the resources or to otherwise pay back the community.

How are businesses obligated to behave? What obligations to businesses have?

Great Commission Companies focus on Business as Missions

Great Commission Companies focus on Business as Missions

I’m going to include some of my favorite quotes from the book Great Commission Companies by Steve Rundle and Tom Steffen:

Customer Needs First
“There is simply no substitute for identifying a customer first, knowing what his or her needs are, then finding competent manufacturers who can reliably meet the customer’s specifications.”

Aim for the Niche
“Likewise the most promising GCs are those that find niches in which they enjoy certain competitive advantages based on such things as unique managerial talent, brand recognition, efficiency, quality or a hard to replicate technology.”

On Cultural Adaptation
“Those who adapt most successfully tend to have a natural interest in establishing relationships with people from other cultures and exhibit an ability to share the gospel crossculturally as well. Thy are humble and can laugh at their own cultural mistakes. They are willing to adjust their lifestyle so that it does not inhibit their witness, and they treat the difficulties of living in a foreign country as challenges for growth rather than sources of irritation.”

Team Attitudes, Values, and Qualities
“Successful team members come in every shape, size, and personality type. What they do share, however, are passion, persistence, a capacity to learn from mistakes and a willingness to make decisions and take calculated risks…They plan, pray and get advice. Then they act, and they do not obsess over what might have been.”

Who is a Christian? What does it mean to be a Christian? Who is a Christian?

Who is a Christian? What does it mean to be a Christian? Who is a Christian?

These are questions that have perplexed and intrigued Christian scholars and theologians for ages. I’m dramatically under-qualified to be making such definitions, so I thought getting definitions for others would help you in making decisions along your journey about such questions.

I would say a person who loves God and loves others. Demonstrates that love in their life and has been baptized for the remission of sins.

The easiest way to sum that up is looking to the model of Jesus, the Sermon on the Mount, or the Fruits of the Spirit. And to think about those simple but immensely powerful concepts in the context of the book of James which talks about living those concepts out in works.

For more about this issue of Christians and baptism check out Acts 2:38. More definitions and discussion of “what it means to be a Christian” hopefully will be added later.

Join the Conversation: If you agree or disagree with my definition….please leave a message in the comments….Have I omitted something in my definition or perhaps added something that doesn’t belong?

Regulating Free Market Capitalism : What are the ethical checks on corporate corruption

Forbes’s feature Digital Rules has an interesting piece on ethics in business and the role of the political process in regulating business activity. I think it asks some of the same questions a lot of Americans are asking about corporate business ethics and politics given the corruption induced recession we find ourselves in:

How do we get back to the old Adam Smith/Benjamin Franklin idea of free enterprise based on a moral foundation? It won’t be easy, but I think we need to start with these:

–Throw the scoundrels in jail and lock the key. Since America is a land where “all men are created equal,” let’s include scoundrels high and low. Find that woman who bought a $750,000 house with a $14,000 income and make an example of her, along with every liar up the pyramid to the investment bank CEOs who bought and sold and overleveraged these toxic loans.

–Deny Tim Geithner the Treasury Secretary position. He cheated on his taxes. The IRS would report to him. This won’t do.

–Radically simplify the tax code. Pick a number–I say 15%–and have that apply as a rate for every federal tax: income, payroll, corporate, cap gains, dividends, inheritance. In other words, remove the temptation to manipulate and cheat.

–Don’t ban political fundraising and lobbying, but make its influence transparent and immediate. If, say, the chairman of the House Financial Services committee has a lover at Fannie Mae trying to relax lending standards, let’s know about it.

America’s Founding Fathers came of age at a time when the secular values of the Enlightenment were in ascendance against a backdrop of religious tradition. The founders themselves ranged from Christians to agnostics, but their center of gravity was a deism that accepted the duality of human nature. Men are devine. Men are animals. The best government is one that encourages man’s divine side and mitigates the damage from the animal side.

An important issue given the inauguration of Barack Obama. Click here for and analysis of the historical significance of the inauguration of Barack

What is a Christian Tentmaker | Christian Business Ethics

Business as Mission and Christian Business Ethics

A resource from Tentmaker highlights:

The apostle Paul carried on his trade as a tentmaker (Acts 18:3) on some of his missionary journeys. Many people since have followed his example, taking their businesses and professions to other cultures and continents. Thus the word “Tentmaker” has passed into Christian vocabulary.

A tentmaker, simply put, is a disciple of Jesus Christ who is called by God to a cross-cultural ministry using marketable skills and services. It is recognized as a valid and important aspect of world mission and is, in no sense, inferior to any other type of service.

Not too many people are actually sewing tents together as part of missions strategy today, but there are some who have set up small craft businesses. Those who go overseas today are more likely to be teachers of English, administrators, business people, bankers, water engineers, medical professionals, mechanics, students in overseas universities or secretaries. Their jobs may be offered by companies, Governments or international aid organizations and arranged before they leave their home.

The whitepaper continues:

Paul provides us with a good model. His primary motive as an apostle was to preach the Gospel, whether in a lecture hall, matted living room or smelly backstreet. But his workbench was also a “platform”, as he was able to demonstrate his faith through hard work, integrity and business ethics. At the same time he could avoid being a financial burden on the infant churches. (Acts 20: 32-35; 1 Thess 2:9; 2 Thess 3: 6-10).

Continue reading this document on Tentmakers, their missional role in the world, and concluding pages contain a great checklist for the qualities of that make great tentmakers. You can also choose to find Christian tentmaker resources on Google or my recent post on Kingdom business principles and Christian business ethics or my resource on what does it mean to be a Christian. Enjoy!

What is your favorite Christian tentmaker example, model, or resource?

What is a kingdom professional? | Christian ethics in business

What does it mean to be a Christian in the marketplace?

This is increasingly a question that should be at the forefront of our daily walks. Gary Ginter highlights what a Kingdom professional is:

Kingdom Professionals do not define success in terms of money, job or status. They do not seek to maximize their income or their security or their status or to advance their careers. Instead they seek to maximize their impact on the people and places to which God has called them. They measure success by their contribution to what God is up to in their neck of His woods. They see themselves as successful to the extent they are doing what God has called them to do, in the place to which He has led them, in such a manner that their giftedness can be well utilized.

Nothing less will suffice; not the shallowness of status, not the ephemeral illusions of wealth, not the corrosive effects of power. What matters to Kingdom professionals is that there is congruence between their daily lives and the further in-breaking of God’s Kingdom where they live and work. They measure success one day at a time. They see success as always being mediated by the occasion presented by the person immediately in front of them. For Kingdom Professionals, that person right now is their neighbor, the one for whom they hold some responsibility. They may be the only fragrance of Christ that person encounters that day.

To the Kingdom Professional, therefore, the moments of life are sacred. Happenstance meetings aren’t that. Instead, they are God-designed, Spirit-graced moments to relate who they are and what God has enabled them to learn. They are about their Father’s business 24 x 7. They’re not driven; they are called. They’re not fearless; they are faithful. They’re not gentle; they are terrors to the watching demons. They may not be pretty, but they are most certainly beautiful. At least their feet are, for Isaiah wrote, “How beautiful on the mountains are the feet of those who bring good news.”

Ginter works for Paraclete, a Christian business consulting firm. Here are the Paraclete project partners.

Business as Missions: An Economic and Missions Viability Checklist

I’ve included the checklist for Business as Missions as included in the book Great Commission Companies. Great Commission Companies is also available for free on Google books.

Typical Great Commission Company startup process:

• Evaluate the business opportunity
• Evaluate the mission opportunity
• Assemble a management team
• Build an advisory network
• Develop a business plan
• Develop a Great Commission plan

I think I would add four other sections as a business starts up:

• Launch
• Secure funding and/or business
• Get print and/or web collateral and a case study
• Develop collaborative relationships

Economic Viability of Business as Missions Venture

• Is there a clear statement of purpose and goals for the company?

• Does the mangagement team have the appropriate experience and training?

• Can the business create and maintain a competitive advantage?

• From a financial perspective, is the business an attractive investment?

• Is there a clear path from startup to financial sustainability?

• Are there investors and other advisors committed to helping the company reach financial sustainability?

• Is this a business concept that has worked in other contexts?

• What are the risks?

• Is the business model flexible enough to allow for expansion, changes in direction, or alliances with other companies?

• How wil the net earnings be distributed?

• How and when can the investors expect to be repaid?

Missional Viability Business as Missions Venture

• Is the business concept consistent with missional focus and objectives?

• Is there adequate potential for making a significant kingdom impact?

• Does the company have a multicultural, multigenerational team of kingdom professional in place that has a track record of effective ministry inside and outside the workplace?

• Has the management team identified other mission organizations working in the area, and are they open to partnering with them?

• Does the plan demonstrate an understanding and respect for the legal and ethical boundaries between for profit and non profit activities?

• Does the business create socially beneficial “backward linkages” with local firms?

• Is the net impact on the host economy’s balance of payments positive?

• Is there a plan to turn over as much authority and responsibility as possible (missions and business) to local professionals?

• Is the management team committed to serving under the local church (if one exists)?

• Is the management team committed to communicating regularly with other stakeholders so that they know how to pray and know what things they can do to benefit the work (for example, short-term trips)?

Reflective Business as Missions Questioning:
What do you think of the questions? To me, they seem to serve more as a general guide as your develop your overall business plan. I think its easy to get discouraged from a big Kingdom undertaking–so I don’t think checking every one off the list is necessary–however a fantastic guide–especially for those low on startup cash and consulting. So, on the upside I think the checklists can help create a heads-up about issues one might encounter. A more through development might discuss the tangible types of conflicts and hurdles that Great Commissions Companies on a day to day basis, and particularly that they encounter when they startup. By the way, I highly recommend picking up this book on Amazon (I think its $12 to $14). A real steal for all the insight and experience that are in the mix. (I also recommend Base of the Pyramid by Prahalad and Out of Poverty by Polack, which you will find posts for on Compassion in Politics) As always, thanks for reading!

Related Blog Posts and Christian Business Resources:

• Business as Mission Resources from Great Commission Companies
• Christian Business Networking
• Christian Microenterprise development resources
• Summary of “Out of Poverty” by Paul Polack

Great Commission Companies: The Emerging Role of Business in Missions

Resources for Great Commission Companies by Steve Rundle and Tom Steffen

Here are some fantastic resources from Great Commission Companies. You can also find Great Commission Companies available for free on Google Books.

You can also check out their Great Commission Companies (a 6 page article in PDF form) which helps guide growing christian entrepreneurs, social entrepreneurs, and those passionate about micro-enterprise development:

1. Evaluate the business opportunity
2. Evaluate the missions opportunity
3. Assemble a management team
4. Build an advisory network
5. Develop a business plan
6. Develop a Great Commission plan

In the book Great Commission Companies that outline a couple solid questions for determining the financial viability of a Christ based Great Commission Company:

• How much money will it take to turn this into a profitable business?
• Where will the money come from?
• What other resources will be required (management skills, technology, and so on)
• What is the expected timeline for payback?
• How “mobile” are the assets? If things go badly, can they be redeployed or sold?
• How flexible is the business model? Is there room for expansion, changes in direction or allianaces with other companies?
• What will be the return on investment?

One method to evaluate the missions component of a Great Commissions Company:

• What location or people group will benefit the most from this type of company?
• What can this company do that other Christian organizations in the area cannot?
• Where will the resources for ministry-related activities come from?

Here are Great Commission Companies mentioned throughout the book:

Silk Road Handicraft Company (dead URL. Discussed and profiled in Chapter 7. See also Doing God’s Business: Meaning and Motivation for the Marketplace)
Bergman Labs (no URL?)
Olive Technology
Homestead Partners (not sure about the URL) Discussed and profiled in Chapter 8
Pura Vida Coffee Discussed and profiled in Chapter 9
(World Visions, Sojourners, Habitat for Humanity)
Take Uplift (?)
Youth for Christ (not a GCC to my knowledge)
Global Opps [tons of resources]

Here is an initial list of 15 business as missions resources:

• Business as Missions Network

• Caleb Project

• Centre for Entrepreneurship and Economic Development (Google results don’t display it)

• CIA World Factbook

• Connecting Business Men to Christ (CBMC)

• Country Commerical Guides (USA Trade.Gov) [note: government websites have apparently reorganized since the publication of Great Commission Companies)

• Fellowship of Companies for Christ

• Global Mapping International

• Global Opportunities

• Human Development Reports

• Intent

• InterVarsity Christian Fellowship

• Joshua Project II

• National Trade Data Bank

• People Teams

• Scruples

• Great Commission Companies

The Before you launching a business as missions project checklist in Great Commission Companies [along with other great resources]

Great Commission Companies Author Bios
Steve Rundel is associate professor of economics at Biola University. He has been a pioneer in researching and advocating the intersection of business and missions.

Tom Steffen is a professor of intercultural studies at Biola University. He was a mission in the Philippines for fifteen years is the author of several books on missions and cross cultural ministry.

Christian Business Networking for Professionals

Christian Professional Networking Organizations

• Business as Missions Network

• Christian Professional

• Christian Chamber of Commerce

• International Christian Chamber of Commerce

• C-12 Group: Christian Business Owners

Christian Business Organizations for Professionals in Nashville, Brentwood, and Franklin, TN

CEO Fellowship at Brentwood Baptist

Nashville Christian Business Network

Suggest Linked in Groups for Christian business professionals???

Other Christian Resources:

• Christian Business Networking

• Christian

• Christianity Today: Education and Jobs

• Bible Gateway

Business as Mission Best Practices

Best Practice for Business as Mission and Kingdom Entrepreneurs

Justin Case, an experienced business as mission entrepreneur writes:

What we learned

After our two years came to an end, we could reflect on God’s incredible leading in our lives and identify what worked for us. These are not rules to “tentmake” by, just what worked for us. God is infinitely creative in using our specific personalities, characteristics and talents for His glory.

• Practice hospitality! Do not think your home must be spotless, but do make it available for guests.
• Invite everyone who stops to talk to you in everyday life to your home. Everyone will not come, but pray that the ones who do are real seekers.
• Do your work with such integrity that it demands an explanation of your faith
• Hand out an outline of the Bible study with room for notes that your friends can take home with them for further study.
• Sing lots of songs, get a Karaoke machine if you have to.
• Share not only your faith but also your life, your family, your persona.
• Be there for your friends, make time for them.
• Ask & pray for real prayer requests making room for God’s miracles in everyday life.
• Have books and tapes available for lending. (Our bookshelf was very intriguing to our friends.)
• When out in the community, make friends with people in the market, the bank, the police station, the post office etc.
• People love to have an opportunity to practice their English skills, let them!
• Spend special holidays with your friends, invite them to spend your holidays with you! Explain why you celebrate these days.
• Your passion, God’s glory!

Justin concludes by suggesting:

May this outline serve as a guide to your tentmaker ministry:

INTENT – as you go…make disciples

INTEGRITY – do your work in such a way that it demands an explanation of your faith

INTEGRATE – learn to integrate work and ministry seeing “work as ministry”

Business as Mission Resources:
(to be added)

Should Business Be A-Moral?

Do Ethics Belong in Business:

I’m reading about leadership from “thought leaders” and came across an interesting quote from Peter F. Drucker:

Leaders shouldn’t attach moral significance to their ideas: Do that, and you can’t compromise.

What do you think? While I see his point, this seems to divorce ethics from business–which seems to be the problem with the financial disaster. Assessing an a-morality to business is what allows corporate practices to control and dominate the social space. My guess is this doesn’t understand the complexity of Drucker’s point, but it does seem to fly in the face of common sense. I think as long as an organization has commonly agreed upon values that those values should be able to help guide past conflict and strife.

Perhaps Drucker makes a distinction between values (ethics) on the one hand and morality, but I think thats spitting hairs.

Christian Business Ethics Principles : Seven Critical Components

Christian Business Ethics Principles and Bible Verses: Faith in the Workplace | Bible Verses on Business, Money, and Leadership

I’ve been reading the book “On Kingdom Business: Transforming Missions Through Entrepreneurial Strategies” which covers the issues: business as missions and (Christian) ethics in business. The issues of Christianity in the workplace and marketplace are both passions of mine. I thought these touch points might be a useful breakdown. The author gives 12, I’ll probably add those at a later date. The following are quotes from the section by Wayne A Grudem.

Christian Business Ethics: Taking Care of Resources
“In addition, when we care for our possessions, it gives us opportunity to imitate many other attributes of God, such as wisdom, knowledge, beauty, creativity, love for others, kindness, fairness, independence, freedom, exercise of will, blessedness (or joy), and so forth.”

Christian Business Ethics: Greed and materialism
“We could use our resource to advance our own pride, or we could become greedy and accumulate wealth for its own sake, or we could take wrongful security in riches (see Matt. 6:19; Luke 12:13-21, James 5:3). We could use our possessions foolishly and wastfully, abounding in luxury and self-indulgence while we neglect the needs of others (see James 5:5; 1 John 3:17). These things are rightly called ‘materialism,’ and they are wrong.”

Christian Business Ethics: Buying and Selling Goods
“We can imitate God’s attributes each time we buy and sell, if we practice honesty, faithfulness to our commitments, fairness, and freedom of choice.”

Christian Business Ethics: Earning Profit
“The ability to earn a profit it thus the ability to multiply our resources while helping other people. It is a wonderful ability that God gave us and it is not evil or morally neutral but fundamentally good. Through it we can reflect God’s attributes of love for others, wisdom, sovereignty, planning for the future, and so forth.”

Christian Business Ethics: Money and Financial Resources
“Money provides many opportunities to glorify God, through investing and expanding our stewardship and imitating God’s sovereignty and wisdom, through meeting our own needs and thus imitating God’s independence, through giving to others and imitating God’s mercy and love, or through giving to the church and to evangelism and thus bringing others into the kingdom.”

Christian Business Ethics: Attitudes of Heart:
“God knows our hearts, and we glorify him by having attitudes of heart in which he delights….And if others work for us, we need to think of them as equal in value as human beings made in the image of God, and our heart’s desire should be that the job bring them good and not harm.”

Christian Ethics in Business: Borrowing and Lending:
“In this way, borrowing and lending multiply phenomenally our God-given enjoyment of the material creation, and our potential for being thankful to God for all these things and glorifying him through our use of them. In borrowing and lending, we can reflect many of God’s attributes. We can demonstrate trustworthiness and faithful stewardship, honesty, wisdom, love, and mercy.”

Wayne A. Grudem is a research professor of Bible and theology at Phoenix Seminary in Scottsdale, Arizona. Previously he was chairman of the department of biblical and systematic theology at Trinity Evangelical Divinity School in Deerfield, Illinois, where he taught for twenty years. Dr. Grudem is the author of several books and articles, including the widely used text Systematic Theology: An Introduction to Biblical Doctrine.

What would you add to the list? Whats your favorite Bible verse for Christian ethics in the workplace? Or Bible verse for business?

Ethics and Morality in Business Resources

• Ethics Resources at Wheaton

25 More “Business as Mission” Resources from “Kingdom Business”

Given that the business in mission is in someways new principle, at least in the context of social enterprise in the developing world, I though these resources (for networking, case studies, best practices, cultural adaption, business models, and host of other business related information and research) from the book might be helpful to provide more depth of study. Kingdom Business also appears to be available free and in full via Google books.

• BPN
• Geneva Global (John Vong)
• Worldview Matters (Christian Overman)
• The Gathering (Fred Smith)
• Food for the Hungry International (Tetsunam Yamamori)
• Living Stones Foundation (Kenneth A. Eldred)
• Regent University School of Business
• Consultation for Holistic Entrepreneurs (may find info at the Lusanne Movement)
• Infosail Electronics Co (Esther Hui) (Ltd. Infosail ?)
• AMI (p. 37)
• Galtronics
Tentmakers, 1987
• Overseas Mission Fellowship
• OPEN Network (p. 66)
• Care for Cambodia
“Jars of Clay”
• SERVUS business management training
• Living Springs (India) p. 109 (????)
• Open Doors (p. 159)
• Evangelistic Commerce
• Basel Mission Trading Company (p. 189)
• International Development Systems (IDS)
• Tentmakers International Exchange Congress
• World Evangelical Fellowship (only the World Evangelical Alliance appears to be online)
• Steven L. Rundle (syllabus)
• Center for Entrepreneurship and Economic Development
• Bright Arrows (p. 248)

Also tangentially helpful may be:

• Fantastic resource for determining if your Business as Mission project is viable.
• Mpower
• Christian Leadership Alliance
• Idealist
• Dev Net Jobs

Business as Mission Networking:
If you are related to business in mission or one of the above companies, please feel free to contact me via email, phone, or via social networking.

On Kingdom Business: Transforming Missions Through Entrepreneurial Strategies

Business as Mission Resources and Websites:

I’ve been reading On Kingdom Business: Transforming Missions Through Entrpreneurial Strategies by Tetsuanao Yamamori and Kenneth A. Eldred

They list several online business as missions resources at the close of their book that may be useful:

• Business Professionals Network
• CBMC
• Center for Entrepreneurship and Economic Development (currently under construction)
• Fellowship of Companies for Christ
• Global Connections [75% sure this is the same organization]
• Global Opportunities (see also: Great Commission Companies by Steve Rundle and Tom Steffen)
• Intent
• OPEN Networkers (Overseas Professional Employee Network)
• Scruples
• Strategic Network
• Tentmakernet
• Tentmakers International Exchange

My Suggested Business as Missions Resources
I would add the Business as Mission Blog. I highly recommend joining their Linked In group and joining the forum discussion on Linked In after joining and being confirmed as a member. The other Business as Mission website has a fantastic list of 100+ resources (12 pages), including articles and a bibliography (look for the orange resources link). Both of these are amazing “must read” resources. The links to the articles are available as resources at God is at Work. Mission Frontiers Magazine likewise has great and helpful info.

You might also check out my post Top 10 Resources for Social Entrepreneurs, which focuses on secular social capitalism. Otherwise, the YWAM Connect Resource List may prove helpful in your research.

Have a business as missions or Kingdom business resource? Do you have a favorite business as mission company, idea, or resource?

The Power of Kindness: Real clout comes from being empathetic, cooperative, and communicative

Dacher Keltner a professor of psychology at Berkeley and coeditor of Greater Good in the May/June issue of the UTNE Reader writes:

These seductive notions are wrong. A new science of power has revealed that power is wielded most effectively when it’s used by people who are attuned to and engaged with the needs and interests of others. When it comes to power, social intelligence—reconciling conflicts, negotiating, smoothing over group tensions—prevails over social Darwinism.

Why social intelligence? Because of our ultrasociability. We accomplish most tasks related to survival and reproduction socially, from caring for our children to producing food and shelter. We give power to those who can best serve the interests of the group. Leaders who treat their subordinates with respect, share power, and generate a sense of camaraderie and trust are considered more just and fair.

Social intelligence is essential not only to rising to power, but also to keeping it. My colleague Cameron Anderson and I studied the structure of social hierarchies within college dormitories over the course of a year, examining who is at the top and who remains there. We’ve consistently found that it is the socially engaged individuals who keep their power over time.

While the rhetorical framing of this article troubles me a bit, I think its reassuring to know that cooperation and communication win out. Ultimately, love wins.