In a talk you gave last fall, you referred to Christ Jesus' parable of the good Samaritan as a parable for good business conduct. Some people might say that's too idealistic, that it's just plain bad business practice to try to be a good Samaritan and a businessman at the same time. Could you explain how you see the good Samaritan as applying to business?
The parable describes a manner of traveling—of putting the welfare of others before narrow self-interest. I think what is becoming increasingly apparent, if I reduce it to very practical, everyday terms, is that the old style of the conduct of business, which I call second-wave industrial management, is totally orientated toward the maximization of material profit and perceives the staff as a cost of production to be minimized. It is geared toward survival of the fittest in which my sole role is to make sure that I survive better than anyone else. This whole approach to business has certainly not satisfied the needs of the people of this country.
It has resulted in anything but harmonious and fulfilled and satisfactory lives for the vast masses. We find many living unhoused and in very impoverished conditions. And likewise, it certainly hasn't resulted in harmonious and joyful and fulfilled lives for the people who are getting richer and richer.
