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Thought Leadership

CIB Research Grants

The Center for Integrity in Business offers grants to support research related to a Christian understanding of business. These grant-making commitments are part of our efforts to promote and develop a transformative vision of business practice and management education. We welcome your proposals and invite you to review our RFP.

Dr. Gary Karns' upcoming academic presentations in Italy and Russia are a part of CIB-sponsored research. Read more about his papers and upcoming trips.

Paper #1

"A New Vision for the Purpose of Business: Pursuing Human Flourishing in Emerging Economies Through Stewardship"

This proposed model will be presented at the European Academy of Business in Society (EABIS) Colloquium in St. Petersburg, Russia, in September 2010. EABIS is an alliance of companies, business schools, and academic institutions, with the support of the European Commission, committed to integrating business-in-society issues into the heart of business theory and practice in Europe.

Abstract

The need for a renewed understanding of the purpose of business — especially within the context of emerging economies — is identified.

• Human flourishing is posed as a more desirable goal than mere economic growth in emerging economies.
• The Stewardship/"Another Way of Doing Business" (STW/AWDB) approach to the purpose of business is explored as an alternative paradigm for business.

STW/AWDB proposes that business is to contribute to human flourishing by serving customers, employees, and the community (Van Duzer et al, 2007) and that managers are stewards having an affirmative duty to pursue this purpose responsibly and ethically.

It is intended to encourage the development of a more noble vision of business and to provide a stronger footing for CSR and business ethics in both developed and developing economies.

Paper #2

"Alternate Views on the Purpose of Business: A Resource for Business Ethics Instruction"

This paper will be presented at the Global Conference on Business & Economics Research sponsored by the International Journal of Business & Economics (IJBE) and the Association for Business & Economics Research (ABER) in Rome, Italy, in October 2010.

Abstract

This paper provides an instructional resource for business educators to help frame a student discussion of the purpose of business, which will contribute to the development of their business philosophy and their perspectives on business ethics. It is offered as a response to the numerous calls for a reformed vision of the purpose of business in the wake of many ethics scandals associated with practices fostered by the shareholder-wealth maximization paradigm.

The paper

• Gives a concise overview of the tenets and critiques of the shareholder, stakeholder, and stewardship paradigms
• Compares their underlying worldviews and perspectives on business ethics so students can enter the discussion with a fuller understanding of the approaches
• Provides discussion questions for student reflection on the purpose of business and their preferences for the different paradigms

The paper also explicates the recently articulated stewardship paradigm, which proposes that

• The purpose of business is to contribute to human flourishing by serving customers with products and services, employees with creative and meaningful work, and the community
• Management practice should follow a positive ethic — a duty to do as much good as possible
• Business should relate to government and other social institutions as a partner rather than as an adversary