Though there are few books that examine faith-based organisations and management techniques, there are many that consider the application of faith to the workplace from an individual perspective. Robert Banks and Kimberly Powell (eds) (2000) promote the values and practices of faith-based leadership, but also conclude with a case study at an organisational level. Joseph A Maciariello’s chapter ‘Credo and credibility’ looks at the management systems of the American property maintenance firm ServiceMaster, a public corporation at the time of authorship with operating revenues of $4.7bn in 1998. The business is run according to Judeo-Christian values, and the first of its four business objectives states that the company seeks ‘to honor God in all we do’ (p. 200). The author describes the company’s management systems as a combination of formal and informal systems, all of which are designed to bring unity out of individual effort, citing the model of servant leadership to achieve this. The company is one of many using this term, but does set out its implications in five points:
- Serving the best interests of all stakeholders, and exhibiting compassion for those served (it is tough and results-oriented but also compassionate)
- Leading by example, and seeking to exhibit a servant’s heart towards those served (by, among other ways, display a willingness to do the most menial tasks, thus giving added dignity to all work)
- Giving recognition to those who need it, even at one’s own expense
- Accepting, empathizing, and listening to all constituents
- Coaching and teaching (a style in which the leader is easy to please but hard to satisfy completely) (p. 208)
ServiceMaster’s focus on human capital, such as providing English-language training and help with transport to and from work, has seen its employee turnover drop from 100 per cent to 5 per cent at one cleaning division based at John F. Kennedy airport; such reductions in staff turnover are also noted in the case study of Chick-fil-A, described below. The company even works to integrate family and business life in ways unspecified but sounding closer to models in Japan and South Korea than corporate America. Since the chapter was written, the company has been taken into private ownership following a buyout by a New York private equity firm in 2007. The list of corporate priorities no longer includes any reference to honouring God[4].
Ken Costa (2007) examines the benefits for an individual Christian of incorporating aspects of their spiritual beliefs, particularly prayer, into their working day. It is a more personal rather than organisational account of the ways in which religion can influence business decision-making and management, arguing that faith is as relevant to the author’s own profession of investment banking as it is to any other form of work. The anecdotes in the book mainly come from highly successful business people, including several from the author himself, demonstrating the agency of good ethics within a wide range of business sectors. He concludes by suggesting an alternative to the ‘servant leader’ theme:
I suggest that we should think of the leader as steward, the person who can carry the community with him or her but who earns legitimacy from managing resources for the long-term benefit of all. (p. 174)