3. The Christian Entrepreneur: paternalistic modes of management in Britain and America
The appearance of a class of entrepreneurial owner managers in Britain pre-dates the Industrial Revolution by at least a century. Perhaps the economy was indeed liberated by the after-effects of the Reformation and the rise of Protestant religion, as Max Weber’s thesis would have it, or more likely the combination of improving technology, a growing urban population and better transport links helped the process develop. For whatever reasons, the founding years of entrepreneurial capitalism took place at a time when religion still permeated national life and culture, meaning that many of the most notable business innovators were also devout Christians. As discussed elsewhere in this paper, linking the two in any causal sense is problematic, but it is also unnecessary when sifting through corporate history to determine what management techniques were ascribed a Christian significance.
The era of the paternalistic entrepreneur using his or her business to promote a religious viewpoint is mostly over in Britain, with a few notable exceptions such as Brian Souter, founder of the Stagecoach transport group, as described in section one of this research. But the phenomenon has found resonance elsewhere. America in particular has a business culture with a strong emphasis placed on the Protestant ideals of individual self-improvement through individual endeavour[5]. Here the emphasis tends to be more on the owner-manager model of corporate leadership, in which the individual traits of the entrepreneur are regarded as decisive in a company’s success. Where the entrepreneur happens to be Christian, there seems to be an uninhibited promotion of Christian values as part of the customer experience of the company in question, whether or not the customer has any personal interest in hearing such messages. Conversely other models of Christian business, particularly the co-operatives so favoured in southern Europe, have a communitarian aspect that might prove problematic in both business and religious circles.
High-profile examples of American entrepreneurs uninhibited about their faith include Trijicon, a supplier of gun sights to the US military, which was discovered to be embossing abbreviated Biblical references on equipment used by American soldiers in Iraq and Afghanistan[6]. The practice was initiated by Glyn Bindon, a devout Christian who founded the business in 1981 as Armson USA.
Less controversial is the fast-food chain Chick-fil-A, which proclaims in its overall mission statement: “The purpose of Chick-fil-A is to glorify God by being a faithful steward of all that is entrusted to us and to have a positive influence on all who come in contact with Chick-fil-A.” Its founder and devout Baptist S. Truett Cathy insists that stores are closed on Sundays, a decision which costs the business an estimated $500m a year[7]. Both companies say they are run on Biblical principles, rather than being explicitly Christian companies. This is perhaps a useful distinction to distinguish between companies such as Trijicon and Chick-fil-A, which sell secular products, and companies selling explicitly religious items such as Christian books. The reasoning for Chick-fil-A’s definition is that companies can not be saved in the same way a person can be: Dan Cathy, the founder’s son, said: “We don’t claim to be a Christian business. Companies are not lost or saved, but certainly individuals are but as an organisation we can operate on biblical principles.”[8]