One possible application of this to ecclesiastical bodies is that individual churches could be further encouraged to foster a localised identity, by ensuring a greater sense of a self-selecting and self-governing community. For example when a new priest or minister is appointed, members of the congregation and the neighbouring ministry teams could be given greater involvement in this process. Similarly the concept of peer review could be given greater emphasis in a church’s regular management toolbox of its priests/ministers, inviting neighbouring clergy to participate. However, it must be said that churches are likely to be far ahead of a fast-food chain in terms of the participants’ identification with and loyalty to the group values, not to mention their longevity in each post.
4. Quaker Businesses
Quaker businesses are not only the most successful faith-based enterprises examined in this report, they are also form a sector easily distinguished from other models of organisation due to their distinctive management practices. They have provided a unique testing ground for many faith-based innovations, and in so doing have helped to influence the wider economy through concepts such as employee consultation over decision-making. However, their success has also proved something of a mixed blessing, creating substantial businesses that have in most cases become attractive targets for takeover.
Although a distinct category in this research from the study of entrepreneurs, it should also be remembered that many Quaker businesses were created by a single owner manager. However much these owners took guidance from their Meeting Houses and tended to favour doing business with other Quakers, their businesses nonetheless owed their distinctive Christian ethos to the will of one individual. When ownership changed hands, or less dramatically when it passed to a younger generation, the faith-based characteristics often rapidly disappeared. Their legacy is some of Britain’s leading brands and businesses: Barclays and Lloyds in the banking sector, Cadbury and Rowntree in confectionary and Carr’s biscuits, Clarks shoes and Bryant & May matches in consumer goods. None of these has any ongoing allegiance to the Religious Society of Friends or other faith-based affiliations, having lost such religious connections after being sold.
Richard Higginson (2012) lists three main reasons why Quaker businesses proved so successful, quoting from James Walvin (1997): honesty, mutual accountability and education. The issue of honesty and hence trust is explained in greater detail by other authors in this study. So too is the concept of mutual accountability, which can be seen in the peer-to-peer mentoring that took place between members of a Meeting House about each other’s business affairs. The educational aspect of Nonconformist communities is another powerful factor in their business success, as Quakers set up their own schools and provided apprenticeships to their own and other Friends’ children.