19세기 영국 퀘이커교도의 비즈니스 성공요인과 그 윤리

Abstract

This study aims to examine the roles of Quaker tradesmen and entrepreneurs in the developments of the Industrial Revolution in Britain and the success factors and ethics of Quakers’ Business activities. How the Quaker took the lead the front line of the Industrial Revolution? What brought Quakers into various fields of commerce and industrial world? Quaker was derived from puritanism since the Civil War in England but Quaker believers had been at odds with other protestant sects. Because Quakers thought that Everyone was equal before God and they denied the official authorities including the King and the religious leaders. Therefore Quakers were regarded as the dangerous group that threatened the social order. From the 1660s, The Commonwealth of England and the constitutional monarchy kept prohibited Quakers from advancing the official position of the political circles and the social professions and the admission into any university and college. So Quakers could not have advanced into the various business circles and industrial world. Quakers had been striven to calling faithfully and concentrated on their trading and managing their business efficiently during 18~19th centuries. Finally, they contributed to establish the development of modern capitalism in Britain as the outstanding forerunners or manufacturers or tradesmen that were engaged in manufacturing industries during the 18th~19th century. Above all, Quakers had managed to their company honestly and put in business practice truthfully following codes of conduct of Quakerism for equality, peace, truth and simple life. As a result, Quaker companies like the Cadbury Co. of Birmingham and the Rowntree Co. of York got a good reputation of ‘good companies and good employers’ by the contemporary and some scholars of today. Some Quaker entrepreneurs and reformers tried to remove parts of social problems caused by the Industrial developments. They tried to improve their labourer’s poor life by improving the working conditions and they established collaborative relations by recognizing their labourers as collaborators. Nowadays, the Business activities of Quaker tradesmen and companies are termed in ‘Quakernomics that had features of Ethical capitalism’ by Mike King. The result of this study highlights the religious life of preserving the religious spirituality of Quakers, the presence of competent businessmen pursued new technology and innovation, Quaker’s enterprise culture and system for labourers differentiated from other companies and especially the network power of the religious society of Friend based on Quaker relationship etc. as the real factors of Quakers’ business success. (Kyungpook National University / minerva10@hanmail.net)