Conceptions of God, Normative Convictions, and Socially Responsible Business Conduct

Abstract

The case for socially responsible business conduct is often made from an economical or ethical perspective with the organization as level of analysis. This article focuses on the relationship between the religious belief of corporate decision makers and socially responsible business conduct. Based on in-depth interviews with 20 Dutch executives from different religious backgrounds, the authors find much inductive evidence of a relationship among their conception of God, norms and values, and business conduct. The authors also find that executives with a monotheistic conception of God display a stronger orientation toward socially responsible business conduct than do executives with a pantheistic conception of God.