Abstract
Companies that are going to thrive must have a soul. Those that are only concerned with “maximising shareholder wealth” or “maximising profit” will find themselves going the way Enron went. CEOs will have to lead the revolution and should be the ones exhorting executives to make spiritual values or virtue, not just profit, the core values of a firm. A true measure of corporate performance is multidimensional and has to include the short-term, the long-term, risk, environmental issues, society, employees, customers, suppliers, and government. This paper shows how a firm can acquire a soul and even be profitable doing it.
Highlights
Spiritual values are important to many people
Can Spiritual Values Provide a Competitive Edge for a Firm?. There are those who feel that virtue and corporate social responsibility must stem from a business imperative; the belief of “doing well by doing good” is part of this approach
Tragakis (2008) claims that there are at least a dozen ways that a commitment to corporate social responsibility can help a firm improve its financial performance and profits
Summary
The following quote, attributed to Abraham Lincoln (Gore, 2007: 88), describes what many people may be feeling after the latest financial meltdown, which started with the subprime real estate debacle. A major transformation must take place if capitalism will thrive They believe that the following are some of the key causes of the current financial meltdown: “short-termism (including but not limited to increased leverage), poor governance and regulation, misaligned compensation and incentive systems, lack of transparency, and in some firms, poor leadership and a dysfunctional business culture.”. CEOs must see their role as more than maximising earnings per share and/or maximising shareholder wealth They have the responsibility to ensure that firms behave in an ethical and spiritual way; they have to do what is right for all stakeholders, including employees, customers, suppliers, government, and the environment. What you have seen at Enron, at the New York Stock Exchange, and in too many other places suggests that there have been failures in inculcating the right values. (Summers, 2003)
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