Vocation of the Business Leader

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There are various reasons why people engage in business activities.  Majority wants to get rich (personal profit first before welfare of others), but only few considers doing business for the genuine love and service to others (welfare of others first before personal profit). Truly, I agree that the primary cause of doing business is in order to earn profits; otherwise, that endeavor could have been called a charity, instead. There is nothing wrong to that. However, what I don’t agree is in the practice of many businessmen who do not care about the welfare of others and the environment just for the sake of enriching themselves. But why this is happening? The “Vocation of the Business Leader”, a reflection paper of the Pontifical Council for Justice and Peace, clearly answers this question.

The said reflection paper tells us that the foundational ethical principles that businessmen should consider are human dignity and the common good. The effects of globalization, communication technologies and financialization produce problems alongside their benefits, such as inequality, economic dislocation, information overload, financial instability and others that lead away from serving the common. These obstacles come in different forms – lack of rule of law, corruption, tendencies towards greed, poor stewardship of resources and leading a “divided” life. I absolutely agree to that because they are really happening in the society across the globe now.  In fact, people are becoming more and more indulged in earthly affairs which separate them further from God. People forgot that the very purpose why we are existing on Earth is because our task is to take care of the God’s creation – environment and one another. Sad to say, there are businessmen who directly violate this mandate, and instead they destroy the environment and exploit other people by taking advantage of their limitations and weaknesses in lives. Great examples are the emission of industrial wastes and propagation of human trafficking, all for the sake of personal monetary gain.

The reflection paper identifies 3 stages which can be explored to find out if the foundational principles for business are being followed – seeing, judging and acting. Seeing – We are all witnesses that the world of business is complicated by factors of both good and evil. Conflicts of interests among business owners (wealth maximization), employees (attitudes of entitlement) and consumers (demands of goods and services at the lowest possible price) further lead the society away from the common good. Judging – Businessmen must make decisions based on the foundational principles of human dignity and common good (producing goods and services truly beneficial to humans, treating employees as co-entrepreneurs rather than slaves, etc.). Acting – Businessmen should be able to harmonize the practice of business with the teachings of God. Profits, just like money, is a good servant rather than a master. They must remember that the more they receive, they more is expected from them to be given.

Having those things considered, at my own capacity, the very least that I can do is to become more discriminate in idolizing top businessmen being lauded by the world. They may be financially successful but that does not necessarily mean that they are righteous businessmen. I would rather idolize those businessmen who are not in the top list of richest persons in the society, but are well known to have greater concern over the welfare of their customers, employees and environment. As such, I will also be more discriminate in patronizing products and services available in the market.

References:

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   “Vocation of the Business Leader” – The Vatican – Pontifical Council for Justice and Peace

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