Description
Values and Ethics figure largely in this issue of FiBQ. Are Christians in the workplace becoming more confident about putting our heads above the parapet? In a world made more raucous by Brexit and Trump, we surely have greater liberty to express opinion in and to the business arena.
Christian Aid has moved a long way from ‘aid’: Helen Howe and Samuel Williams of Christian Aid’s Salt Network voice their support for ‘a commitment to build a business that is good news’, in the UK and globally.
Natalie Chan’s profile of Hong Kong telecoms entrepreneur William Yeung illustrates how one CEO’s commitment to Christian values, staff welfare and innovation continues to motivate their 3,000 employees in one of Hong Kong’s most financially successful start-ups. Good news indeed.
Richard Higginson recounts his inspiring experience at the Lisbon Conference of UNIAPAC, where he found Roman Catholics doing similar work to William Yeung.
Counter-intuitively, executives that listen to those on the margins of their business, whether staff, suppliers or clients, and expose themselves to their own margins, are more likely to be successful. Chris Bemrose articulates this view from the margins, while Phil Jump helpfully summarises and commends the Archbishop of Canterbury’s address to the 150th Anniversary of the TUC.
£5 Car Washes: do we care? The Clewer Initiative critiques our attitudes to those at the bottom of the gig economy, perilously close to modern day slavery, and gives us an app to fight back.
Two articles stretch our minds on the meaning of faith, religion and values in the workplace. Mark Argent argues for ‘religion as story’ in the lives of organisations as much as in the lives of individuals, while Kenneth Barnes reviews Geoffrey Moore’s challenging but accessible Virtue at Work: Ethics for individuals, managers and organisations.
Kina Robertshaw takes us from print into media with the video interviews of some who figured in her book A Voice to be Heard. And Richard Higginson
reviews John Timson’s book 50 Secrets from a Business Maverick. The eponymous CEO, despite ‘hav(ing) no strong religious faith’ still
‘believe(s) that having a social conscience is also bloody good business.’ We commend support from all sources!
Peter Heslam introduces the notion of ‘work as worship’. This is the theme of the Faith in Business Leadership Retreat, which will take place from 5 to 7 April 2019, at Westminster College Cambridge.
The Editors
