The Vocation and the Ripple

When I was a child, I used to dream of becoming a doctor, realizing later on that this is not my dream at all.  As much as I want to save lives, I can’t stand the exposure to blood, or be accountable for not saving someone else’s life.     I chose to take another path…a business course.    I thought all the while that the job in the corporate world is not as critical as with the doctor’s job.  I thought all the while that being in the corporate world, I will not be directly involved in saving someone else’s lives.  My theory was wrong.  Every action of either the employer or employee, or both, may save the lives of the immediate stakeholders, and can be further rippled to the wider society.  For example, by merely employing someone, providing a fair compensation and benefits, and a safe work environment, an employer is not just saving his employee’s life, but his family or beneficiary as well.  The daily needs of the family members can be purchased from business and commercial organizations, which in turn also provides jobs to other people.  Taxes paid on income and purchases are then contributed to the government, which in turn builds infrastructure and ensures public safety for the common good of the society. 

It is therefore important for the companies, especially the business leaders, to properly reflect on the ripple effect of every action, before making a decision and implementing a change.  The book Vocation of the Business Leader: A Reflection, has pointed out 6 guiding principles for businesses to integrate LIFE, VIRTUES and business practices for the benefit of the society.   Almost all of these guiding principles were practiced by one company that I have worked for, which was led by a true Christian Business Leader, which I would like to call as Mr. J.  Mr. J is the president of Company ABC, a group of companies with distribution and retail businesses.  The Filipino translation of Company ABC’s real name is “human being”, and the Chinese translations are ‘way’, ‘path’, ‘doctrine’, and ‘principle’.  Below are some examples of how Mr. J has actually lived by these 6 guiding principles.

Meeting the Needs of the World through the Creation and Development of Goods and Services

1.      Businesses that produce goods which are truly good and services which truly serve contribute to the common good.

      One of the subsidiaries of Company ABC used to handle distribution of cigarettes.  This subsidiary is one of the biggest and top profit earners among his subsidiaries.  Despite this, he later on decided to drop this business.  Not because it is declining or starting to lose its market share, but because he believed that the product harms the people’s lives. 

2.      Businesses maintain solidarity with the poor by being alert for opportunities to serve otherwise deprived and underserved populations and people in need.

      Another subsidiary is handling retail of health supplements, targeting the middle and high-end market.  Realizing that he also needs to touch the lower market, he acquired another health supplement retail company to cater to this market. 

Organizing Good and Productive Work

3.     Businesses make a contribution to the community by fostering the special dignity of human work.

Mr. J’s primary mission in acquiring a company is to give jobs to the community.  Some people may be challenging him or recommending to him not to acquire Company B, an existing and almost bankrupt business, which has about 100+ employees.  Consultants and counsels believe that the return of investment will take a long time.  Despite these advices, Mr. J continued acquiring the business, not because of the desired profit, but to give jobs to the existing employees. 

4.    Businesses provide, through subsidiarity, opportunities for employees to exercise appropriate authority as they contribute to the mission of the organization.

In Mr. J’s head office, he has hired disabled female personnel with a very pleasing personality to be the receptionist.  In my 12 years of working experience in 5 companies, this receptionist showed the sincerest “good morning”.  This is actually one of Mr. J’s ways to remind everyone in his business community that all of us were created equal. 

Creating Sustainable Wealth and Distributing It Justly

5.      Businesses model stewardship of the resources, whether capital, human or environmental, that they have received.

6.      Businesses are just in the allocation of resources to all stakeholders: employees, customers, investors, suppliers, and the community.

      All employees under his community have fair compensation and benefits.  His businesses, big or small, are all housed in a safe working environment.  Mr. J has also established a foundation, which aims to “improve the state of public education in the country” as well as to support public sports programs and promote Filipino music.  This company has also partnered with DepEd to promote a technology-enhanced alternative delivery mode of learning.  Since 2010, its foundation was able to deploy this mode of education to 4 public schools in Luzon and Visayas. 

With Mr. J’s way of running his business and a mantra of “giving back to the community”, I realized that business leaders are also “doctors” of the society.  It may not be on a medical perspective, but business leaders can also save the lives of the employees, his family, and the community.  The profits and benefits of a business organization ripple to the stakeholders and to a wider society. 

For I know the plans I have for you, declares the Lord, plans for welfare and not for evil, to give you a future and a hope (Jeremiah 29:11)

References:

Company’s Ripple Effect
http://www.aph.gov.au/About_Parliament/Parliamentary_Departments/Parliamentary_Library/pubs/rp/rp0304/04RP04

Vocation of the Business Leader
http://www.pcgp.it/dati/2012-05/04-999999/Vocation%20ENG2.pdf