Theodore (Ted) Malloch’s recently-released Practical Wisdom in Management: Business Across Spiritual Traditions (Greenleaf, 2015) highlights the important role of spiritual capital and virtues-based ethics in shaping the leadership and culture of organizations.
Malloch is a Fellow in Management Practice at the Saïd Business School, University of Oxford, UK. He previously served as Research Professor at Yale University where he pioneered the Spiritual Capital Initiative, resulting in a number of case studies which formed the basis for this book. Malloch is a frequent keynote speaker around the world and he will be addressing the “ELO World Conference” in Toronto, Canada on November 18th, 2015 (see www.entrepreneurialleaders.com for more information).
Malloch is to be commended for being a pioneer who is advocating for the role of virtue-based ethics, rooted in traditional and long-standing spiritual traditions. Malloch has argued in previous writings, which this book builds upon, that spiritual capital provides businesses with people with the strong personal convictions, moral scruples and spiritual discipline that yield success. He has explained how spiritual capital encourages the virtues of compassion, forgiveness, perserverence, patience, courage, humility and self control that a healthy market requires.
Malloch has argued that spiritual traditions have not been recognized for their valuable contribution to social capital. He uses the term “spiritiual capital” to describe the concept of spiritual traditions which shape the motivations and action of company leaders. Malloch describes how major spiritual traditions emphasize a virtues-based approach to ethic, where motivation comes from within rather than being imposed externally by rules. Malloch notes that the most common approach of attempting to impose rules on people who are not ethically-oriented is a recipe for the proliferation of miscreants and their misdeeds.
Malloch readily acknowledges counter voices in today’s environment, such as virualent atheists such as Richard Dawkins, who outright dismiss any view with a religious source, or others who have referred to religion-based analyses as “metaphysical mumbo jumbo.” (p. ix)
The title of the book refers to “practical wisdom.” Malloch defines “practical wisdom” as, “that ability to discern effective means for attaining good ends in light of particular and unique circumstances.” (pp. xvii – xviii). The subtitle of the book is “Business Across Spiritual Traditions.” The bulk of the book consists of 22 case studies, which feature a summary of the particular company followed by a teaching note. The case studies span various spiritual and philosophical traditions: Catholicism, Protestantism, Judaism, Confucianism, Islam, Buddhism, Shintoism, Hinduism, Zoroastrianism and Humanism.
The cases studies include many well-known companies. More importantly for the context of his work, the case studies focus on the spiritual tradition associated with these companies which is often not highlighted elsewhere. For example, HSBC was impacted the leadership of Chairman Stephen Green, an Anglican lay minister. The Four Seasons Hotel chain was shaped by the Judaism of Isadore Sharpe. The Marriott hotel chain is shaped by the Mormonism of its founding family. Malloch discusses how the Mormon Marriott family grew their hotel chain while navigating issues of the hotel and gaming industries.
Malloch realizes that there is much work to be done in order to draw more clearly the cause and effect between spiritual traditions and how they are manifested in the actions of leaders and their companies, and how this activity then collectively impacts economies. Malloch argues that, “Spiritual capital is becoming a useful concept and term for a vital feature of economic development that has been largely overlooked in modern theories of development.” (p. xxvi) Malloch suggests that when societies are disconnected from their religion and spiritual sentiments that, “societies and economies often decline rather than grow. When this abounds societies, corporations and economies prosper.” (p. xxvi).
Malloch highlights the challenges of business leadership on a global scale and the spectre of dealing with various ethical issues. While society develops it technological expertise, there is not necessarily an ethical framework on a broader scale which will help nations work collaboratively. Malloch suggests that, “Practical wisdom may seem like an old answer to recurrent problems but if used expertly and adapted to the the times actually represents a way forward.” (p. 335). Individuals and societies needs to keep learning. Theats to freedom, democracy and economic growth can be countered through solutions “rooted in the teaching of the virtues and practical wisdom present in all the world’s spiritual and philosophical traditions.” (p. 335).
There are very few resources availale to readers interested in the topic of the implact of spiritual traditions or faith in the marketplace. Further, there are very books available to instructors at both religious and secular business schools to highlight the contribution of spiritual traditions. Practical Wisdom in Management is a valuable resource, and one of the few, that provides a reasoned and credible perspective on the contributon of spiritual traditions to present management thinking and actions, and hopefully leads to a reconsideration of how to approach ethical decision-making in a corporate context.