The Friedman Doctrine, which says the greatest responsibility of business is to satisfy the business’ owners, has guided how companies operate for more than half a century. There’s some logic to this. The owners are the ones who have taken the greatest financial risk and therefore should reap the greatest financial reward. Especially when the business owner is active in a small business, this mindset is natural. If I’m in control, why would I sacrifice some of the benefit to myself for the benefit of another? From the world’s perspective, that would be foolishness.
But the Bible teaches us that God’s two greatest commands are to love Him and to love our neighbor. Loving our neighbors, in a Christ-like manner, requires an others-first mindset in our businesses. God not only requires this of us, but He promises that our sacrificial love will be rewarded. Those rewards might or might not come in a form that the world values, but they are precious rewards that are beyond measure.
Read my full article here on this tension and how we can deal with it in our businesses.