Last updated - 20th April 1997
This study pack is designed to help Christian people, concerned about how to express Christian life values in the world of business, to think through many of the practical issues they face from day to day. It has received a warm welcome from, and is proving useful to, people in countries from Romania to England, and from Russia to the United States. It is currently in process of translation into four languages in addition to English.
From late-1993 until early-1995 we worked closely with the Ethics Development Intitiative (EDI) team at CARE (Christian Action, Research & Education - London) to develop study materials on standards of behaviour in business life. The EDI focus is on the post-communist countries of Central & Eastern Europe and much of the research and development was carried out in Slovakia, Poland, Hungary and Romania with input from many other countries including the United States and Britain. The aim was to identify the most significant dilemmas faced in business by morally sensitive people and to address them from a Biblical Christian perspective.
The study pack, following an introduction, deals with twelve selected topics including the dignity of work, how to treat customers and suppliers, behaviour toward staff, attitudes to the law, honesty, bribery and the environment. Each module includes a mini-case study ( a series of incidents in the life of a fictitious small business "somewhere in Central or Eastern Europe"), an outline of relevant Biblical references, and a series of questions and exercises designed to help the user think through the issues without providing easy, simplistic, standardised answers.
Users of the study pack are encouraged to think about the questions raised in the light of "Seven Core Principles of Business Integrity" - Stewardship, Service, Truth, Justice, Creativity, Consideration, Interdependence - each of these being related to Biblical thinking in an introductory section.