What are the qualities of a good Christian businessman? How can one balance profit with the concept of the common good? Is there anything morally problematic with profit? These and other similar questions are commonly asked. The social teaching of the Church provides the answer.
Christian businessmen must combine strategies for making a profit with strategies for promoting the good of their workers. This is the right Christian attitude towards business. This is valid on the micro and macro level.
Let us take the debate about companies producing medicines. Such companies have a right to make a profit and protect patents. Patenting such medicines is part of protecting a drug company's investment in research and development. But is there no limit to their right? What should one say about this right if it conflicts with people's right to needed medicines and care?
It is true that producing medicines is a complicated and costly process depending, among other things, on expensive research and development. However Christian social teaching would also say that the right to protect intellectual property - even though it is fair and helps stimulate progress - can in some instances conflict with other fundamental rights such as the right to good health.
And the right to good health can over ride the right for profits. The pursuit of profit is not the sole end of such business activity. The Gospel challenges business leaders to respect the dignity and creativity of their employees and customers and the demands of the common good.
On the other hand Catholic social teaching recognizes the importance of profits for businesses: That is what allows them to continue their activity, to employ workers, to expand and to reward hard work. Seeking short-term profits can be unethical when the push to make quick cash ignores the long-term health of the company or when the goal is to enrich only a few people involved in the business.
While businesses must make money to continue, the common good cannot be reduced to ensuring a profit. A wise businessman should surely know that long term planning should ensure that a business serves itself while it serves society. While Catholic social teaching does not pretend that private businesses must take on all of the social ills they find in their communities it does recognise that they may have creative means for dealing with problems and should be willing to help.
The wisdom of this perspective was given testimony by Albert W. D'Souza, owner of Printania Offset in Mumbai, India, during a meeting for businessmen held at the Vatican last month. Mr D'Souza who employs about 500 people said that "If we put ethics into practice, it will sow good." As for promoting the common good and working to eliminate poverty, he said, "it is business people who see the impact of poverty, but also see possibilities for what can be done."
Robert J. McCann, a vice-chairman at Merrill Lynch & Co., said that people would be surprised to learn how much time his company spends discussing its ethics, reputation and standards as well as analyzing the practices of companies with which it works. "In our business," he said, "all you have is the trust you build with your clients." McCann said that in much of the business world there has been a fundamental change over the past decade from discussing "what is legal or illegal to discussing how by doing or not doing something one could put the reputation of the company at risk."
Such discussions are more and more important today after the great number of scandals which hit the business world and which almost eroded people's confidence in big business. As a result of such scandals and people's reactions the financial and commercial sector is becoming increasingly aware of the need for sound ethical practices, which ensure that business activity remains sensitive to its fundamentally human and social dimensions.
Recent experiences have shown that the enormous harm that unethical practices and behaviour can inflict upon business companies, upon stockholders and upon the wider community.
Experience is showing that the maxim that honesty is the best policy does not make only moral sense but also good business sense.