Abstract
Small groups of tightly connected co-religionists have sometimes succeeded in business. The Quakers of the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries were a good example. Initially persecuted by English authorities, the Quakers faced reduced opportunities. They turned to business instead of precluded careers in government or the law. Quaker businesspeople nurtured a network of co-religionists in England and Colonial America and practiced high standards of ethical behavior. By using peer pressure, Quakers created an enduring legacy of probity, honesty, and, in many cases, compassion.
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- 1.
Some of the workers developed “phossy jaw” from contact with the matches.
- 2.
Cadbury once explained to a visitor why the art work on the walls of his home was so poor: “Why should I hang fortunes on my walls while there is so much misery in the world?” (Bradley [1987] 2007, 142).
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One wonders whether the workers might have tired of chocolate and therefore consumed little of what they produced.
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Dellheim discussed whether the Cadburys were paternalistic or exerted “social control” with regard to their workers. He concluded, “Indeed, it is more accurate to say that the firm empowered workers by establishing works councils, supporting trade unions, and providing education. Cadburys practiced the ethics of social contract, not the ethics of social control” (Dellheim 1987, 41–42).
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Surdam, D.G. (2020). Quakers and Business Ethics. In: Business Ethics from Antiquity to the 19th Century. Palgrave Macmillan, Cham. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-37165-4_13
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DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/978-3-030-37165-4_13
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