Business as Mission Across Nations for MR15, Dr. Vahagn Asatryan

1. How has it transformed communities
Presented by:
Dr. Vahagn Asatryan
Business as mission across nations
© 2013, Dr. Vahagn Asatryan

2. Program
 Part 1 – God and my mission
 Part 2 – The God of Business
 Part 3 – Godly business Practice

3. Business as mission
The Great Commission
18
Then Jesus came to them and said, “All authority in heaven and on
earth has been given to me. 19
Therefore go and make disciples of
all nations, baptizing them in the name of the Father and of the
Son and of the Holy Spirit, 20
and teaching them to obey
everything I have commanded you. And surely I am with you
always, to the very end of the age.”
Matthew 28:18-20
34
“A new command I give you: Love one another. As I have loved you,
so you must love one another. 35
By this everyone will know that you
are my disciples, if you love one another.”
John 13:34-35

4. Section I: God and my mission
"Thus says the LORD, the King of Israel and his Redeemer, the LORD
of hosts: `I am the first and I am the last, And there is no God
besides Me.
Isaiah 44:6
“I am the Alpha and the Omega,” says the Lord God, “who is, and who
was, and who is to come, the Almighty.”
Revelation 1:8

5. Creator and creation
 Created all things
 Sustains them
 Sovereign ruler over all creation
 Perfect relationship

6. Sin or Injustice: The Fall
 Humans chose to go against God’s
standard
 Sin includes any thought, word, or action
that goes against His commands

7. Salvation / Redemption
“God’s justice against sinful man was satisfied by
the sacrifice of Jesus, the Christ. By faith in him,
we can be saved.” (see Mark 15:34).

8. The Holy Life
 Christians are called to glorify God
through faith

9. On calling
3
His divine power has given us everything we need for a godly life through our
knowledge of him who called us by his own glory and goodness. 4
Through these
he has given us his very great and precious promises, so that through them
you may participate in the divine nature, having escaped the corruption in the
world caused by evil desires.
5
For this very reason, make every effort to add to your faith goodness; and to
goodness, knowledge; 6
and to knowledge, self-control; and to self-control,
perseverance; and to perseverance, godliness; 7
and to godliness, mutual
affection; and to mutual affection, love.
8
For if you possess these qualities in increasing measure, they will keep you
from being ineffective and unproductive in your knowledge of our Lord
Jesus Christ. 9
But whoever does not have them is nearsighted and blind,
forgetting that they have been cleansed from their past sins.
10
Therefore, my brothers and sisters,[a]
make every effort to confirm your calling and
election. For if you do these things, you will never stumble, 11
and you will receive
a rich welcome into the eternal kingdom of our Lord and Savior Jesus Christ.
2 Peter 1:3

10. The Virtuous Life
 God is more glorified with us developing good
characters—becoming good men / women - than with
us doing random good deeds.
 God wants to help us develop virtuous characters,
which is to say characters that reflect a bit of His perfect
self.
 The godly life, therefore, is also a virtuous life.

11. The tree of merchants

12. 1. You shall have no other gods before me
2. You shall not make for yourself an idol
3. You shall not misuse the name of God
4. Keep the Sabbath day holy before God
5. Honour your father and mother
6. You shall not murder
7. You shall not commit adultery
8. You shall not steal
9. You shall not give false testimony against your
neighbour
10. You shall not covet
The Ten Commandments (Exodus 20:1-17)

13.  Survey B

14. God’s purpose for business
PART II
The God of Business

15. What is the purpose of business?

16. Parable of ten minas
(Luke 19:11-27)

17. What is the purpose of business?
- to develop the world and to enable man to
honour God and bring Him glory.

18. The wheels of Prosperity

19. Parable of the Good Samaritan
Love the Lord your God with all your heart
and with all your soul and with all your mind
and with all your strength.’
The second is this: ‘Love your neighbor as
yourself.’
There is no commandment greater than
these.”
Mark 12:30-31
Who is my neighbour?

20. Stakeholder = neighbour
 Individuals or small groups with the
power to respond to, negotiate with,
and change the strategic future of the
business.

21. Stakeholder relationship framework
WOF Group –
widows, orphans,
and foreigners
WOF Group –
widows, orphans,
and foreigners

22. Questions?

23. The fable of a fox and a scorpion

24. Section III – Virtuous practice
VIRTUE
 A virtue is a trait or quality deemed to be
morally excellent and thus is valued as a
foundation of good moral character. Personal
virtues are characteristics valued as
promoting individual and collective well being.

25. Virtuous circle
GODGOD

26. Imitating God’s Moral Character
 Virtues represent qualities of God
found also in humans.
 Do you see virtuous people in your
business? How are they different?

27. Justice
 “To treat each thing, person or situation correctly
or rightly.”
 Justice means treating….
 a superior as a superior,
 an equal as an equal (equality) and
 a subordinate as a subordinate.

28. Question
 How might you encourage your
managers to practice justice?
 How might you encourage your
subordinates to act fairly, justly, and
caringly?

29. VIRTUE
Employee
Customer
Community
Supplier
Partner
Govnt.
Special Group:
Widows, Orphans,
Strangers
Other
VIRTU™ Matrix
Exercise
*Note: For each of these
Matrix Exercises:
1)identify a stakeholder,
and
2)identify or imagine an
example that illustrates
the application of the
virtue toward that
stakeholder.

30. JUSTICE
Employee
Reell Engineering redesigned the assembly line based on Teach-Equip-Trust (TET) style of management in
which employees were taught inspection procedures, equipped with quality instruments and trusted to do
things right on their own assembly line. Employees decreased setup times for new products, reduced the
need for quality inspection, increased overall quality and required less supervision. By reducing these costs,
the company not only was able to set pay rates at a level closer to a living wage, but also created a richer
work experience by making employees accountable for developing their knowledge and skills. When work
is designed to use $7 of talent, it is difficult to pay people anything more than that amount. When an
employee is hired with no experience and no skills, the company pays the worker the market rate ($7 per
hour or whatever it is at the time), but then makes a commitment to move that employee to the target or
living wage ($11 per hour) through training and skill development. Responsibilities of employees here as
well. Employees are not merely recipients of justice, but they are also an integral part of the process of
creating right relationships in how they choose to pursue their work.
Customer
Community
Supplier
Partner
Govnt.
Special Group: Widows,
Orphans, Strangers
Other

31. HONESTY
 “To say, write or more broadly
communicate truth where it is relevant
that one so communicate it.”
“You shall not give false testimony against your neighbor.” Exodus 20:16
“O you who believe! Fear God and be with those who are truthful.”
(Surah 9:119)

32. Questions
 What are some apparent disadvantages of
honesty in the marketplace / business? All
things considered, are these really
disadvantages?
 Describe someone honest in your
(business) life. Why did you pick that
person?

33. HONESTY
Employee
Customer
A translation services company was contracted to translate materials for a
workshop in a foreign country. The parties agreed to the pay-per-page model.
The amount of work significantly exceeded the original agreement. The text
contained graphs, pictures, and charts - lots of "white space". The agency
charged for the equivalent of the actual "text" pages.
Community
Supplier
Partner
Govnt.
Special Group:
Widows, Orphans,
Strangers
Other

34. Self-control
 “Restraining one’s emotions or appetites
in keeping with justice or what is right.
This is positive inaction.”
“And as for him who fears to stand in the presence of his
Lord and forbids his own soul from its whims and caprices
then surely Paradise is the abode” (Surah 79:40-41)
“Like a city whose walls are broken down is a man who lacks
self-control” Prov. 25:28

35. Group work
 Do you know someone at work whose lack of
temperance affects performance?
 What about the balance of work and family life?
 Can a healthy balance be achieved between
maximizing profits and temperance? How?

36. TEMPERANCE / SELF-CONTROL
Employee
Customer
A Christian bank has strong market share in niche lending area. The bank is making above
average profit. Regulators asked why the Bank had not increased interest rates charged on small
loans. Board discussed difference between charging what "can" and what "should". Decided to
keep rates lower to provide benefit to borrowers realizing this meant lower rates to
savers/suppliers.
Community
Supplier
Boeing corporation deliberately rotates buyers as to avoid potential for conflict of interest or self-
dealing or corruption.
Partner
Govnt.
Special Group:
Widows, Orphans,
Strangers
Other

37. Forgiveness
Forgiveness as such is a type of sacrificial love and so goes beyond
(though always through) justice. As such it is non-obligatory and very
praiseworthy.
“Be kind and compassionate to one another, forgiving each other,
just as in Christ God forgave you.”
Ephesians 4:32
“Take to forgiveness and enjoin good and turn aside from the ignorant.”
(Surah 7:199)

38. Group work
 How can forgiveness be relevant to business
operations?
 What were the positive outcomes of forgiveness?
 What are the consequences of non-forgiveness (that
you may have observed or suffered in business)?

39. FORGIVENESS
Employee
Customer
Community
Supplier
Partner
John owned a Painting Business which was run as a partnership between himself and another man,
Jacob. They mostly painted commercial industrial buildings such as factories, new office buildings, etc.
After many years of working together, John’s business partner stopped showing up for work, ... in the
middle of working on a large contract. Jacob's continual absence made it impossible for their company to
finish the job on time and as a result, the building contractor who hired them for that job is no longer
willing to work with John’s company. Instead of starting a fight with his partner, however, John exercised
forgiveness because he truly cared for his partner. John was not able to find the partner for more than
two weeks, but was still able to forgive him and actually helped his partner deal with family troubles that
he was having at the time.
Govnt.
Special Group: Widows,
Orphans, Strangers
Other

40. Generosity
Two senses:
Generosity as justice is when the strong benefits the weak (the strong
could mean the financially strong, the educationally strong, the
physically strong, etc.). And the weak would be the corresponding
person or thing).
Generosity as love is when a person (strong, equal or weak) doesn't
have any obligation to help a person (usually financially, materially or
time-wise), but still chooses to do so.
“A generous person will prosper; whoever refreshes will be refreshed.” Proverbs 11:25
“Never shall you attain righteousness unless you spend on others out of what you yourselves
truly love; and whatever you spend – certainly, God knows.” (Surah 3:92)

41. Group work
 Who is a model of generosity for you now in your
community or organization? What can you write or
say about this person?
 What kind of gifts and talents has God blessed you
with? How can you share them with your
stakeholders?

42. GENEROUSITY
Employee
Jacks Landscaping, a landscape construction company based in Richmond Hill, ON provides
employees with proper compensation both in the winter and summer months. It is a rare
practice in the industry to compensate employees a set pay even during the winter months
with regard to snow removal. Employees are still paid whether it snows or not, which is very
uncommon in the industry. Not only compensation, but Jack's Landscaping provides
employee bbq's, outings, and employee support as a way to show generosity.
Customer
Community
Supplier
Partner
Govnt.
Special Group:
Widows,
Orphans,
Strangers
Milton Hershey was considered to be a fool by his wealthy contemporaries. His chocolate
company brought him millions of dollars, but he used most of it to invest in a school for
homeless children (now known as the ) and other charitable causes.
Other

43. Humility
When the weak (a person lacking something)
recognizes his or her weakness (lack) especially
in the presence of the strong (or a person who
doesn't have the corresponding lack).
A man who recognizes he's not God is humble in this sense. An
employee who recognizes he's not the boss is humble in this sense.
“
He has showed you, O man, what is good? And what does the LORD require
of you? To act justly and to love mercy and to walk humbly with your God.”
Micah 6:8
“Call to your sustainer humbly, and in the secrecy of your hearts.”
Quran 7:55

44. Group work
 How does humility relate to business activity?
 What does it mean to be humble in business?
 How would you encourage your younger
manager and/or employee to pursue humility?

45. HUMILITY
Employee
Customer
Community
Supplier
Partner
Govnt.
Special
Group:
Widows,
Orphans,
Strangers
Other

46. Case study
 ON THE EMPLOYEE: Janice is a highly educated top executive in
charge of research and development. John is her underpaid
assistant, struggling to support his family. His performance
evaluations have always been more than adequate. As one of his
research projects, John designs a creative software package that
addresses major concerns within the company. He shares this
program with Janice, hoping it will bring him a much needed
promotion and raise. Janice’s boss has asked her to design an
innovative and efficient program. But pressures of her position keep
her from setting aside sufficient time to do the requested work.
Janice, eager to successfully complete the job her boss assigned, is
thinking of presenting John’s program to her boss and passing it off
as her own. If John objects, she can threaten to lower his
performance evaluations or possibly even fire him. But Janice doesn’t
pass it off as her own.

47. THE END (JUST THE BEGINNING)…