1 The Lost Purposes of Business

This paper sets forth that the transactional shareholder model of business which fundamentally holds that the sole purpose of business is to make profit, is flawed. The paper proposes that there are three purposes of a business: profit, to provide for society, and to protect and provide for employees. This proposition is first set forth sans a Biblical viewpoint. Then the paper sets forth that having these three purposes provides a triangle of purpose which controls business excesses. The inference is that the lack of three purposes may explain current business abuses. The paper then shows that this model is consistent with the Biblical purposes of a business. Then a study is presented which measures student understanding of the purposes of a business. Analysis of 362 subjects surveyed at four campuses in two Christian institutions, lead to recommendations regarding actions that should be considered by business departments at Christian colleges and universities