Does Christ Command Profit?
An Analysis of the Performance of
Christian-Cultured Companies Versus the Market
By
Daniel A. Steiner
A senior thesis submitted to
The Department of Religion, Princeton University
in partial fulfillment of the requirements for
the degree of Bachelor of Arts
Advisor: Professor David W. Miller
April 12, 2010
Authorization Page
This paper represents my own work in accordance with University Regulations.
I authorize Princeton University to lend this thesis to other institutions or individuals
for the purpose of scholarly research.
I further authorize Princeton University to reproduce this thesis by photocopying or by
other means, in total or in part, at the request of other institutions or individuals
for the purpose of scholarly research.
_______________________________________
(Signature)
ii
For my family—
Dad, Mom, Courtney, and Rachel
iii
Acknowledgements
I would first like to extend my deepest gratitude to Professor David W. Miller,
my advisor, whose guidance, understanding, and advice contributed immeasurably to
this thesis.
I am so thankful to have had the great pleasure of working with you
throughout this process.
I very much appreciate the guidance of Carter Le Craw at American Values
Investments, who helped me obtain several of the companies I used for my study, as well
as offer his company’s story. To John Tyson of Tyson Foods, Inc., who so candidly
shared his story with me and who will act as an inspiration to my future endeavors.
Much thanks is owed to Todd Hines, the Economics Librarian, who helped me
immensely with all matters dealing with data and the structuring of my experiment. I
would like to thank Andy Lorenzen, Melissa Todd, and Sheryl Rexrode of Chick-fil-A,
who, although we never formally met, provided me with generous amounts of time and
effort, despite all the issues that arose.
Additionally, I would like to extend my warmest thanks to my friends and family,
for their unnerving patience, love, and assistance throughout this process. I especially
owe to thanks to my father for his lawyerly editorial prowess, and my mother for her
unconditional encouragement and support.
Finally, I must acknowledge Olives and Small World Coffee, without which I
never would have endured this epic journey, and Marquand Library for allowing me to
act as an honorary major these past few months.
iv
Table of Contents
INTRODUCTION ......................................................................................................................... 1
The Continued Relevance of Religion .............................................................................. 2
Defining Terms ......................................................................................................................... 4
Objective ..................................................................................................................................... 5
Procedure ................................................................................................................................... 8
CHAPTER 1: HISTORY OF THE STUDY OF BUSINESS AND RELIGION ...................................... 11
Adam Smith ................................................................................................................................12
Max Weber.................................................................................................................................12
The First Wave of the Faith at Work Movement.........................................................14
CHAPTER 2: CONTEMPORARY LITERATURE REVIEW ............................................................ 17
Risk and Religion ................................................................................................................... 18
Religion and Economics........................................................................................................ 19
Faith at Work .......................................................................................................................... 20
CHAPTER 3: CASE STUDY: CHICK-FIL-A ................................................................................23
The Dwarf Grill..................................................................................................................... 23
“Closed on Sundays” Policy ................................................................................................. 24
The Birth of Chick-fil-A ...................................................................................................... 25
The Role of Christianity at Chick-fil-A ......................................................................... 26
Chick-fil-A’s Success Story ................................................................................................. 27
The Non-Disclosure Agreement ....................................................................................... 28
CHAPTER 4: COMPANY PROFILES ...........................................................................................32
Socially Responsible Investing ......................................................................................... 32
Christian Funds ...................................................................................................................... 34
Chaplain-Serviced Companies ............................................................................................. 38
American Values Investments’ Companies...................................................................... 42
Miscellaneous Companies .................................................................................................... 48
CHAPTER 5: COMPANY ANALYSIS ..........................................................................................50
Method........................................................................................................................................51
Limitations of Research....................................................................................................... 52
Results....................................................................................................................................... 54
CONCLUSION ...........................................................................................................................56
APPENDIX A: COMPANIES ...................................................................................................... 61
List of Companies, Industries, and Codes....................................................................... 61
Company and Industry Data: Means and Differences ................................................ 62
Data Analysis: Significance of Differences .................................................................. 64
Price/Earnings Ratio Graphs ............................................................................................. 68
v
Dividend Yield Graphs ......................................................................................................... 70
Debt-Equity Ratio Graphs ................................................................................................... 72
Return on Assets (ROA) Graphs........................................................................................ 74
Return on Equity (ROE) Graphs........................................................................................ 76
APPENDIX B: MUTUAL FUNDS ...............................................................................................78
Timothy Plan: Morningstar Data and Graphs.............................................................. 78
Ave Maria Catholic Values: Morningstar Data and Graphs ................................... 80
LKCM Aquinas Growth: Morningstar Data .................................................................. 82
MMA Praxis Growth Index: Morningstar Data and Graphs ................................... 84
New Covenant Growth: Morningstar Data and Graphs............................................ 86
Mutual Funds vs. S&P 500 Graphs...................................................................................... 88
APPENDIX C: DEFINITION OF RATIOS ....................................................................................89
APPENDIX D: CHICK-FIL-A DOCUMENTS .............................................................................. 90
Questions for Dan Cathy ..................................................................................................... 90
Confidentiality/Non-Disclosure Agreement ................................................................. 91
BIBLIOGRAPHY .......................................................................................................................94
vi
Introduction
“Just in terms of allocation of time resources, religion is not very efficient. There’s a lot more I could be
doing on a Sunday morning.”1
–Bill Gates
“God gave me my money…It has seemed as if I was favored and got increase because the Lord knew that I
was going to turn around and give it back.”2
–John D. Rockefeller
The 1960s “secularization thesis” claimed that religion was on its way out and that
secularism would soon replace religion in postmodern times as the dominant ideology. Many of
the most influential thinkers of the 20th century—Auguste Comte, Emile Durkheim, Karl Marx,
Peter Berger, and Sigmund Freud—believed that religion would soon fade away as
secularization took hold of modern industrial nations. C. Wright Mills exemplified the thinking
behind this thesis:
“Once the world was filled with the sacred—in thought, practice, and institutional form.
After the Reformation and the Renaissance, the forces of modernization swept across the
globe and secularization, a corollary historical process, loosened the dominance of the
sacred. In due course, the sacred shall disappear altogether except, possibly, in the private
realm.3”
However, when one considers the importance of religion in our society today with New
Age spirituality sweeping across the western world, the refashioning of Samuel Huntington’s
1
“Bill Gates Quotes,” Brainy Quotes, http://www.brainyquote.com/quotes/quotes/b/billgates102601.html
2
Chernow, R.: 1999, Titan: The Life of John D. Rockefeller Sr., London: Warner Books, 1999, 54.
3
Mills, C. Wright, The Sociological Imagination, Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1959, 32.
1
“Clash of Civilizations” thesis in the United States’ War on Terrorism in Iraq and Afghanistan,
and the rise of the Christian Right in American politics and culture, it is hard to fathom this
thesis reaching fruition any time soon. Impressively, Peter L. Berger, the famous sociologist,
recanted his initial claims regarding the secularization of our society, saying “the world today,
with some exceptions…is as furiously religious as it ever was, and in some places more so than
ever. This means that a whole body of literature by historians and social scientists loosely
labeled ‘secularization theory’ is essentially mistaken.” It appears that Berger is right.4
The Continued Relevance of Religion
Overwhelmingly it seems that religion has continued to be a vital part of human
existence—and for the purpose of this paper, life in the United States.
A recent article in
Newsweek asserts, “it doesn’t take a degree from Harvard to see that in today’s world, a person
needs to know something about religion.”5 According to a poll conducted by Gallup in late
2007, more than 8 out of 10 Americans identify with a Christian faith. Considering that 13% of
those polled did not affiliate with a religion at all or did not answer, well over 90% of Americans
identify with a Christian religion.6 According to the Princeton Religious Research Index, which
has tracked the trend of organized religion since its inception in the 1950s, Americans have
exuded a “sharp increase in religious beliefs and practices since the mid-1990s.” Marc Gunther
4
Norris, Pippa and Ronald Inglehart, Sacred and Secular: Religion and Politics Worldwide, Cambridge, UK:
Cambridge University Press, 2004, 4.
5
Miller, Lisa, ‘Harvard’s Crisis of Faith: Can a secular university embrace religion without sacrificing its soul?”
Newsweek, 11 Feb 2010. http://www.newsweek.com/id/233413, 1.
6
Newport, Frank, “Questions and Answers About Americans’ Religion,” Gallup, Princeton, NJ, 24 Dec 2007,
http://www.gallup.com/poll/103459/Questions-Answers-About-Americans-Religion.aspx#1
2
and Michelle Conlin, writing for Fortune and Business Week, respectively, cite a 1999 Gallup
Poll that found that 95% of Americans believe in God or universal spirit and important to this
paper, 48% said they talked about their religious faith at work the day they were polled.7
An important scholar in the field of faith at work, Laura Nash declares, “Spirituality in
the workplace is exploding.”8
Schwartz echoes this notion: “over the past decade, the
appearance of religion, spirituality and God in the workplace has grown significantly.”9 The
prevalence of religion in business can be quantified in a few ways. As of 2002, MMA Praxis
Mutual Funds found the number of religious based mutual funds to be 75, exponentially
growing a whopping 121% in comparison to the growth of traditional mutual funds (16%).
MMA also found that 80% of U.S. investors consider themselves to be religious or spiritual and
over 60% of investors try or would like to try to incorporate faith into decisions about money. 10
The 2003 International Faith & Work Directory, the most comprehensive assessment of firms
that comprise the “Faith at Work” movement, reports “more than 1,200 groups, institutions,
and organizations that in some capacity are part of the FAW (Faith at Work).”11 Conclusively,
the Secularization Thesis has been convincingly debunked for the time being, as religion
continues to be a focal point in contemporary American society and shows no sign of lingering
support.
7
Gunther, Marc. "God & Business. Fortune 144:1, 2001. 59.
8
Conlin, Michelle. “Religion in the Workplace.” Business Week Magazine. 1 Nov. 1999
http://www.businessweek.com/1999/99_44/b3653001.htm
9
Schwartz, Mark. "God as a Managerial Stakeholder?" Journal of Business Ethics, 2006.
10
Ibid
11
Miller 106
3
Defining Terms
For the purpose of this paper, it is important to define several terms that have loaded
connotations. I will refer to Christian companies or Christian-cultured early and often. By
Christian or Christian-cultured company, I wish to describe a company that has roots of
Christian founders or executives, who sought in some way or fashion to incorporate their
Christian values into their business and/or a company that promotes Christian values or
teachings in its business practices. Companies may instill these Christian values in a number of
ways: company’s mission statements, code of ethics, investment strategies, general culture,
chaplaincy programs, among others. Certain companies prefer to adhere to Christian principles
explicitly, such as the fast-food chain Chick-fil-A, which closes its franchises every Sunday to
observe the Sabbath, while others more subtly express their adherence, such as Alaska Airlines,
which supplies prayer cards with its meals. In general, I will refer to companies as Christian if
they publicly state their Christian beliefs through public statements, books, interviews or if a
reliable third-party confirms that said company incorporates Christian values into its business
strategy.
Though it is difficult to quantify the disparity, most of the companies I have come across
in my research that instill Christian values into their business are private companies, though
increasingly it seems that more of these companies are becoming public. Still there are many
companies that for various reasons—presumably public perception, media outcry, and
investors—choose to hide their religious sentiments behind the veil of values-based terminology.
Such firms refer to themselves as “socially responsible,” “value-driven,” and so on. While there
are countless firms in the United States that abide by an ethical framework—deontological,
4
ethological, teleological, virtue ethics, or religious—this paper will focus on the latter
framework, specifically focusing on Christian-cultured companies.
Another set of terms that should be clarified before going any further are: religion,
spirituality, and faith. Each of these terms can mean different things in different contexts
depending on who is using it and who is listening. In the discussion of religion outside of the
church, temple, or mosque, language matters. Often when used publicly, religion may connotate
something negative, alienating, and pejorative. Spirituality on the other hand is characteristically
understood as being open and inclusive. Both, in fact, are false caricatures regarding religion
and spirituality; strands of religion are very inclusive, while spirituality is not always such a
lovey-dovey thing. For this reason, Professor Miller has chosen to use the term “faith” as an
overarching term that includes religion and spirituality. Faith encompasses both negative and
positive constructs of religion and spirituality, enabling everyone to participate in the
conversation.12 More specifically, “faith” recognizes and acknowledges the existence of and belief
in a “higher power,” Creator, theistic being, or divine figure that most people in the west call
God.”13
Objective
The point of this project was to look at the performance of religious companies,
specifically ones with Christian values, leadership and underpinnings, in comparison to their
secular counterparts. The economics of religion, faith-based investing, and other subjects
12
Miller, David, Business Ethics Lecture, 13 Feb 2010.
13
Miller, David, W. God at Work: The History and Promise of the Faith at Work Movement, Oxford: Oxford
University Press, 2007, 15.
5
conflating the seemingly dichotomous categories of religion and business have debated its
validity and the reasons why people invest in certain companies, but few have contemplated the
performance of Christian-cultured companies. To the best of my knowledge—and at this point I
have covered a large portion of the literature on the topic of economics of religion, faith and the
workplace, and economics and decision making—there is no other paper that compares the
performance of explicitly Christian-cultured companies with secular companies within their
respective industries or sectors. As faith becomes more and more active in the business world
and in the workplace, and as Christians—and other religious peoples alike—are more
comfortable expressing their religiosity in the public sphere (“bringing faith to work”), the
performance of these companies will continue to become more significant.
The focus of my thesis evolved from one that explored the decision making of these firms
to exploring the sheer performance of these firms using several economic rubrics that are utilized
to typically measure performance. The reason I chose to focus my research further was because I
recognized a gap in the literature on the subject of business and religion.
Prior research,
significantly Hilary and Hui’s “Does Religion Matter in Corporate Decision Making in
America,” which inspired this project, does not evaluate the performance of specific companies,
but rather focuses on communities with high rates of religiosity as an indication of how
companies within those communities perform.14 Thus, I chose to examine the performance of a
group of publicly traded Christian-cultured companies from a dozen different industries and
compare their performance to their respective industries or “the market.” While this thesis will
14
Hilary, Gilles, and Kai Wai Hui. "Does Religion Matter in Corporate Decision Making in America?" Journal of
Financial Economics. 2009.
6
not revolutionize the subject, I do believe that it can significantly add to the limited scholarly
research on this particular area. For that, I consider this endeavor to be a worthwhile academic
pursuit.
Besides the fact that this thesis appears to be focusing on a subject that has yet to be
studied, there is a more practical reason why such an analysis might be relevant. Considering
that the vast majority of Americans associate themselves with a religion, I would assume that the
economic welfare of companies that at the very least claim to encourage Christian values would
be of some importance to shopper and consumers of such products. For investors with Christian
sentiments, a company that fit the criteria of Christian-cultured and performed as well or better
than companies without such a culture would most likely be attractive. In this sense, investors
might be able to satisfy both their financial responsibilities, as well as the responsibilities their
faith instills on them. Further, bringing one’s faith into the workplace for an employee can be
highly beneficial for a number of reasons. Along those lines, employers could reap rewards from
the integration of faith and work in their businesses.
My hypothesis is that the Christian-cultured companies I am evaluating using standard
economic ratios—Return Index (RI), Price to Book Ratio (BP), Price/Earnings Ratio (PE
Ratio), Dividend Yield (DY), Debt-Equity Ratio (DE Ratio), Return on Assets (ROA), and
Return on Equity (ROA)—will perform insignificantly different (meaning they will perform
similarly) than, or on par with, secular companies in their respective industries or sectors. While
this may come across as an endeavor not worth pursuing, I think that there are some profound
implications if in fact companies adhering to Christian values perform equally well as companies
with no faith restraints. One would think, and basic economic theory would agree, that a
7
business that constrains its investment possibilities in any means—spiritual, ethical,
environmental—should perform less well than a business without such constraints. This has
implications for not only religiously-minded investment funds and faith-inspired business more
generally, but more broadly it applies to socially responsible funds/investment houses and
businesses that might consider framing their business practices differently in light of
information enlightening (pun intended) them on the validity of running a business that
succeeds both financially and morally.
Procedure
The beginning of the thesis will provide some background into the field of business and
religion. I will give a brief history of the major players that spawned the growth in the
integration of these two subjects. Specifically, I will summarize the writings of Adam Smith in
his Wealth of Nations, Max Weber in The Protestant Ethic and the Spirit of Capitalism, Bruce
Barton’s The Man Nobody Knows: A Discovery of Jesus, and the Social Gospel movement
sparked by Walter Rauschenbusch. Next, I will review the recent literature on business and
religion, faith in the workplace, risk and religion, and other related subjects. A sample of some
of the papers and books discussed include: Hilary and Hui’s 2009 paper, “Does Religion Matter
in Corporate Decision Making in America?;” Gunther’s 2001 article in Fortune, “God and
Business;” Laura Nash’s Believers in Business; and Michelle Conlin’s 1999 Business Week
article, “Religion in the Workplace.”
After this review of the literature, I provide a case study involving one of, if not, the most
well-known Christian companies in the United States: Chick-fil-A. Based in Atlanta, Georgia
8
since its inception in 1946, Chick-fil-A publicly advertises the fact that it closes its doors each
and every Sunday (and has since 1946) to pay its respect to God by observing the Sabbath.
Thanks to Dr. Miller’s relationship with Chick-fil-A’s President, Dan Cathy, I was able to get in
contact with the chicken sandwich behemoth and arranged an interview with Mr. Cathy and
several other executives, as well as a tour of the company’s headquarters. Due to complicating
factors, I never ended up making the trip down to Atlanta. In this section, I discuss the history
of this impressive, staunchly Christian company, in addition to retelling my personal story.
Getting into the crux of the paper, I move into my performance analysis of the public
Christian-cultured companies. The companies I am evaluating are: Aflac Inc., Alaska Airlines,
Cass Information Services Inc., Lubrizol, Marriott International Inc., Mid-America Apartment
Communities Inc., Molson Coors Brewing Company, RLI Corporation, Stewart Information
Services Corporation, Sunrise Senior Living Inc., The Andersons, Inc., The J.M. Smucker
Company, Total System Services Inc., Tyson Foods Inc., Wal-Mart, and Yum! Brands, Inc.
The mutual funds are: Ave Maria Catholic Values Fund, LKCM Aquinas Funds, MMA Praxis
International Fund, New Covenant Growth Fund, and Timothy Plan. I provide company
profiles for the 16 public companies and 5 mutual funds I used in my study. These profiles
include brief descriptions of the primary functions of the companies and funds, as well as
“proof” that they satisfy my criteria for being labeled a Christian company. As indicated earlier,
these companies satisfy my criteria as Christian-cultured companies if they 1) have Christian
roots through its founders and/or with its continued leadership or 2) follow a Christian ethic or
Christian teachings, such as the promotion of the Golden Rule, in their business practices.
9
The analysis will evaluate the performance of these companies for the ten most recent
years of available data. I will find the mean of a company’s performance for each ratio that is
being tested and compare that mean to the mean of the industry in comparison. Finding the
difference between a company’s mean performance and an industry’s mean performance, I will
judge a disparity to be of significant proportions when it differs by a factor of 10%. Thus, if a
company performs 10% better than an industry in a ratio, it will be judged to “outperform” its
industry; if a company performs less than 10% different than its industry, it will be judged to
perform “insignificantly different than” or “on par with” its industry; and if a company performs
10% worse than an industry in comparison, it will be judged to “underperform” its industry. In
addition to my third part scale evaluation, I will provide graphs illustrating the ten-year trend of
these Christian-cultured companies in comparison to their industries using a number of
databases with financial information. (See Appendix A for data and graphs concerning
Companies).
Mutual funds will be evaluated using Morningstar data, which essentially completes the
analysis itself. Morningstar uses a rating system as well as rubrics to evaluate the performance of
mutual funds. I will compile data sheets and graphs in Morningstar to illustrate the results of
the five funds in questions in relation to their benchmark indexes and the S&P500 Composite.
(See Appendix B for data and graphs concerning Mutual Funds).
10
Chapter 1: History of the Study of Business and Religion
In the latter part of the 20th century and into the beginning of the 21st, the proliferation
of writings on economics and/or business fused with religious thought, practice, or behavior has
increased dramatically in what Professor David Miller terms the Third Wave of the Faith at
Work Movement.15 However, this literature, like all other scholarly work, is grounded in the
thinking of previous religious, economic, and sociology scholars before them. In order to fully
recognize the development and significance of more recent scholars and journalists on these
subjects of business and religion, it is crucial to explore the writings of their intellectual
forbearers. In her writing on stakeholder theory, Susan Keyy remarks “as early as the middle
ages, ‘God’ was considered to be a stakeholder, that is a corporate partner whose profits could
be distributed to the poor at the end of each year.”16 For our intents and purposes, the blending
of economics and religion technically originated in 1776 with the writing of Adam Smith’s
Wealth of Nations and only truly became relevant in Max Weber’s 1905 thesis, “The Protestant
Ethic and The Spirit of Capitalism,” which was later popularized by figures such as Russell
Conwell, Bruce Barton, and Walter Rauschenbusch. Thus, this intellectual focus has only
existed for little over a century. With this in mind, let us consider how it began.
15
Miller 63-79
16
Key, Susan, “Toward a New Theory of the Firm: A Critique of Stakeholder Theory,” Management Decision, 1999,
317.
11
Adam Smith
While widely regarded as the Father of Economics for his groundbreaking work in
Wealth of Nations (1776), Adam Smith is also considered by some to be the first “economic
imperialist;” that is to say, he applied his economic theories to subjects as far ranging as the
mercantile system, stock, and far more relevant to this paper, religion. He is not well known for
his contribution to the economics of religion, or rather, for some time his contributions have
been somewhat overlooked, but more recent analyses of the economics of religions have
rediscovered Smith’s influential positions on the subject matter. As with other facets of
economics, Smith believed that the “individual hand” of society encouraged individuals to
participate in religion as a rational device by which they “enhanced the value of their human
capital.”17 Smith attempted to explain why rational self-interested individuals participated in
religion on both supply and demand sides. He was concerned with two basic problems of
religious behavior: the economic incentives for practicing religion and the economics effects of
different religious systems as reflected in individual behavior.
In the end, Smith seems to
conclude that God and religion act as an enforcement mechanism for moral conduct and help
promote efficient allocation of human resources more generally. 18
Max Weber
Over a century passed before the German sociologist, Max Weber, influentially
considered the study of religion and economics once again in his two seminal pieces on the
17
Anderson, G. M. "M`R. Smith and the Preachers: The Economics of Religion in the Wealth of Nations,” Journal of
Political Economy,. 2003, 336.
18
Ibid
12
subject, “The Protestant Ethic and the spirit of Capitalism” (1905) and “The Protestant Sects
and the Spirit of Capitalism” (1906). Accepting the belief of the economic historian, Werner
Sombart, who claimed a “spirit of capitalism” had been a crucial element in the development of
the capitalistic economy, Weber went on to speculate that it was in fact the Protestant
Reformation, specifically the religious ethic of Calvinism, which was the catalyst of our modern
capitalistic economy. Referencing Benjamin Franklin, Weber ascertains the purpose of vocation
and of making money:19
“If we thus ask, why should “money be made out of men,” Benjamin Franklin himself,
although he was a colorless deist, answers in his autobiography with a quotation from the
Bible, which his strict Calvinistic father drummed into him again and again in his youth:
“Seest thou a man diligent in his business? He shall stand before kings” (Prov xxii.29).
The earning of money within the modern economic order is, so long as it is done legally,
the result and expression of virtue and proficiency in a calling.”20 –Max Weber
Weber contends that those that are most successful in modern business (alluding to John
D. Rockefeller, who famously said “God gave me my money,”21 and Russell Sage) are marked
by a certain asceticism, as well as an obligation in moneymaking. Kemper Fullerton further
contributes to the meaning of Weber’s thesis: “this conception of the secular life as a Godappointed task necessarily involves the idea that the proper performance of such a secular task is
a religious obligation; and the idea of the obligation to live a religious life within the sphere of
the secular which is found in Luther’s use of the word “calling” is one of the most momentous
contributions which the Reformation made to social theory.”22 It is man’s responsibility, writes
19
Weber, Max, The Protestant Ethics and the Spirit of Capitalism, London: Unwin Hyman, 1930, 14.
20
Green, Robert W. Protestantism and Capitalism: The Weber Thesis and its Critics. Problems in European
Civilization. Boston: D.C. Heath and Company, 1959.
21
22
Schwartz, Mark. 2006. "God as a Managerial Stakeholder?" Journal of Business Ethics. 292.
Fullerton, K, Protestantism and Capitalism: The Weber Thesis and its Critics, Ed. by Robert Green, Boston: D.C.
Heath and Company, 14.
13
Weber, to glorify God in his vocation or “calling.”23 Attributing the rise of modern capitalism to
a religious movement garnered some fierce criticism from sociologists, economists, and
historians alike, signaling the beginning of the debate over the role of economics in religion and
for our purposes here, the role of religion in economics (business).24
The First Wave of the Faith at Work Movement
According to Professor David Miller, three waves define what he terms the “Faith at
Work” movement, all of which more or less took place in the 20th century. The first wave, the
Social Gospel Era (1890-1945) owes its development to several key figures including Charles
Sheldon, Russell Conwell, and Pope Leo XIII. We will focus on two other of its most significant
actors representing two very different sides of a similar coin, Bruce Barton and Walter
Rauschenbusch. The Social Gospel, according to Miller, “sought theological legitimacy in and
gave hermeneutical primacy to the doctrine of the kingdom of God.”25
Bruce Barton, a successful New York businessman and U.S. congressman, is known for
his best-selling novel, The Man Nobody Knows (1925), which depicts Jesus not as a “mild,
meek, domesticated God whose relevance is relegated to quiet once-a-week visits…[but] rather
Jesus was a strong, vibrant being who lived in the rough and tumble of daily life, who
assembled a management team made of both winners and losers, and who built an organization
23
Green, Robert W. 1959. Protestantism and Capitalism: The Weber Thesis and its Critics.
Problems in European Civilization. Boston: D.C. Heath and Company, 9.
24
Ibid Vii-xii.
25
Miller
14
from scratch that has outlasted most other known business, governments, and societies.” Prior to
Barton, few businessmen considered Jesus to be a relevant inspiration in their everyday business
lives.26
Walter Rauschenbusch expressed some of the same sentiments regarding the vibrancy of
Jesus Christ, but tended to express himself in rather different ways. Though he often shifted his
views about the role of Christianity in business, he believed that Christians should participate in
business in order to make these companies, organizations, or communities more “Christ-like.”
Rauschenbusch’s goal was to spread faith in the workplace so that businessmen would “serve[]
God in the totality of their lives.”27 Thus the idea of bringing the whole person to work, as has
been realized in the latter half of the 20th century with the race, gender, and sex movement,
emerged from Rauschenbusch’s prescient goal of incorporation of faith and work.28
What is true of all of these influential early 20th century figures is that they considered
the conflation of business/economics and religion/faith when such thinking had for the most
part been deemed irrelevant in the past. As the 20th century progressed, especially after World
War II, literature concerning the role of religion in the workplace became more and more
prolific. Miller discusses the second wave (1946-1985) and the present or third wave (1985present) in his book, God at Work. In sum, Miller notes “the Faith at Work movement can be
linked to a long, rich theological tradition that stresses the doctrine of vocation and the coming
26
Bruce Barton in Miller, 23.
27
Rauschenbusch, Walter. “Wanted: A New Kind of Laymen.” Democrat and Chronicle. 1906
28
Miller 23-30.
15
kingdom of God, that recognizes work as central to Christian anthropology, and that claims that
someone’s faith should be a central and informing part of all spheres of life, including work.”29
Miller’s third wave, the Faith at Work era, is mirrored in Nobel-prize winning
economist’s, Robert William Fogel, The Fourth Great Awakening and the Future of
Egalitarianism, which notes four stages in American history as defined by an ethical awakening
in our nation’s consciousness. Several factors brought about this new wave of faith in the
workplace, among them the resurgence of religion in a counter to Soviet communism, the
emergence of the Moral Majority, the influence of the baby-boomer generation on corporate
leadership, the economic upheaval of the 1980s and the reassertion of U.S. economic dominance,
great technological advances, and of course a revival of faith.30 Moreover, the awakening that
the U.S. experienced in the 1980s has led to a change in the perception of the role of faith in the
workplace; namely, “that faith and work are not meant to be separated or isolated from each
other.”31 The defining characteristic of this 3rd wave, or fourth great awakening, is “a quest for
integration” of the two most fundamental aspects of most Americans’ lives: faith and work.32
29
Miller 15
30
Ibid 63-78
31
Miller 74
32
Ibid.
16
Chapter 2: Contemporary Literature Review
Gilles Hillary and Kai Wai Hui’s 2009 study, “Does Religion Matter in Corporate
Decision Making in America?,” initially spawned my interest in the study of religion and
decision-making.
In their paper they “examine how corporate culture influences firms’
behaviors and, more specifically, how the level of religiosity in a firm’s environment affects its
investment decisions.”33 Focusing specifically on certain religious and non-religious counties in
the western United States, they confirm some earlier research dealing with risk aversion and
religion (Miller and Hoffman 1995; Bachman et al 1993; Osoba 2003; Diaz 2003; Dehejia
2005), in that firms located in highly religious areas tend to exhibit lower risk exposure.
However, prior research dealt with individual risk aversion and individual religiosity for the
most part, rather than the religiosity of corporations, firms, or businesses. The authors
acknowledge that little research has been done on the effect of religion on the performance of
organizations. Hillary and Hui find that firms tend to require a higher internal rate of return
before investing, higher undiscounted profits and lower rates of investments. All of this leads to
lower long-term growth.
33
Hilary, Gilles, and Kai Wai Hui 1.
17
Risk and Religion
As mentioned above, most research concerning religion and risk has focused on the
relationship of the two on an individual level. Research overwhelmingly agrees with the notion
that religiosity and risk are inversely related on the individual level. Miller and Hoffman note:
“Social scientists ranging from Malinowski (1925) and Durkin to Greeley (1991)
and Stark and Bainbridge (1985, 1987) have all proposed that religiosity is, in
part, a risk analysis strategy, although they do not actually use that terminology.
Classic studies that suggest religiosity is a reaction to the fear of death, an
expression of the desire to control nature, and a reaction to the need for comfort
and hope during times of crisis are all, in essence, risk analysis studies.”34
In their 1995 article, “Risk and Religion,” Miller and Hoffman echo Pascal’s wager:
religious behavior is risk averse while nonreligious behavior is risk taking.35 Their article
specifically looks at the difference between religiosity and risk aversion between men and
women. They find that women are more religious than males because 1) they are taught to be
more submissive, passive, obedient, etc. and 2) females generally have a greater responsibility in
the rearing of children. They contend that risk preference is acquired earlier than religiosity
and remains somewhat constant throughout one’s life (Tellegen et al 1998; Zuckerman 1979;
Johnstone 1992; Allport 1957). Miller and Hoffman further the research on this topic and
strongly argue against the influence of religion upon one’s risk preferences. In fact they state
“there is scant reason to believe that becoming more religious makes one more risk aversive.”36
34
Miller, Alan S. and John P. Hoffman. “Risk and Religion: An Explanation of Gender Differences
in Religiosity.” Journal for the Scientific Study of Religion. 1996, 72.
35
Pascal considered belief in God to be a wager worth taking because one has nothing to lose by believing in God, but
potentially much to gain; however, not believing in God could potentially have a devastating downside (hell).
36
Miller and Hoffman 72
18
Rather, religious doctrine promotes risk-seeking behavior, not risk averse behavior, especially
when considering that religiosity may decrease one’s fear/uncertainty of death.37
Religion and Economics
Beginning with Adam Smith in his 1776 treatise, Wealth of Nations, the study of religion
and its affects on economic factors has exponentially grown, and has especially become more
prolific in the latter part of the 20th century and the early 21st century as religious behavior has
increasingly become more commonplace and widespread in the public sphere. The literature on
microeconomic characteristics has been fairly developed beginning with Adam Smith and
Weber.38 Recent literature dealing with religion on the microeconomic level includes studies on
religious affiliation and marriage (Lehrer and Chiswick (1993), divorce (Heaton and Pratt
(1990), and crime participation (Evans et al (1995), among many others.39
More recently, economic/religious scholars have focused more on religion and
macroeconomic growth. Examples include Barro and McCleary (2003), who found that there is
a negative correlation between macroeconomic development40 and church attendance and Guiso
et al (2003), who found that religion is generally associated with “good” economic attitudes,
“where good is defined as conducive to higher per capita income and growth.”41
37
Ibid
38
Hilary, Gilles, and Kai Wai Hui, "Does Religion Matter in Corporate Decision Making in America?" Journal of
Financial Economics, 2005, 1.
39
Ibid 5
40
Ibid 2
41
Hillary and Hui 6
19
In his dissertation, “Examining the Relationships of Spirituality and religiosity to
Invidividual Productivity in the United States,” Anthony Valasek confirms previous research
that found a positive and causal relationship between spirituality and productivity. His research
targets the substantial number of employees who desire to bring their spirituality to work, but
have henceforth been unable to for various implicit and explicit reasons.42 In her significant 1999
Business Week article, Conlin sites a McKinsey and Co. Australia analysis that proves that
spirituality at work improves productivity and reduces turnover rate. Mitroff and Denton
contend that employees that work for spiritual corporations are “less fearful, less likely to
compromise their values and more able to throw themselves into their jobs” and that 60% of
those polled in their Spiritual Audit of Corporate America believed spirituality was beneficial in
the workplace.43
Faith at Work
According to Schwartz, in his article “God a Managerial Stakeholder,” “over the past
decade, the appearance of religion, spirituality and God in the workplace has grown
significantly.”44 Cited by nearly every scholar in the field of religion in the workplace since its
publication in 1999, Michelle Conlin’s “Religion in the Workplace” uncovered the incredible
growth of religion/spirituality in the workplace at the end of the 20th century. Because
Americans are working so much longer than they did in the past—Conlin claims we Americans
42
Valasek, A. Examining the Relationships of Spirituality and Religiosity to Individual Productivity in the United
States. Diss. Northcentral University, 2009.
43
Conlin, Michelle. “Religion in the Workplace.” Business Week Magazine. 1 Nov. 1999,
http://www.businessweek.com/1999/99_44/b3653001.htm
44
Schwartz, Mark. "God as a Managerial Stakeholder?" Journal of Business Ethics. 2006, 292.
20
are working a month more than we did a decade ago—the workplace has become more and
more a place where people are spending their time. Rather than the church or at home or town
squares, Americans exist professionally, socially, and now religiously and spiritually in the
workplace. Amazingly, Conlin cites a Gallup Poll that found that 48% of those polled say they
talked about their religious faith at work that very day!45
Whereas “religion”/“God” and “business”/“workplace” may have been considered
“mutually exclusive” in the recent past, they “appear to be more and more inter-connected.”46
Even some of the biggest names in American industry are following this trend of spirituality in
the workplace. As stated in this paper, Taco Bell, Pizza Hut, and Wal-Mart retain chaplains,
who comprise “God Squads,” and who visit employees at hospitals, deal with emotional
problems. No longer is it taboo to speak of God at work. Prayer groups, spiritual conferences,
spiritual retreats and other similar activities are occurring all over the country in what Conlin
calls a “spiritual revival…sweeping across Corporate America.”47 According to the Fellowship
for Companies for Christ International (1999), 10,000 prayer and Bible groups meet regularly
in workplaces. There has even been increased academic research dedicated to the study of
spirituality in the workplace—University of Denver, University of New Haven, University of St.
Thomas, and The Center for Ethics and Religious Values in Business at the University of Notre
Dame, the last of which has been in operation for over 30 years.48
45
Conlin, “Religion in the Workplace…”
46
Schwartz 293
47
Conlin
48
Conlin, “Religion in the Workplace…”
21
Reflecting the growing interest of CEO’s in the relationship between productivity in
their business and spiritual connectivity, scholars and journalists have exponentially increased
the number of titles involving business and religion/spirituality. At the time Conlin wrote her
seminal 1999 article, the number of books dealing with spirituality in the workplace increased
four-fold from 1990-1999.49 New journals have formed, such as Journal of Management,
Spirituality and Religion and the Business Spirit Journal, that focus on the relationship of
religion, spirituality, and business. Many popular books have been written that depict this
growing trend, such as Julian’s God is My CEO and Moreton’s To Serve God and Wal-Mart to
name a few. When searching “God” and “business” in the Google Books database, one is
overwhelmed by 107,600 results.
In his book, God at Work, Miller argues that Christians in the U.S. complain of a
“‘Sunday-Monday gap,’ where their Sunday worship hours bears little to no relevance to the
issues they face in their Monday workplace hours.”50 He speaks extensively in his book about
the Faith at Work movement, which he notes began in the late 19th-early 20th centuries in its “
First Wave” and has moved into its “Third Wave” in more recent years. Those that are drawn
to this movement find that ethical decisions that they are faced with on a day-to-day basis needs
to be rooted in more than just legal and financial expertise; “they increasingly turn to biblical
teachings to search for ethical insights and guidance on business matters.”51
49
Ibid
50
Miller 9
51
Miller 11.
22
Chapter 3: Case Study: Chick-fil-A
After a two and half hour drive to the Philadelphia International Airport at 5:00 am in
the morning on the 22nd of January, I rushed to my gate to find out that my flight, too, had been
delayed due to the weather on the east coast. My destination was Atlanta, Georgia—a city that
to me symbolized “The South” and all its connotations—to meet the President of one of the
largest fast-food chains in the country, Chick-fil-A. As it turned out, my flight to Atlanta was
eventually cancelled as the weather in Atlanta compounded with the weather in Philadelphia
made flight too treacherous. Though it is cliché to say that all things (good and bad) happen for
a reason, it appears in hindsight that truly this was one of those times. For reasons I will soon
reveal, I never would have had the opportunity to speak openly with Mr. Cathy.
The Dwarf Grill
Over 50 years ago, Truett and Ben Cathy opened The Dwarf Grill, a tiny restaurant
with just a few tables and a counter, which was the predecessor to Chick-fil-A. Young Truett
was exposed to cooking early on in the form of his mother cooking for boarders in order to make
ends meet during the Great Depression. Truett and his siblings were put to work, so he
understood the difficulty of running a restaurant, but decided to embark on the adventure
anyway. The Dwarf Grill opened on May 23, 1946. It was open six days a week, 24 hours a day,
with Truett and Ben switching off working 12-hour shifts. The first day the new restaurant
made $58.20, mainly from blue-collar employees nearby and especially because of the Ford
Motors plant. As Truett writes in any number of his self-authored books, there was no
23
advertizing budget at the beginning with the Dwarf Grill so he learned that “hard work, good
food, and friendly customer service is the most effective form of advertizing.” 52
“Closed on Sundays” Policy
Truett recalls the decision to close the Dwarf Grill on that first Sunday in May of 1946:
“We closed that first Sunday in May in 1946 for very practical reasons: it wasn’t that we were
that holy—we were just tired!”53 Though its true that Truett closed that first Sunday because he
could not imagine another grueling 24-hour day at the restaurant, he explains that his intentions
were not as practical as he claims. As a Christian, Truett was taught that Sundays were meant
for the Lord, a time for rest, worship, and family togetherness. Mr. Cathy is quite open about
his rationale for being the only major fast-food restaurant in the United States to be closed on
Sundays, despite the fact that Sundays are one of the busiest days of the week in the restaurant
business:54
“There is a more important reason for this policy, though. As a Christian, I was taught
that Sunday was the Lord’s Day, a time for rest, worship and family togetherness.
Keeping all of our Chick-fil-A restaurants closed on Sundays has allowed our restaurant
employees to spend time with their families and to refresh themselves physically, mentally,
and spiritually each week. This policy also has enabled us to attract people who appreciate
these values, and I feel our people are more productive as a result.”55 –Truett Cathy
52
Cathy, S. Truett, It's Easier to Succeed than to Fail, Nashville: Oliver-Nelson Books, 1989, 8-9.
53
Ibid
54
Ibid
55
Cathy 10
24
Michelle Conlin comments that some 1,000 Chick-fil-A’s across the nation are closed on
Sundays, a policy that is not that difficult to enact because most of the employees are themselves
evangelical Christians.56
The Birth of Chick-fil-A
In 1963, business was going great for Truett. The Dwarf Grill had opened its second
restaurant a few years back and things looked like they would continue on this successful path.
But fate intervened and his second restaurant burnt down, calling into question the direction of
the company. Should he cut back to just one restaurant after having made so much progress? Or
should he go into significant debt in order to build another restaurant to replace it?
Unsurprisingly, Truett chose the latter—a choice that signaled the birth of Chick-fil-A.57
Rather than running the new restaurant like the Dwarf Grill, he decided to incorporate
some of the techniques revolutionized by the McDonald’s brothers in the 1950’s. He began
experimenting with different fast-food preparation techniques, ever pressing to reduce the time
that it took to make the food, while still retaining a high-quality product. Having experience in
preparing food from his childhood, Truett knew that removing the bones and skin from a
chicken breast made it easier and quicker to cook. Employing this strategy, he put a piece of
boneless, skinless all-white chicken breast in a butter bun and thus, the prototype of the Chickfil-A sandwich was born.58
56
Conlin
57
Cathy 11
58
Cathy 12
25
Trademarking “Chick-fil-A” in 1963, Truett opened the first Chick-fil-A mall restaurant
at Atlanta’s Greenbriar Mall in 1967. Starting in the 1970s, Chick-fil-A began franchising
locations to operators and expanding quickly. A testament to the loyalty of the franchisees and
the impressive management of the company, the turnover rate for Chick-fil-A operators is
around 6% compared to an industry average of about 35%.5960
The Role of Christianity at Chick-fil-A
As was true of most companies in the 1982-83 recession, Chick-fil-A experienced major
financial problems in the early 80s. To counteract this problem, Truett Cathy brought together
his executive team to discuss what Chick-fil-A was going to do.
“Since all of us were church members and had declared our faith in Jesus Christ, it didn’t
take long for the conversation to turn to religious aspects. We all agreed in the important
role Jesus Christ played in our own lives, but none of us liked the idea of parading around
our religious faith. We sought then to create a statement of our corporate purpose—not to
press our beliefs onto others, but rather to influence others in our organization by the
example we set in our lifestyles and by the way we treat people.
The two statements of our corporate purpose are as follows:
1) To glorify God by being a faithful steward of all that is entrusted to us.
2) To have a positive influence on all who come in contact with Chick-fil-A.”61
—Truett Cathy
While this statement really gets at the heart of Chick-fil-A as a company, the following
quotation taken from Mr. Cathy’s How Did You Do It, Truett? focuses more specifically on the
personal ethic and religiosity of Mr. Cathy himself:
59
Ibid 16
60
Statistics from 1997.
61
Cathy 20
26
“We all know that the scorecard of any business is the profit it produces. Without profit,
we cannot take care of our employees, our families, or contribute to the betterment of our
communities. The question is: How do we balance the pursuit of profit and personal
character? For me, I find that balance by applying biblical practices. I see no conflict
between Biblical practices and good business practices.”62
Further, Mr. Cathy implores those that visit Chick-fil-A’s website to adhere to his “Do’s and
Don’ts of Proven Entrepreneurial Success,” the 11th of which encourages entrepreneurs to
“invite God to be involved in every decision” for “He designed us to be winners.”63
Chick-fil-A’s Success Story
Chain Leader, a source that provides business analysis of restaurant chains, notes that
Chick-fil-A has maintained an astonishing 42 years of consecutive annual sales growth. With
roughly 1,500 restaurants in 38 states in the United States, Chick-fil-A is the second largest
chicken fast-food chain behind KFC. Even in the economic recession of 2009, Chick-fil-A
reported system-wide sales of over $3 billion, an 8.6% increase over their 2008 sales
performance. Dan Cathy, President and COO of Chick-fil-A, commented on the stellar
performance of Chick-fil-A in 2009: “Chick-fil-A has truly been blessed to have had another
year of sales growth during these difficult economic times…We have sensed God’s continued
blessings on this business especially during these unprecedented economic times.”64
Other than pure revenue, Chick-fil-A accomplished other things in 2009, leading into
2010. They won several prominent industry awards, including QSR Magazine’s Best Drive-
62
Cathy, S. Truett. How Did You Do It, Truett?: A Recipe for Success. Decatur, Georgia: Looking Glass Books, Inc.,
2007, 15.
63
“Do’s and Don’ts of Proven Entrepreneurial Success,” Chick-fil-A, www.Chick-fil-A.com
64
“Chick-fil-A Mark 42 Years of Annual Growth,” Chain Leader, 2 Mar 2010,
http://www.chainleader.com/article/447394-Chick_fil_A_Marks_42_Years_of_Annual_Sales_Growth.php
27
Thru in America for the sixth time. It also hosted its 42nd Chick-fil-A Bowl, which was
nationally televised on ABC and ESPN. In terms of philanthropy, Chick-fil-A is no slouch,
donating its 25,000th $1,000 scholarship to restaurant employees since 1973. Other charitable
endowments include over $1 million with its WinShape Foundation and 2009 Chick-fil-A
Bowl.65
The Non-Disclosure Agreement
Luckily for me, my flight to Atlanta was cancelled because as it turned out there was
very little reason for me to make the trip to the Chick-fil-A headquarters after all. I had been in
very close contact with several members of the Chick-fil-A Human Resources team planning my
visit to its headquarters and arranging meetings with several key executives, including the
President and COO and son of the founder Truett Cathy, Dan Cathy.66 About a week before my
flight, I received what amounted to a Non-Disclosure Agreement from my most senior contact,
Andy Lorenzen. For reasons I will go into later, Professor Miller, my father, and I thought it the
most prudent course of action not to sign the NDA as it stood.
The purpose of my visit was fairly straightforward—to interview Dan Cathy regarding
his Christian influences, how religion affected his decision making, and more generally the role
of Christianity in the decision making at Chick-fil-A. My intentions were made clear early on, as
I did not hide the purpose of my scholarly work. At any rate, Chick-fil-A did not feel
comfortable with the sorts of questions I was going to ask (see Appendix D for Chick-fil-A
65
Ibid
66
It should be noted that Professor Miller orchestrated the meeting with Dan Cathy. Many thanks Prof!
28
documents). The NDA spanned about ten pages in total. Examples of two of the passages that
we found to be the most troubling are provided below:
“Accordingly, Recipient hereby agrees that the Protected Information will be kept strictly
confidential by Recipient during the term of this Agreement. Recipient also agrees that
without the prior written consent of the Disclosing Party, the Protected Information: (i)
will not be disclosed by Recipient, in whole or in part, to any person or entity in violation
of this Agreement; and (ii) will not be used by Recipient with the intention of adversely
affecting the business or operations of the Disclosing Party or creating new or different
competition therewith.”
“Further, in the event Recipient uses any Protected Information in the Thesis, Disclosing
Party shall have editorial rights to the Thesis, which means the Thesis is subject to the
prior review and approval of Disclosing Party before being shared with any third party,
including, but not limited to, Recipient’s professor at Princeton University. In addition,
in the event Recipient uses any Protected Information in the Thesis, in no event may the
Thesis be published for circulation in any capacity (whether in hard copy, electronic form,
or otherwise) without the prior written consent of the Disclosing Party.”67
After hours of brainstorming between Professor Miller, my father (a lawyer), and myself,
we determined that the best course of action would be to fly to Atlanta without signing the
NDA and hopefully receive a bit more empathy from my contacts and Dan Cathy in person.
What we were hoping was that an overzealous corporate lawyer had constructed the NDA in an
effort to protect his commander and chief, Mr. Cathy, but that having travelled all the way to
Atlanta, Georgia from Princeton, NJ, I would have better luck convincing Chick-fil-A of my
scholarly pursuits.
There were several parts to the NDA that posed problems to my thesis research and
scholarly intentions. First and foremost, Princeton University’s policy is to publish, bind, and
archive all student theses, something in which I have/had no control, so I would have to be
allowed to publish the thesis as a scholarly work. Second, foregoing editorial control completely
67
“Confidentiality/Non-Disclosure Agreement,” Chick-Fil-A, 22 Jan 2010. (See Appendix C for the full document)
29
defeats the purpose of academic research, the pursuit of truth, and Princeton’s policies. I was
willing to have Chick-fil-A review and have approval rights over any quote that I attributed to
Mr. Cathy (or anyone else that I interviewed), but I could not give up full editorial rights.
Third, I wanted access to a recording device so that I might accurately represent Mr. Cathy’s
opinions. Finally, the document was aimed at a traditional corporate due diligence scenario, and
did not appear to be applicable to an undergraduate student’s thesis project; it was simply too
onerous for a student. I was more than happy to have a corporate lawyer sit in on the
conversation with Mr. Cathy to ensure that he did not say anything that might compromise the
company.
Due to my flight cancellation, I was unable to address the issues I had with the NDA in
person, so I spoke to Andy Lorenzen over the phone, only to be find myself grateful that my
flight had been cancelled. Andy was not willing to budge on any of the issues Professor Miller
and I were concerned with in the NDA, saying, “We (Chick-fil-A) have been burned on stuff
like this before. This is too sensitive a subject to allow living documents to exist.”68 I would like
to note that Andy Lorenzen, Sheryl Rexrode, and Melissa Todd—the HR representatives at
Chick-fil-A, with whom I had the pleasure to interact—were straight forward and pleasant
people and to my knowledge, helped me in every way imaginable (barring the NDA). Melissa
(we were on first-name basis by the end of the process) set up transportation services for me
from the airport, spoke with me countless times on the phone, and set up interviews with several
other executives. Andy graciously provided me with about ten companies, as well as their
contacts, that he believed had similar cultures to Chick-fil-A, and who might be more willing to
68
Lorenzen, Andy, Conversation with Author, 10 Feb 2010.
30
discuss their “values-based” cultures. In addition to this, Andy sent me eight books either
written by Chick-fil-A’s founder, Truett Cathy, or written about the company, as well as a
Chick-fil-A calendar, notepad, pamphlets, and a handwritten note apologizing that things did
not work out as we had planned. Despite the frustration I experienced concerning the NDA, I
cannot speak highly enough about the people I had the pleasure to meet in my dealings with
Chick-fil-A. They are a testament to why Chick-fil-A has such a stellar reputation in the
restaurant chain industry and undoubtedly why Chick-fil-A has been so successful.
Though it is far too large a topic to discuss in the focus and scope of this paper, it is
worth touching upon Andy Lorenzen’s words in regards to the NDA and my scholarly work.
Professor Miller and I discussed this at length for it is a tangential subject to this thesis that
deserves much more in-depth concentration and research than I will provide here.
Andy
advised me to reframe my questions, invoking “values” rather than “religious language,” such as
Christianity or faith or spirituality.69 As the evangelical Christian voice becomes more a national
debate, many evangelicals interviewed may feel that they will be discriminated against if they do
not taper their religious vernacular. It appears (though I have no evidence of this in my research
whatsoever), that Chick-fil-A may have experienced some level of prejudice from a news source
or society as a whole due to its Christian roots and values. The issue of the proper role of
religious language vs. public language in the public sphere is an ever-important question in the
United States and in our modern global society where tensions between religious and secular
forces are present on an everyday occurrence and do not appear to be going away any time soon.
69
Lorenzen, Conversation with Author, 10 Feb 2010.
31
Chapter 4: Company Profiles
The following is a brief description of the companies that I will be evaluating in my
performance analysis, which will include both statistical and visual representations of the data.
The purpose of these profiles is to more or less establish the validity of including these 22
companies in this survey of public Christian companies. As defined in “Defining Terms,” a
Christian company for the purpose of this paper is one that has roots of Christian founders or
executives, who sought in some way or fashion to incorporate their Christian values into their
business. Companies express their Christian underpinning in a variety of ways from stating it in
their mission statements, which is probably the most common affirmation, to specifying their
“higher calling” in their investment strategy. The profiles are grouped according to its source or
its representation of Christian values. The company profiles will specify how and why each
company is included in this survey and shed some light on an eclectic grouping of public
Christian-cultured companies.
Socially Responsible Investing
The notion of socially responsible investing (SRI) is not a new concept. In fact, ethical
investing has its origins in ancient Jewish, Christian, and Islamic traditions, much of which is
rooted in the Old Testament’s teachings about using money ethically. Moving forward a few
millennia, the first modern SRI mutual fund was formed in response to the Vietnam War in
197170. The past decade has seen tremendous growth in this field of investing, although SRI
70
Renneboog, Luc, Jenke Ter Horst, and Chendi Zhang. "Socially responsible investments: Institutional
32
mutual funds still only account for less than 1% of mutual funds around the world. However,
from 1995 to 2005, the number of SRI mutual funds grew by 4x in the United States alone, a
rate substantially higher than that of traditional mutual funds.71
While the focus of SRIs vary widely, they have in common the unusual purpose of
investing to accomplish more than simply making a high rate of return on investments; these
funds, unlike conventional types of investments, apply certain screens to “select or exclude assets
based on ecological, social, corporate governance, or ethical criteria, and often engage in the
local communities and in shareholder activism to further corporate strategies towards the above
aims.”72 Historically, economics has taught us that investors (humans) have utility functions that
make rational decisions based on cost/benefit analysis. SRIs point to an emerging line of
thinking consistent with judgment and decision making research that argue that investors may
have a “multi-attribute utility function including personal and societal values.”73
As mentioned above, SRIs employ negative and (in some cases) positive screening to
choose specific stocks or industries in which to invest. Examples of negative screening include
the exclusion of companies that support in some manner: pornography, abortion, poor
workplace conditions, tobacco, alcohol, or gambling. Though the majority of funds use negative
screening, more firms, such as American Values Investments (AVI), select shares/companies
that meet superior standards.
performance, and investor behavior.” Journal of Banking & Finance. 2008.
71
Ibid 1726
72
Ibid 1723.
73
Bollen 2007
33
The argument against investing in SRIs is typically a financial one—limiting investment
opportunities will lead to suboptimal returns. The counter arguments include: improved
reputations for investors (Barnea and Rubin 2006), trustworthiness (Fishman et al 2006),
shareholder value-maximization (Heal 2005), better risk-adjusted return, and so on. For the
most part, studies that have analyzed the performance of SRIs in comparison to traditional funds
in the U.S. have found little if no significant difference (Statman 2000; Barnett and Salomon
2006; Hamilton et al).74
Christian Funds
This paper in particular focuses on five Christian funds that employ negative screening
to select their shares/companies.75 A recent article on CNNMoney.com (2006) noted “the values
of assets held by faith-based funds has jumped nearly seven-fold since 2000 to $15.9 billion.”
The article cites a Morningstar study that found a list of religious mutual funds averaged a
better return than the S&P 500 by over 3%.76
I had the pleasure to speak with the CEO and founder of a Christian-based money
management firm, American Values Investments. AVI uses a scoring system that rates
companies in their portfolio out of 500 possible points. The CEO and founder, Carter LeCraw,
commented on his investment house’s strategy and how it all began:
74
Renneboog et al 2008
75
To be sure there are many examples of Jewish, Muslim, and other faith-based funds, but for the purpose of this
paper we will focus on Christian funds. For example, Amana Trust Growth Fund invests in stocks that are consistent
with Islamic principles.
76
Wong, Grace. “Investors bet on their faith.” CNNMoney.com. 23 Mar 2006
http://money.cnn.com/2006/03/23/markets/religious_funds/index.htm
34
“The bottom line in investing is how well do these companies do? The number one way is
financial obviously, but other measurements are harder. What positive impacts on the
culture and what social benefits do these companies provide? Twenty years ago I was in
financial planning and I was also a Christian and I wanted to integrate these two parts of
my life. I started wondering why is everyone just avoiding companies [referencing
negative screenings tactics]? Why don’t we target companies? Why don’t we find
companies that represent the love of Christ and Christian principles.” –Carter LeCraw,
CEO and Founder, AVI77
Ave Maria Catholic Values Funds (AVEMX) was founded by George Schwartz in
1980. As indicated by its name, Ave Maria invests in companies that, according to its website,
“do not violate core teachings of the Catholic Church.” Using a negative screening rubric, it
does not invest in companies that are involved in abortion or pornography, companies that
contribute to Planned Parenthood, or companies that offer non-marital partner benefits.78 The
funds use a screening process created by the Catholic Advisory Board, along with analysts at
Schwartz Investment Counsel, Inc. Following what the firms deems “morally responsible
investing” (MRI as opposed to SRI), Ave Maria Catholic Values Funds has $250 million worth
of assets under management.79
New Covenant Mutual Funds (NCGFX) is composed of a set of funds operated by and
for Presbyterians and invests in companies that espouse Presbyterian values and teachings. The
set of funds “make investment decisions consistent with the social-witness principles adopted by
the General Assembly of the Presbyterian Church,” which is derived from its assumed
responsibility as a steward of “God’s resources entrusted to the Church.”80 Mr. Leech of the
77
LeCraw, Carter, Personal Interview, 1 Mar 2010.
78
Piskora, Beth, “Funds for Christian Investors,” 28 Mar 2005, Business Week,
http://www.businessweek.com/investor/content/mar2005/pi20050325_6141_pi050.htm
79
“Introduction,” Ave Maria Mutual Funds, http://www.avemariafund.com/home.htm
80
“Socially Responsible Investing,” New Covenant Mutual Funds, http://newcovenantfunds.com/sri.aspx.
35
Presbyterian Church U.S.A Foundation speaks to New Covenant’s screening policy: “the
Church takes a strong moral positions against companies that are involved with gambling,
alcohol, or firearm sales.”81 The Funds consider other socially responsible criteria, such as the
way a company treats its employees, before investing.82
The Timothy Plan (TPLNX) family of funds launched in 1999 as one of the first funds
to use biblical principles as part of its investment process. As their website displays on its
Welcome screen, The Timothy Plan’s “goal is to recapture traditional American values. We are
America’s first pro-life, pro-family, biblically-based mutual fund group.”83 According to fund
President Ally, “We are very strict. We do not invest in companies that are involved in abortion,
contribute to Planned Parenthood, are involved in pornography, promote nontraditional
lifestyles or a homosexual agenda, market alcohol, sell tobacco, or companies that are involved in
gambling. We really do have zero tolerance for these types of behavior.”84 This group of funds’
ultimate goal is to do its part in combating “the cultural degradation of our society.”85 Under its
“Screening Guidelines,” the company affirms, “we believe in the infallible World of God” and
what “God calls sin.” The guidelines go on to justify its avoidance of certain sins based on
biblical evidence.86
MMA Praxis International Fund (MPIAX) was founded in 1945 by the Mennonite
Church (originally called Mennonite Mutual Aid) to provide loans to Church service volunteers.
81
Piskora, “Funds for Christian Investors.”
82
Ibid
83
“Welcome,” Timothy Plan, http://www.timothyplan.com/
84
Piskora, “Funds for Christian Investors.”
85
“Fund Overview,” Timothy Plan, http://www.timothyplan.com/Funds/frame-OurFunds-overview.htm
86
“Screening Guidelines,” Timothy Plan, http://www.timothyplan.com/Funds/frame-OurFunds-overview.htm
36
Now a group of funds that practices “stewardship investing” by balancing faith and financial
considerations, MMA Praxis considers it its corporate responsibility and investment philosophy
to use company screening criteria, promote shareholder advocacy, and invest in community
development. The fund aspires to investing in companies that abide by their six core values:
respect, build, demonstrate, exhibit, support, and practice. These “core values embrace a wide
range of social concerns [their] Christian faith calls [them] to consider—as well as traditional,
prudent, financial deliberations.87
LKCM Aquinas Funds, founded in 1979 as an investment advisory firm, “is committed
to selecting securities…based on sound fundamental investing principles and most importantly,
Catholic values.”88 It invests for high net-worth individuals, pension funds, foundations, and
more unusually, religious organizations. The investment guidelines set forth by the United
States Conference of Catholic Bishops in 2003 serve as a framework for choosing securities.89
Actively advertizing links to “Who was St. Thomas Aquinas?” on its website, LKCM believes
that sound financial investing should be complemented by a concern for Catholic values. Similar
to the other funds mentioned here, LKCM practices negative screening for such issues as:
abortion, contraceptives, embryonic stem cell research, weapons of mass destruction, human
rights, economic priorities, environmental responsibility, and fair employment practices, among
others.90
87
“Stewardship Investing,” MMA Praxis Funds, www.mmapraxis.com
88
“Who We Are,” Aquinas Funds, www.aquinasfunds.com
89
“Who We Are,” Aquinas Funds, www.aquinasfunds.com
90
“Catholic Values Investing,” Aquinas Funds, www.aquinasfunds.com
37
Chaplain-Serviced Companies
According to Keith Starcher in his Christianity Today article, “Should You Hire a
Workplace Chaplain,” Corporate Chaplains of America and Marketplace Ministries, two firms
providing chaplains to businesses, provided chaplaincy to 47,000 and 250,000 employees,
respectively.
A testament to the quality of both its chaplains and the service they provide,
Marketplace Ministries has logged over 1.2 million hours in nearly 20 years (as of 2003)
without legal incident—an objectively astounding accomplishment considering the prevalence of
religious discrimination lawsuits in recent years. While not an explicitly religious organization,
chaplains often help in the best way they know—“bringing people into God’s family.”91 In 2003
alone, 600 employees had “come to Christ” through Corporate Chaplains of America, reports
representative of the firm, and another 4,000 people converted to Christianity through
Marketplace Ministries. Clearly these ministries provide an outlet for employees seeking
spiritual guidance, a higher calling, and/or a newfound faith in Jesus Christ.92
Yum! Brands, Inc. (YUM) is the largest restaurant company in the world with more
than 37,000 restaurants in over a hundred countries and 1 million employees. Raking it $11
billion in revenue in 2009, largely due to its investment in its big four restaurants—KFC, Pizza
Hut, Taco Bell, and Long John Silver’s—Yum continued its streak of eight years with more
than 13% earnings per share.93 Yum! Brands reportedly use “Army-style chaplains” or “24hour God squads” to support its huge employee base with medical, mental, and emotional
91
Starcher, Keith. “Should You Hire a Workplace Chaplain?” Regent Business Review, 2003. Used by permission by
Christianity Today.
92
Starcher,. “Should You Hire a Workplace Chaplain?”
93
“Home,” Yum! Brands, http://www.Yum.com/company/default.asp
38
problems.94 A large Pizza Hut and Taco Bell franchisee, Austaco, reports that its chaplain
program reduced its annual turnover rate from 300 to 125%.95 Inappropriately valuing Yum’s
chaplains leads to undervaluing its brand.96
Tyson Foods (TSN) is the second largest processer of meat—chicken, beef, and pork—
in the world only behind Brazilian JBS S.A. with sales of $26 billion (2005). One of the 100
largest companies in the United States and the largest meat producer in the world, Tyson
supplies all the food for Yum! Brands chains, McDonald’s, Burger King, Wendy’s, Wal-Mart,
Costco, and many others. The CEO and Chairman of the Board, John Tyson, is the driving
force behind Tyson’s chaplaincy program.97 The company strives to be faith-friendly, “honor
God,” and act as “stewards of the animals, land, and environment entrusted to us.”98
Thanks again to Dr. Miller’s extensive connections to executives in seemingly every
company with a Christian-culture, I had the pleasure of meeting John Tyson, the grandson of
the founder, who was CEO from 1999-2006, and is current Chairman at Tyson Foods. Mr.
Tyson, who is a less intimidating figure than one might expect as a former CEO of the largest
meat manufacturer in the world with annual revenues of roughly $30 billion, somewhat
controversially took the reigns of Tyson as CEO in 1999; controversial because Mr. Tyson had a
history of cocaine and alcohol addictions. However, he proved his worth in 2001 after acquiring
the largest beef and second largest pork manufacturer, IBP, Inc., propelling Tyson Foods to its
current position as the leader in the food manufacturing industry.
94
Conlin, “Religion in the Workplace.”
95
Starcher, “Should You Hire a Workplace Chaplain?”
96
Ivy Club
97
Ibid
98
“Our Core Values,” Tyson, http://www.tyson.com/Consumer/CoreValues.aspx
39
Tyson spoke about the difficult period following the acquisition of IBP, as it coincided
with the separation with his wife. He relied heavily on his faith to get him through this and
further developed his understanding of faith in the marketplace during this trying period. More,
because the transition of incorporating IBP into the Tyson culture was not inherently smooth
(IBP did not want to be acquired), Tyson learned the importance of taking a leadership role in
instituting the values of the company to avoid having those values drift.99
Tyson’s “Our Core Values” card reflects John’s values and the importance of faith in his
life, as well as the potential benefit he believes faith can add to his employees’ business and
private lives.
Two noteworthy bullet points on the card that differentiate Tyson’s core values
from most companies’ code of ethics are: “We strive to be a faith-friendly company” and “We
strive to honor God and be respectful of each other, our customers, and other stakeholders.”100
As Dr. Miller habitually advocates, “the train [of faith] is going through town…so the only
question is whether you’ll steer it or let it steer you.”101 An increasing number of executives like
Mr. Tyson have chosen to “steer it,” but there is still a long way to go in the faith at work
movement.
At my lunch with Mr. Tyson and Dr. Miller, John spoke explicitly about his religious
calling; he considered his job to be a calling from, where he had a responsibility to not only do
his job well, but to serve and treat his employees as children of God. He also considered God to
be an active “stakeholder” at Tyson Foods in his decision making process. He believes that all
we are given on earth is “on loan from God,” so it would be illogical not to take into account
99
Tyson, John and David W. Miller, Lecture, 23 Mar 2010.
100
“Our Core Values,” Tyson Foods, Inc. 1998.
101
Miller, David, Lecture, 16 Feb 2010.
40
God as a stakeholder when making business decisions. Evoking an ever-present Jesus Christ
and biblical teachings in his vernacular, John tries to live his life by, what he likes to call, the
“Do Good Rule,” which is more commonly known as the Golden Rule—do unto others as you
would have them do unto you. He openly admits that his faith helps him be a better, more
ethical leader.102
Wal-Mart Stores, Inc. (WMT) is the world’s largest public corporation by revenue
with 2009 revenues exceeding $400 billion. With over two million employees, Wal-Mart
operates over 800 of its discount stores in the United States, not including Sam’s Club, and its
many foreign stores as the largest retailer in the world. Similar to Tyson Foods and Yum!
Brands, Wal-Mart Stores have hired chaplains to assist with employee problems ranging from
nervous breakdown to hospital visits to funeral eulogies. Don Soderquist, former Vice Chairman
and Chief Operating Officer of Wal-Mart, commented on the role faith played at the colossal
retailer:
“I’m not saying that Wal-Mart is a Christian company, but I can unequivocally say that
Sam founded the company on the Judeo-Christian principles found in the Bible. While we
had a diverse workforce that included followers of the Protestant, Catholic, Jewish,
Buddhist, Hindu, Islamic, and other religions, the Golden Rule was the basis of how we
expected people to behave and how everyone should expect to be treated. That meant that
everyone understood what was right and what was wrong in interpersonal relationships.
There were absolutes. There was no confusion on those issues.” 103
Though he qualifies his statement immediately (“I’m not saying Wal-Mart is a Christian
company”) the rest of Mr. Soderquist’s words do not reflect this claim. On the contrary, Wal-
102
Tyson, John, Conversation with Author, 23 Mar 2010.
103
Soderquist, Don, The Wal-Mart way: the inside story of the success of the world's largest company, Nashville: T.
Nelson, 2005, 45.
41
Mart, which follows the Golden Rule and “Judeo-Christian principles found in the Bible,”
seems to be exactly what Mr. Soderquist denies it to be—a Christian company.
American Values Investments’ Companies
Founded in 1996 by Carter LeCraw, its present CEO, American Values Investments
(AVI) specializes in “values-driven investing,” using a 500-point measuring rubric that
evaluates such criteria as integrity, caring, humility, and diligence.104 Using a positive screen to
evaluate their companies, which is highly unusual, as I discussed in the section, “Socially
Responsible Investing,” Carter LeCraw believes that it is our duty as moral actors to “target
companies that best reflect” Christian principles.105 I had the pleasure of speaking at length and
quite candidly with Mr. LeCraw, who in my view feels it is his higher calling to run a company
that promotes investing in companies that instill Christian values. He and his team graciously
provided me with detailed information on ten companies they considered to be inspired on some
level by Christian values and/or teachings. Each of the company profiles AVI provided me
includes an “American Hero Score,” rating the company based on its 500 point rubric and a
score, which ranks the company against all of AVI’s invested companies.106
Aflac, Inc. (AFL) provides health and life insurance plans in the United States and in
Japan. Receiving an American Hero Score of 437/500 and a Hero rank of 7/119 companies,
Aflac has been recognized as one of “The Best 100 Companies to Work for in America” for nine
consecutive years by Fortune Magazine. Concerning it religious commitment, Dan Amos, Aflac’s
104
“Inside AVI,” American Values Investments, http://www.americanvalues.com/
105
LeCraw, 1 Mar 2010.
106
Ibid
42
Chairman and CEO, served as a Volunteer Chair in National Bible and considers the Bible to be
his main source of guidance and inspiration.107 Also, the company supports an endowment called
The Aflac Endowment for Servant Leadership. Author of Faith Based Millionaire, Jay Peroni
remarks, “Aflac features many abortion foes among its top executives and its corporate policies
like flexible schedules are very pro-family, making the insurer an attractive investment to likeminded Christians.”108
The Andersons Inc. (ANDE) is involved with a variety of businesses including
purchasing grain, providing agricultural nutrients, manufacturing turf and plant fertilizer,
among other things. It received a 408/500 American Hero Score and a Hero rank of 42/119
companies in the AVI portfolio. More explicit about its Christian heritage and focus than most
public companies, The Andersons’ mission statement reads as follows: “We firmly believe that
our Company is a powerful vehicle through which we channel our time, talent, and energy in
pursuit of the fundamental goal of serving God by serving others.”109 Though it cites several
values in its core beliefs, acknowledging the higher and divine authority of God is mentioned
before all others. The company believes that certain values, such as liberty, integrity, freedom,
self esteem, private and public welfare, are innately positive and should never suffer casualties
due to aspirations of personal gain.110
Cass Information (CASS) received an American Hero Score of 421/500 and a ranking
of 19 out of 119 companies. It provides information services to large manufacturers, retailers and
107
“Aflac, Inc..: American Hero Company Summary Report,” American Values Investments, 22 Feb 2010.
108
Borchardt, Debra. “Sinners, Saints & Stocks: Guided by Faith.” The Street.com. 2/02/09.
http://www.thestreet.com/story/10461362/2/sinners-saints-stocks-guided-by-faith.html
109
“The Andersons, Inc.: American Hero Company Summary Report,” American Values Investments, 22 Feb 2010.
110
“Principles,” The Andersons, Inc., www.theandersons.com
43
other companies, as well as accounting and banking services.111 Cass’ mission statement is as
follows: “We strive to achieve a high quality of character, utilizing basic biblical principles as a
benchmark for our actions. Recognizing our limitations as human beings, we depend on God for
guidance and wisdom in the exercise of our corporate responsibilities.”112 A statement from the
President and CEO of Cass, Eric H. Brunngraber, sums up the beliefs of the company.
“While we are grateful to be able to share these results with you, we remain acutely aware
of our dependence on God for all that is meaningful in life. As we enter a new year filled
with challenges, we remember that it is how we respond to these challenges that define who
we are and what we believe. We dedicate ourselves to conduct our affairs in a manner that
is pleasing and acceptable in His sight.”113
Additionally, Cass has been named three times to Forbes Magazine’s List of the “Best 200
Companies” and is involved with church related industries.114
J.M. Smucker (SJM) received a 444/500 AVI score and a ranking of 4 out of 119
companies in the investment firm’s portfolio. The company manufacturers and market branded
food products in the USA, Europe, and Canada; it is a market leader in several food/drink
sectors, including coffee, fruit spreads, and peanut butter. Its brands include Smucker’s, Folgers,
Dunkin Donuts, Fig, and others. Smucker’s has appeared on Fortune Magazine’s annual listing
of the 100 Best Companies to Work For in the United States every year since 1998 and achieved
the status of being ranked number one in this list in 2004. J.M. Smucker believes it as a
company has a commitment to do the right thing and It considers itself a “principles-based
111
“Cass Information: American Hero Company Summary Report,” American Values Investments, 22 Feb 2010.
112
“Mission Statement,” Cass Information, www.cassinfo.com/mission.html.
113
“Cass Information…,” AVI.
114
Ibid.
44
company.” It is an 107-year old, family controlled business that is run by two brother who tend
to quote the New Testament and Benjamin Franklin.115
Mid-America Apartment Communities (MAA) received an American Hero score of
437/500 and a Hero rank of 8/119. It acts as a real estate investment trust with apartment
communities mainly in the Sunbelt region of the United States. Founded in 1977 and based in
Memphis, TN, Mid-America pays Apartment Life to put ministry teams in some of their
apartment communities, as part of their commitment to being a Christian-based nonprofit
organization that is passionate about helping owners “connect people and community.”
Additionally, the Residence Assistance Program is designed to improve the community life of its
residents by building a close relationship between residents and their local congregation.116
Stewart Information Services (STC) received an American Hero score of 386/500
and Hero rank of 81. Family-run since its establishment in 1893, Stewart provides real estate
information and transaction management in the United States, Canada, the United Kingdom,
Mexico, and Australia.117 Its CEO, Malcolm S. Morris, is an active civic leader, having served as
Chairman of Deacons of Houston’s First Baptist Church, and Chairman of Living Water
International, “a Christian service organization that provides water for hospitals, schools,
churches, orphanages, and villages in developing countries.118
115
“J.M. Smucker: American Hero Company Summary Report,” American Values Investments, 22 Feb 2010.
116
“Mid-America Apartment Communities: American Hero Company Summary Report,” American Values
Investments, 22 Feb 2010.
117
“Background,” Stewart Information Services, http://www.stewart.com/section/about-stewart_background
118
“Stewart Information Services: American Hero Company Summary Report,” American Values Investments, 22 Feb
2010.
45
Sunrise Senior Living (SRZ) received an American Hero score of 386 out of 500 and a
Hero ranking of 81 in AVI’s portfolio of companies. As evidenced from its name, Sunrise
provides senior living services in the United States, Canada, Britain, and Germany. The
company’s Fundamental Belief stems from its steadfast “belief in the sacred value of human life.
We believe that anyone who believes in the sacred value of human life will embrace the
Principles of Service that have become the hallmarks of Sunrise.”119
Total Systems Services (TSS) received an American Hero score of 442/500 and a
Hero rank of 5/119. TSS provides electronic card payment services to financial institutions and
retail companies worldwide, as well as providing fraud detection and credit valuations.120 The
firm believes in a “Covenant” with its customers that echoes the New Testament’s Matthew
7:12, which is more commonly known as the Golden Rule: “do unto others as you would have
them do unto you.”121 Further, TSS speaks to its commitment to servant leadership: ““Servant
leadership is a driving force behind who we are and what we do. It means we are here to serve
our clients, our shareholders, and each other and together shape a vision everyone can own.”122
Lubrizol (LZ) received American Hero score of 401/500 and a Hero ranking of 53/119.
It is a specialty chemical company that improves the performance of customer’s products
worldwide through its two segments: Lubrizol Additives and Lubrizol Advanced Materials.
Similar to TSS’ “Customer Covenant,” Lubrizol runs its business based on one united approach
to ethics, which focuses on treating others as they themselves would wish to be treated (the
119
“Sunrise Senior Living: American Hero Company Summary Report,” American Values Investments, 22 Feb 2010.
120
“Total Systems Services: American Hero Company Summary Report,” American Values Investments, 22 Feb 2010.
121
“Customer Covenant,” Total Systems Services, http://www.tsys.com/About/customer_covenant.cfm
122
“Total Systems Services…,” AVI.
46
Golden Rule). The chemical company’s “excellent performance across social, economic, and
environmental indices has merited [its] inclusion in the Domini 400 Social Index, the Calvert
Social Index, and five KLD123 social indexes.”124 Each of these indexes is considered a Socially
Responsible index, (a concept I discussed earlier in this chapter).125 Calvert believes that other
factors, such as environmental and social, contribute to sound financial performance that will
increase shareholder value in the long run.126
RLI Corporation (RLI) received an American Hero score of 403/500 and a ranking of
50/119 in AVI’s portfolio. It is an insurance company that underwrites property casualty and
surety. The corporation has earned honors from the Better Business Bureau for its fine ethical
conduct, as well as an A+ rating from A.M. Best. RLI values integrity and “serving” as its
central tenets. It believes the concept of serving God is “firmly rooted in the bible” and
considers acting selflessly in its business transactions as good business practice that will “pay
dividends” later. Like several of the other companies discussed here, RLI was founded on the
principles of the Golden Rule. RLI’s founder, Gerald Stephens, exemplifies the company’s
Christian underpinnings: “Give and Get Rich—Many call it the ‘Golden Rule.’ The Bible
defines it: ‘As ye sow, so shall ye reap.’ The question is do you really believe it applies to
you?”127 One assumes Mr. Stephens would answer in the affirmative regarding RLI.
123
It is unclear what “KLD” stands for; what is clear is that it is a social index constructed using a number of
different non-financial benchmarks.
124
“Lubrizol: American Hero Company Summary Report,” American Values Investments, 22 Feb 2010.
125
Ibid.
126
“Sustainable and Responsible Investing,” Calvert Group, http://calvertgroup.com/sri-analysts.html
127
“RLI Corporation: American Hero Company Summary Report,” American Values Investments, 22 Feb 2010.
47
Miscellaneous Companies
Further proof that companies that retain a Christian culture, are run by executives with
Christian leanings, or have some sort of Christian underpinning exist in a great diversity of
industries, I will analyze three more companies that do not clearly fit in any of the
aforementioned subsections, and which each is the only company in its industry in this study.
Founded in 1932 by Mac McGee, Alaska Airlines (ALK) began as the largest airline
in Alaska, but soon became a major regional airline all along the west coast, while more recently
expanding its routes to destinations on the east coast.128 While more or less falling under the
category of a subtle propagator of Christianity, the airline provides prayer cards with each meal.
Generally the prayer cards consist of a small slip of paper with a Psalm quotation on it. The
purpose of the cards is to act as a “reminder that God is to be thanked for everything that you
have” and to remind its passengers that God provides for all.129
J.W. Marriott founded what would later become Marriott International (MAR) just
over 80 years ago. Today, the massive hotel chain has over 3,000 properties located in the
United States and nearly 70 other countries.
Inspired largely by its founder, J. Willard
Marriott, “the Marriott Hotel chain…places Mormon literature in every room.”130 Marriott was
a devout Mormon who tithed and held leadership positions in the Mormon Church.131
Molson Coors Brewing Company (TAP) began producing beer in 1873 in the Rocky
Mountains in Golden, Colorado. Its founder, Adolph Coors, grew the company to its current
128
“Historical Overview,” Alaska Airlines, http://www.alaskaair.com/as/www2/company/history/Overview.asp
129
Smith, Kenneth W. Polar State Parables. New York: IUniverse Inc, 2004, 33.
130
Ankerberg, John, and John Weldon. Fast facts on Mormonism. Eugene, Or: Harvest House, 2003, 13.
131
“J. Willard Marriott,” Marriott, http://www.marriott.com/corporateinfo/culture/heritageJWillardMarriott.mi
48
size as the fifth largest brewer in the world. Brands of the company include Keystone varieties,
Blue Moon, Grolsch, Coors, Dos Equis, Singha, among many others.132 In terms of its Christian
roots, Coors at one point was an evangelizing company, according to Russell Shorto in his New
York Times Magazine article, “Faith at Work.”133 Also, Coors has consistently donated to the
Institute on Religion and Democracy (IRD), “a group that mobilizes religious sentiment for
ultra-conservative and reactionary political goals.”134 And according to Russ Bellant in his book
The Coors Connection, the Coors’ family has contributed substantially to Jerry Falwell’s Moral
Majority and has been a strong supporter of Pat Robertson and his Christian Broadcast
Network’s Regent University.135
132
“History,” Coors, http://www.coors.com/#/history.
133
Shorto, Russell, “Faith at Work,” The New York Times Magazine, 31 Oct 2004.
134
Bellant, Russ, The Coors Connection: How Coors Family Philanthropy Undermines Democratic Pluralism, Boston,
MA: South End Press, 1991, 50.
135
Ibid.
49
Chapter 5: Company Analysis
The purpose of the following analysis of the 16 companies and 5 mutual funds, all of
which have a culture, roots, or underpinning that advocate Christianity in some manner or
another, is to evaluate their performance against the market. My goal in this endeavor is to
discover whether a company with a Christian culture benefits from that value-system, whether it
detracts from the productivity, or whether it provides an insignificant difference in relation to
companies that operate without such a faith-based culture.
More specifically, the study will compare the performance of these Christian-cultured
companies against the aggregate performance of their respective industries using a number of
ratios that are regularly used to evaluate company performance.136 The following ratios and
measures were used in the study: Return Index (RI), Price to Book Ratio (BP), Price/Earnings
Ratio (PE Ratio), Dividend Yield (DY), Debt-Equity Ratio (DE Ratio), Return on Assets
(ROA), and Return on Equity (ROA). This data was retrieved from a variety of online and
book sources, including The Center for Research in Security Prices (CRSP) and Compustat
from Standard & Poor’s, which I accessed using the Wharton Research Data Services (WRDS),
Thomas Reuters’ DataStream, and RMA Annual Statement Studies, 2004-2005. Financial Ratio
Benchmarks. These ratios are the most succinct method to evaluate performance of a specific
company in relation to its respective industry.137
136
A note concerning the industries chosen in this study: Each industry chosen was deemed the most appropriate in
relation to the specific company based on Standard Industrial Classification (SIC) codes, North American Industry
Classification System (NAICS) codes, and DataStream classifications.
137
Hines, Todd, Conversations with Author, 1 Mar—30 Mar 2010.
50
Method
To test the performance of each company vs. its given industry, each company and
industry was evaluated based on the ratios indicated above. Ideally, data was sought for a period
of the 10 most recent years available.138 In some cases, data was only available for 8-9 years
preceding the date of the study. For the mutual funds involved, a couple of the funds have only
been in existence for a few years limiting the availability of data for obvious reasons. In these
cases, data was sought for the maximum period of available time, as opposed to a 10-year range
for companies and funds that have existed for at least 10 years. Upon accessing data for a given
company and its relevant industry, the data was averaged over the given period of time (for the
most part, 10 years) to determine the difference between the company and industry’s
performance. I evaluate the performance of the company vs. its industry by looking at the
difference of each’s means. If a mean difference is greater than 10%, I determine that the
difference is significant in either a positive or negative direction and if it is less than 10%, the
difference is considered insignificant. In addition to determining the difference between a given
company and industry’s performance, I graphed a comparison for each company/industry pair
for each performance ratio. These graphs provide visual analysis of the difference between
company and industry over the entire period of data, which better relates the quarterly and
annual difference between company and industry over the period of data. I also compile a graph
comparing the Return Indexes for each company against the aggregate Return Index for the
138
For most of the companies included in this study, data was available for the 10 most recent years of retrievable
information.
51
S&P 500 Composite index. All graphs comparing companies and industries can be found in
Appendix A.
In regards to the mutual funds, the data obtained was exclusively retrieved from
Morningstar, a database that specializes in evaluating the performance of funds and indexes. I
created data sets within Morningstar that describe the performance of each firm in comparison
to its relevant benchmarks, including the S&P500 Composite over the span of available data up
to ten years. Most of the funds do not have data for more than three to five years. In addition to
providing these numeric and visual data sheets, I also created graphs for each fund comparing
its growth and returns with relevant benchmarks and the S&P500. These graphs were also
created using Morningstar. Data and graphs of mutual funds against their relevant benchmarks
can be found in Appendix B.139
Limitations of Research
The main limitation on my research and the study I conducted is the lack of scope
involved in the study. By scope I refer to both the number of companies in the study and the
139
Note concerning graphs: All of the graphs that are provided in the Appendices were created using a number
of databases, including Compustat, which provides fundamental and market information on active and inactive public
companies in North America, The Center for Research in Security Prices (CRSP), which contains the most
exhaustive collection of data for the major stock indexes (NYSE, AMEX, NASDAQ), DataStream International,
which provides a whole range of data on stocks, indices, bonds, and industries, and Morningstar, which provides the
most complete database for information on mutual funds. The Company graphs and datasets were compiled using one
or more of the first three sources, whereas the Mutual Fund graphs were compiled using Morningstar exclusively.
Each Company graph was created individually using excel in coordination with the first three databases mentioned.
Each Mutual Fund graph was created individually using Morningstar.
Note concerning data tables: Each data table was compiled using a combination of the described databases.
Means and differences, along with normative evaluations of performance were performed using Excel and the author’s
judgment.
52
number of companies in comparison to each industry. Additionally, it would have been more
illustrative of Christian-cultured companies to include private companies because most
companies that fit my criteria are private and not public. The difficulty of including private
companies is the problem of acquiring adequate data to perform a study of this kind. I did not
have the ability to obtain such information, but a future study might be able to retain financial
information from private companies. The problem of scope is compounded by the fact that there
are few companies that fit my criteria as having a Christian culture that publicly post their
financial information. There are very few public Christian-cultured companies, which is why a
study that was able to explore the financial numbers of private companies would significantly
improve upon this study. Further, it is rather difficult to determine the extent to which
Christianity plays an essential role in the culture, decision-making, and leadership of any
company. Also, my study only looked at a period of the ten most recent years of financial data, so
a future study might evaluate performance for a longer period of time.
Besides the scope of the study, there are a few factors that might taint the accuracy of the
results. First, due to limitations of data for some industries and companies in certain databases,
some of the industries used vary in different ratios. For instance, the industry “Food producers”
did not exist for Debt-equity and so I picked the most appropriate industry, “Animal
Slaughtering” to compare with Tyson Foods. For consistency and simplicity reasons, I
documented the industry in my data and graphs similarly for each ratio. It should be noted that
industries do vary slightly due to limitations of data. Second, the ratios I used are good
indicators of performance, but by no means do they exhaust the ways in which a company might
be evaluated in regards to performance. Fourth, due to limitations of data for mutual funds in
53
Morningstar and other databases, there is no practical way to provide a comparison of mutual
funds using the same ratios as used with the public companies—it would result in apples to
oranges type comparison. Finally, although the economics librarian, Todd Hines, and I decided
that it was unnecessary for my study, a future project might run regressions, t-tests, and other
tests to more accurately determine the difference in performance between an individual company
and its industry. In all of these ways, and I would imagine some others, a future study could
improve upon this preliminary evaluation of the performance of religiously minded companies
and mutual funds.
Results
The results will be broken down according to the ratios used to evaluate the performance
of the companies vs. their appropriate industries. As stated earlier, I hypothesized that the data
would be insignificantly different between a given Christian-cultured company and its peer
industry. Testing performance using seven standardized ratios, I predicted that across the
board, differences would be marginal. More specifically, I presumed that some companies would
outperform, some would underperform, and some would insignificantly differ in comparison to
their market, leading to the conclusion that Christian-cultured companies performed on par with
companies that do not have a Christian culture.
As indicated in the Data Table and Graphs in Appendix A, I found that in general
Christian-cultured companies did not perform significantly different than their market
industries, with a few exceptions. Looking at the difference in the means between each company
and its industry, one of the ratios, Total Return Index, resulted in greater performance of the
54
Christian-cultured companies in relation to their industries; two of the ratios (Return on Assets
and Return on Equity) resulted in underperformance; and three of the ratios (Price to Book
Ratio, Price-Earnings Ratio, and Dividend Yield) resulted in insignificant differences between
companies and industries.
Interestingly enough, all but one of the companies performed
significantly better than its industry in one ratio: Return Index. However, the majority of the
ratios resulted in greater parity in regards to outperforming and underperforming the market.
Lastly, though this is counter to previous research on the subject, the companies in this study
had an overwhelmingly higher debt-equity ratio in relation to their industries, indicating a more
risk-seeking attitude toward investment. I attribute some of this discrepancy to the small dataset
and possibly inconsistencies in the data because it runs so contrary to previous research, namely
Hilary and Hui 2009 and Miller and Hoffman 1995.
Consequently, most of the companies showed good deals of parity, but the study did
highlight a few “blessed” companies. Mid-America Apartment Communities, Molson Coors
Brewing Corporation, and Total System Services, Inc. outperformed their industries in five out
of the seven ratios. Tyson Foods, on the other hand, underperformed the food production
industry in five out of the seven ratios. Not surprisingly, one company performed better than
any other in relation to its industry across all benchmarks in this study—Wal-Mart. The
behemoth super store outperformed its industry in six out of seven ratios.
Agreeing with most of the Socially Responsible Investing literature (Renneboog et al
2008), the mutual funds perform very similarly to their benchmarks and also similarly to the
S&P500. The data in both Growth and Returns analysis is insignificantly different than the
market.
55
Conclusion
The title of this thesis poses the question, “Does Christ Command Profit?” I intend the
title to provoke a rethinking of the relationship between business and humanity’s most prolific
religion, Christianity. This thesis sought to explore whether public companies and mutual funds
that maintain cultures that promote Christian values or have founders or executives that
encourage such incorporation of faith in the workplace positively or negatively affected their
performance in relation to the market. It provides a unique perspective into the performance of
these Christian-cultured companies against their relevant markets. As noted earlier, I do not
know of a study attempting to study a company/industry comparison in this area of scholarship.
Due to the brevity of the study and other limitations mentioned in the “Limitations of Research”
section, the implications of this thesis should be noted with a level of caution, however, I do
believe that this study does shed some light on an emerging and crucial aspect of American
business—the incorporation of faith into the workplace.
The importance of the study of faith in the workplace is undeniable at this point in our
nation’s development. An astounding eight out of ten Americans identify with a Christian faith
and over 90% of American identify with some religion, according to a 2007 Gallup Poll140 and
95% of Americans believe in some notion of God, according to Gunther’s 2001 Fortune
Magazine article.141 Scholars in many disciplines have long noted the incorporation of faith and
business, which separately comprise arguably the two most important aspects of most
140
Newport, Frank, “Questions and Answers About Americans’ Religion,” Gallup, Princeton, NJ, 24 Dec 2007,
http://www.gallup.com/poll/103459/Questions-Answers-About-Americans-Religion.aspx#1
141
Gunther 59.
56
Americans’ lives. As Miller prominently states in his lectures, ““the train (of faith) is going
through town (American businesses)…so the only question is whether you’ll steer it or let it
steer you?”142
So, does Christ command profit? Do Christian-cultured companies outperform the
market? The answer to this question is: yes and no. Surprisingly, 15/16 companies
outperformed their industries in regards to Total Return Index, which is the clearest measure of
a company’s overall performance. While one could interpret this as a triumph of companies with
Christian underpinnings over secular companies, I am wary to make any such overarching
claims due to the limitations of this study. Though there is this significant caveat, I do think the
results of the Total Return Index ratios in this study do provide some fascinating foundation to a
future more comprehensive survey of the performance of these types of companies. Also, the
results of the Debt-Equity ratio run contrary to the previous research on the study of risk and
religion. Hilary and Hui (2009) and Miller and Hoffman (1995), argue that religious
individuals,143 communities and firms are more risk-averse, as opposed to risk-seeking, in their
investment activities.144 Truly it is unclear why the study showed such a strong trend running
against this research, as it makes some intuitive sense.
I do not think that it debunks the
previous research, but certainly complicates it and poses some questions for future experiments
of this kind. At the very least, I hope that this project triggers more interest in the viability of
this growing field of research and provides some credence to the notion that faith can be a
complementary force in profit-maximization and business more generally.
142
Miller, David, Lecture, 16 Feb 2010.
143
Miller and Hoffman, “Risk and Religion…”
144
Hilary and Hui, “Does Religion Matter…”
57
Despite the caveats I have addressed, there are some implications that would arise from
the results of this project. Not only does it provide evidence for investors and consumers that
Christian-cultured companies perform more or less on par with the market, considering seven
standard performance ratios, but it also provides incentives for executives to incorporate faith
into the workplace. The value of incorporating faith and work, as Miller prescribes, has been
empirically proven but has yet to be quantitatively verified. This project looked to push that
empirical research further by compounding both anecdotal and data-driven proof that
incorporating faith in the workplace can be beneficial.
Overall it appears that the companies in this study, along with the five mutual funds,
performed on the whole on par with or insignificantly different than companies without a faithbased agenda, as I hypothesized prior to beginning this endeavor. Though this may seem like a
failed experiment, or at least not a noteworthy one, I would strongly disagree for a few reasons.
If these companies can be on par with secular companies that do not incorporate faith or restrict
their investment opportunities with values-based limitations, these Christian-cultured companies
can satisfy most Americans’ two essential responsibilities: Christ (or one’s faith, whatever that
may be) and financial security or success. They provide investors, consumers, and employees or
employees the ability “to kill two birds with one stone.” For investors, this study adds to the
limited research in this field by suggesting they can invest in these companies both for their
financial viability and their promotion of Christian values. For consumers, or investors on a
smaller scale, yet no less important, they too can purchase a product that is created by a sound
company, financially and ethically. Lastly, for Christians or religious individuals seeking
employment or employers looking to attract like-minded individuals that value incorporating
58
their faith and work, this study is of significance because it provides evidence that pursuits of
faith and profit are not mutually exclusive, but rather may be symbiotically beneficial, as
previous research suggests (Conlin 1999; Gunther 2001; Miller 2007).
Through the twists and turns, troughs and peaks of this journey to ascertain the truth
behind the feasibility of incorporating faith—specifically the majority religion of the United
States, Christianity—into one’s business mentality and into the mentality of a business, I have
learned firsthand why so many individuals have incorporated and why so many others are
beginning to incorporate their faith into their workplaces. It seems logical to me that as
businesses have incorporated every other aspect of our collective selves—gender, sexuality, race,
politics—into the workplace, so too will businesses incorporate our faiths into the workplace.
Though this project sought to explore the evidence for or against incorporating faith into the
workplace using the lens of financial performance, its secondary goal was to uncover the
intangible benefits and costs of blending temple and office, prayers and balance sheets. By no
means have I conclusively answered the question I set forth in this thesis, but I do think I have
added to the dialogue and research on the subject.
Moreover, regardless of the results of the study, I can conclude with some confidence,
through the study of this literature, my experiences with firms already incorporating faith and
work, and the prescient and wonderfully topical lectures and readings in Business Ethics with
Professor David Miller, that the Faith at Work movement is in fact a movement and it is a
movement that will transform the workplace entirely as we know it. We are gone from the postwar years of compartmentalized lives, where three taboos dictated the workplace: politics, sex,
and religion. The decompartmentalization of the American company and of Americans
59
themselves has been transforming the workplace in the latter part of the 20th century, is
presently transforming it, and in agreement with other scholars, I perceive that the notion of
bringing the whole self to work will unremarkably, yet profoundly involve the integration of the
faith-based self with the professional self.145 145
Miller, David, Lecture, 16 Feb 2010.
60
Appendix A: Companies
List of Companies, Industries, and Codes
Christian Company
Name
Christian
Exchange
Ticker
Symbol
Standard
Industry
Classification
(SIC) Code
Industry
Aflac Inc.
AFL
6321
Insurance
Alaska Airlines
ALK
4512
Airlines
Cass Information Systems
Inc.
CASS
7389
Business Services
Lubrizol
LZ
2869
Industrial Organic Chemicals
Marriott International, Inc
MAR
7011
Hotels
Mid America Apartment
Communities Inc
MAA
6798
Real Estate Investment Trusts
Molson Coors Brewing
Company
TAP
2082
Malt Beverages
RLI Corp.
RLI
6331/6411
Fire, Marine, Casualty Insurance
Stewart Information Services
Corp
STC
6361
Insurance
Sunrise Senior Living Inc
SRZ
8051/8300
Skilled Nursing Care Facilities
Yum! Brands, Inc.
YUM
5812
Eating Places
The Andersons, Inc.
ANDE
5153/5150
Grain and Field Beans
The J.M. Sucker Company
SJM
2033/2099
Canned Fruits, Vegetables, Preserves,
Jams, and Jellies
Total System Services Inc
TSS
7374/7389
Computer Processing and Data
Preparation and Processing Services
Tyson Foods
TSN
2011
Meat Packing Plants
Wal-Mart
WMT
5311
Department Stores
Fund
Ticker
CRSP
FUNDNO
Industry
Ave Maria Catholic Values
Fund
AVEMX
28192
Mutual Fund
LKCM Aquinas Growth
Fund
AQEGX
17907
Mutual Fund
MMA Praxis Growth Index
Fund
MPIAX
46123
Mutual Fund
New Covenant Growth Fund
NCGFX
22058
Mutual Fund
Timothy Plan Large/MidCap Value Fund/A
TLVAX
29989
Mutual Fund
61
Company and Industry Data: Means and Differences
Company/
Industry Name
Return
Index
Price to Book
Ratio
Price/
Earnings Ratio
Dividend Yield
Debt-Equity
Return on
Assets
(ROA)
Return on
Equity
(ROE)
Company
Aflac
3.52902439
19.06829268
1.333170732
18.21607347
Industry
Insurance
7749.484
451
4807.04
6098
2942.43
8354
1.696341463
17.9902439
1.154878049
2
1.9947709
74
6.606
15.797171
93
20.63
1.832682927
1.07804878
0.178292683
16.21607347
4.6112290
26
0.362259
654
3.93
4.832828
068
3.2195879
68
22.1
4.292259
654
1.4485374
35
25.319587
97
14.08424
092
Difference
Company
Alaska Air
Group
619.3712
195
219.0390244
0
0
120.5590992
Industry
Airlines
36.07317
073
0.155853659
1.098292683
29.47
5.9
583.2980
488
218.8831707
-1.098292683
-29.47
114.6590992
Difference
Company
Cass
Information
Systems
400.1253
659
2.12
15.57073171
2.404878049
2.116437832
Industry
Financial
Services
148.8842
386
2.771219512
17.75121951
2.030243902
2.55
8.01
31.61
251.2411
272
-0.651219512
-2.180487805
0.374634146
-0.433562168
1109.982
683
763.5055
749
346.4771
08
1.88195122
18.75526316
2.911707317
67.15161934
3.117317073
21.4804878
2.464878049
1.95
6.5614625
65
5.0305076
31
7.32
17.525759
08
10.90829
987
22.99
-1.235365854
-2.725224647
0.446829268
65.20161934
2.289492
369
5.9185194
39
12.081700
13
17.831529
42
Difference
Company
Lubrizol
Industry
Chemicals
Difference
Company
Marriott
International
156.7014
634
4.874634146
26.82564103
0.760243902
66.61469353
Industry
Hotels
115.5090
509
41.19241
251
3.083658537
26.59756098
1.021463415
8.09
2.88
17.97
1.79097561
0.22808005
-0.261219512
58.52469353
3.0385194
39
Difference
Company
Mid-America
Apartment
Communities
454.2982
927
3.877317073
125.9358974
6.846097561
182.0280841
5.2553895
88
0.1384705
78
24.865914
83
Industry
Real Estate
Investment
Services
313.8049
756
3.774878049
29.39756098
3.411463415
3.85
5.025
20.975
140.4933
171
1214.798
78
0.102439024
96.53833646
3.434634146
178.1780841
1.58
18.49756098
1.583170732
43.60163472
0.230389
588
4.423470
493
3.8909148
35
10.262387
16
1145.369
756
69.4290
2439
1.578536585
20.37804878
1.974390244
1.75
6.51
21.69
0.001463415
-1.880487805
-0.391219512
41.85163472
2.086529
507
3.426436
098
11.427612
84
12.827759
58
Difference
Company
Molson
Coors
Brewing
Company
Industry
Breweries
Difference
Company
RLI Corp
10362.20
829
1.745609756
13.84146341
1.533170732
8.876612191
Industry
Insurance
4807.04
6098
5555.162
195
1.696341463
17.9902439
1.154878049
2
6.606
20.63
0.049268293
-4.148780488
0.378292683
6.876612191
3.1795639
02
7.802240
42
Difference
62
Company
Industry
Company/
Industry Name
Return
Index
Price to Book
Ratio
Price/
Earnings Ratio
Dividend Yield
Stewart
Information
Services
Corp
Insurance
3468.071
951
0.823414634
39.29375
1.309756098
2403.523
049
1064.548
902
1.696341463
17.9902439
0.872926829
Difference
Return on
Assets
(ROA)
Return on
Equity
(ROE)
6.517610597
3.272966
894
3.6077149
6
1.154878049
2
6.606
20.63
21.3035061
0.154878049
4.517610597
17.022285
04
N/A
Company
Sunrise
Senior
Living Corp
147.0968
293
2.754878049
19.87058824
0
N/A
3.3330331
06
N/A
Industry
Health Care
81.57420
958
65.52261
969
299.823
6585
4.61804878
23.54146341
1.656829268
N/A
N/A
N/A
-1.863170732
-3.670875179
-1.656829268
N/A
N/A
N/A
1.360487805
11.06486486
1.613658537
84.42879234
3.1713819
19
12.993436
11
3.116585366
19.20731707
2.324634146
1.74
3.6
10.73
-1.756097561
-8.142452208
-0.71097561
82.68879234
0.428618
081
6.080628
12
2.2634361
07
Difference
Company
The
Andersons,
Inc
Industry
Food
Producers
Difference
98.6692
0635
201.1544
522
Company
The J.M.
Smucker
Company
7016.520
488
1.704634146
19.66829268
2.467804878
26.59735121
Industry
Food
Products
4742.538
462
2273.982
026
3.169512195
19.13658537
2.364878049
1.91
5.39
17.07
1.464878049
0.531707317
0.102926829
24.68735121
0.690628
12
Difference
9.539280
28
Company
Total System
Services,
Inc.
1589.606
52
5.588780488
29.02926829
0.865121951
3.963903106
14.658383
08
7.5307197
2
21.258336
76
Industry
Computer
Services
964.980
7317
4.968780488
21.4804878
0.896341463
2.42
8.16
29.74
624.6257
88
0.62
7.548780488
-0.031219512
1.543903106
6.498383
077
4879.172
089
6216.16
1.201219512
20.496875
1.213902439
74.66220899
3.116585366
19.20731707
2.32463
1.64
2.4415608
04
5.88
8.4816632
41
5.9680154
61
16.442
-1.915365854
1.289557927
-1.110727561
73.02220899
4.605853659
24.53902439
1.17902439
52.22791328
3.933170732
17.79268293
2.375121951
1.37
3.4384391
96
8.0812452
47
4.72
10.473984
54
20.155793
1
11.82
0.672682927
6.746341463
-1.196097561
50.85791328
8.3357931
-1.786341463
16.97560976
0.934390244
121.7455169
3.3612452
47
12.047883
28
58.395759
72
Difference
Company
Industry
Tyson Foods,
Inc.
Food
Producers
Difference
Company
Yum!
Brands, Inc.
1336.987
911
1345.016
401
1315.452
927
29.56347
387
296.924
3902
Industry
Restaurants
and Bars
136.6756
824
4.077560976
21.71219512
1.233414634
5.94
34.67
7.272
160.2487
078
5.863902439
-4.736585366
-0.29902439
115.8055169
22.622116
72
51.123759
72
Company
Wal-Mart
Industry
Consumer
Goods
Difference
Difference
146
Debt-Equity
Sources: CRSP, Compustat, RMA, DataStream
63
146
Data Analysis: Significance of Differences
Aflac Inc.
Alaska Airlines
Cass Information Systems Inc.
Lubrizol
Marriott International, Inc
Mid America Apartment
Communities Inc
Molson Coors Brewing Company
RLI Corp.
Stewart Information Services
Corp
Sunrise Senior Living Inc
The Andersons, Inc.
The J.M. Sucker Company
Total System Services Inc
Tyson Foods
Wal-Mart
Yum! Brands, Inc.
Return
Index
Price to
Book
Ratio
Price/
Earnings
Ratio
Dividend
Yield
DebtEquity
Return on
Assets
(ROA)
Return on
Equity
(ROE)
+
0
0
+
-
-
-
+
+
-
-
+
-
-
+
0
0
0
-
-
-
+
-
0
0
0
-
-
+
0
0
0
+
+
0
+
0
+
+
+
0
+
+
0
+
+
+
0
+
+
0
-
0
+
-
-
+
-
+
0
+
-
-
+
-
-
-
N/A
N/A
N/A
+
-
-
-
+
0
+
+
-
0
0
+
+
-
+
+
+
0
+
+
-
-
-
0
-
+
-
-
+
+
+
-
+
+
+
+
-
-
0
+
-
+
147148
147
Sources: CRSP, Compustat, RMA, DataStream
148
How to read chart: A “+” designates a difference of 10% or greater in favor of company over industry; a “0”
designates an insignificant difference between company and industry; and a “-“ designates a difference of 10% or
greater in favor of industry over company.
64
Q1 2000 Q4 2000 Q3 2001 Q2 2002 Q1 2003 Q4 2003 Q3 2004 Q2 2005 Q1 2006 Q4 2006 Q3 2007 Q2 2008 Q1 2009 Q4 2009 1000 800 600 400 200 0 3000 2500 2000 1500 1000 500 0 400 200 Cass Info Sys -­‐ RI Financi
al Svs -­‐ RI Lubriz
ol -­‐ RI Chemic
als -­‐RI 800 600 MAA -­‐ RI 0 Q1 2000 Q4 2000 Q3 2001 Q2 2002 Q1 2003 Q4 2003 Q3 2004 Q2 2005 Q1 2006 Q4 2006 Q3 2007 Q2 2008 Q1 2009 Q4 2009 Insura
nce -­‐ RI Q1 2000 Q4 2000 Q3 2001 Q2 2002 Q1 2003 Q4 2003 Q3 2004 Q2 2005 Q1 2006 Q4 2006 Q3 2007 Q2 2008 Q1 2009 Q4 2009 Q1 2010 Q1 2009 Q1 2008 Q1 2007 Q1 2006 Q1 2005 Q1 2004 Q1 2003 Q1 2002 Q1 2001 Q1 2000 A.lac -­‐ RI Q1 2000 Q4 2000 Q3 2001 Q2 2002 Q1 2003 Q4 2003 Q3 2004 Q2 2005 Q1 2006 Q4 2006 Q3 2007 Q2 2008 Q1 2009 Q4 2009 Q1 2000 Q4 2000 Q3 2001 Q2 2002 Q1 2003 Q4 2003 Q3 2004 Q2 2005 Q1 2006 Q4 2006 Q3 2007 Q2 2008 Q1 2009 Q4 2009 16000 14000 12000 10000 8000 6000 4000 2000 0 Real Est Inv,Svs -­‐ RI Q1 2000 Q4 2000 Q3 2001 Q2 2002 Q1 2003 Q4 2003 Q3 2004 Q2 2005 Q1 2006 Q4 2006 Q3 2007 Q2 2008 Q1 2009 Q4 2009 Q1 2000 Q4 2000 Q3 2001 Q2 2002 Q1 2003 Q4 2003 Q3 2004 Q2 2005 Q1 2006 Q4 2006 Q3 2007 Q2 2008 Q1 2009 Q4 2009 Return Index Graphs
A"lac vs. Insurance Return Index Alaska Air Group vs. Airlines Return Index 1000 800 600 400 200 0 Cass Information Systems vs. Financial Services Return Index Lubrizol vs. Chemicals Return Index Mid-­America Apartment Communities vs. Real Estate Inv. Svs. Return Index 1000 65
Alaska Air Group -­‐ RI Airline
s -­‐ RI The J.M. Smucker Co. vs. Food Products Return Index 15000 10000 5000 J.M. Smucke
r -­‐ RI 0 350 300 250 200 150 100 50 0 2500 2000 1500 1000 500 0 Food Produc
ts -­‐ RI Marriott vs. Hotel Industry Return Index Marriot
t -­‐ RI Hotels -­‐ RI Molson Coors Brewing Co. vs Breweries Return Index Coors -­‐ RI Brewer
ies -­‐ RI RLI Corp. vs. Insurance Return Index Q1 2000 Q4 2000 Q3 2001 Q2 2002 Q1 2003 Q4 2003 Q3 2004 Q2 2005 Q1 2006 Q4 2006 Q3 2007 Q2 2008 Q1 2009 Q4 2009 RLI -­‐ RI Insuran
ce -­‐ RI Stewart Information Services Corp. vs. Insurance Return Index 7000 6000 5000 4000 3000 2000 1000 0 Stewart Info Svs. -­‐ RI Insuran
ce -­‐ RI Q1 2000 Q4 2000 Q3 2001 Q2 2002 Q1 2003 Q4 2003 Q3 2004 Q2 2005 Q1 2006 Q4 2006 Q3 2007 Q2 2008 Q1 2009 Q4 2009 18000 16000 14000 12000 10000 8000 6000 4000 2000 0 Sunrise Senior Living vs. Health Care Return Index Sunris
e Senior Living -­‐ RI Health Care -­‐ RI 800 The Ander
sons -­‐ RI 600 400 200 0 Q1 2000 Q4 2000 Q3 2001 Q2 2002 Q1 2003 Q4 2003 Q3 2004 Q2 2005 Q1 2006 Q4 2006 Q3 2007 Q2 2008 Q1 2009 Q4 2009 Q1 2010 Q1 2009 Q1 2008 Q1 2007 Q1 2006 Q1 2005 Q1 2003 Q1 2004 Q1 2002 Q1 2001 Q1 2000 400 300 200 100 0 The Andersons vs. Food Producers Return Index Total System Services vs. Computer Services Return Index Food Produ
cers -­‐ RI Tyson Foods vs. Food Producers Return Index 10000 2500 2000 1500 1000 500 0 TSS -­‐ RI Tyson Food -­‐ RI 8000 6000 2000 0 Q1 2000 Q4 2000 Q3 2001 Q2 2002 Q1 2003 Q4 2003 Q3 2004 Q2 2005 Q1 2006 Q4 2006 Q3 2007 Q2 2008 Q1 2009 Q4 2009 Q1 2000 Q4 2000 Q3 2001 Q2 2002 Q1 2003 Q4 2003 Q3 2004 Q2 2005 Q1 2006 Q4 2006 Q3 2007 Q2 2008 Q1 2009 Q4 2009 4000 Compu
ter Svs -­‐ RI Food Produc
ers -­‐ RI Wal Mart vs. Consumer Goods Return Index Wal Mart -­‐ RI 1500 1000 500 Q1 2000 Q4 2000 Q3 2001 Q2 2002 Q1 2003 Q4 2003 Q3 2004 Q2 2005 Q1 2006 Q4 2006 Q3 2007 Q2 2008 Q1 2009 Q4 2009 0 Consu
mer Goods -­‐ RI YUM! Brands -­‐ RI 600 500 400 300 200 100 0 Q1 2000 Q4 2000 Q3 2001 Q2 2002 Q1 2003 Q4 2003 Q3 2004 Q2 2005 Q1 2006 Q4 2006 Q3 2007 Q2 2008 Q1 2009 Q4 2009 2000 YUM! Brands vs. Restaurants & Bars Return Index Restaur
ants & Bars -­‐ RI 149 149
Sources: CRSP, Compustat, RMA, DataStream
66
AFLAC -­‐ TOT RETURN IND (~U$) 1600 Christian Companies vs. S&P 500 Return Index 1400 ALASKA AIR GROUP -­‐ TOT RETURNIND (~U$) CASS INFO.SYS. -­‐ TOT RETURN IND (~U$) LUBRIZOL -­‐ TOT RETURN IND (~U$) 1200 MARRIOTT INTL.'A' -­‐ TOT RETURN IND (~U$) MID-­‐AMER.APT COMMUNITIES -­‐ TOT RETURN IND (~U$) 1000 MOLSON COORS BREWING 'B' -­‐ TOT RETURN IND (~U$) RLI -­‐ TOT RETURN IND (~U$) 800 STEWART INFO.SVS. -­‐ TOT RETURN IND (~U$) SUNRISE SEN.LVG. -­‐ TOT RETURNIND (~U$) 600 YUM! BRANDS -­‐ TOT RETURN IND (~U$) ANDERSONS -­‐ TOT RETURN IND (~U$) 400 J M SMUCKER -­‐ TOT RETURN IND (~U$) TOTAL SYSTEM SERVICES -­‐ TOT RETURN IND (~U$) 200 TYSON FOODS 'A' -­‐ TOT RETURN IND (~U$) 0 WAL MART STORES -­‐ TOT RETURN IND (~U$) S&P 500 COMPOSITE -­‐ TOT RETURN IND 150 150
Sources: CRSP, Compustat, RMA, DataStream
67
Price/Earnings Ratio Graphs
A"lac vs. Insurance Price/Earnings Ratio 35 30 25 20 15 10 5 0 A.lac -­‐ PE Ratio 40 35 30 25 20 15 10 5 0 Food Products -­‐ Price to Book Ratio 80 60 40 Lubrizol -­‐ PE Ratio 20 0 Q1 2000 Q1 2001 Q1 2002 Q1 2003 Q1 2004 Q1 2005 Q1 2006 Q1 2007 Q1 2008 Q1 2009 Q1 2010 J.M. Smucker -­‐ Price to Book Ratio Q1 2000 Q4 2000 Q3 2001 Q2 2002 Q1 2003 Q4 2003 Q3 2004 Q2 2005 Q1 2006 Q4 2006 Q3 2007 Q2 2008 Q1 2009 Q4 2009 Financi
al Svs -­‐ PE Ratio Lubrizol vs. Chemicals Price/Earnings Ratio The J.M. Smucker Co. vs. Food Products Price to Book Ratio 6 5 4 3 2 1 0 Cass Info Sys -­‐ PE Ratio Q1 2000 Q4 2000 Q3 2001 Q2 2002 Q1 2003 Q4 2003 Q3 2004 Q2 2005 Q1 2006 Q4 2006 Q3 2007 Q2 2008 Q1 2009 Q4 2009 Q1 2000 Q4 2000 Q3 2001 Q2 2002 Q1 2003 Q4 2003 Q3 2004 Q2 2005 Q1 2006 Q4 2006 Q3 2007 Q2 2008 Q1 2009 Q4 2009 Insuran
ce -­‐ PE Ratio Cass Info vs. Financial Svs PE Ratio Chemicals -­‐ PE Ratio Mid-­America Apartment Communities vs. Real Estate Inv. Svs. Price/Earnings Ratio Marriott vs. Hotels Price/Earnings Ratio Q1 2000 Q4 2000 Q3 2001 Q2 2002 Q1 2003 Q4 2003 Q3 2004 Q2 2005 Q1 2006 Q4 2006 Q3 2007 Q2 2008 Q1 2009 Q4 2009 Marriot
t -­‐ PE Ratio Hotels -­‐ PE Ratio 600 500 400 300 200 100 0 MAA -­‐ PE Ratio Q1 2000 Q4 2000 Q3 2001 Q2 2002 Q1 2003 Q4 2003 Q3 2004 Q2 2005 Q1 2006 Q4 2006 Q3 2007 Q2 2008 Q1 2009 Q4 2009 120 100 80 60 40 20 0 Real Est Inv,Svs -­‐ PE Ratio Coors -­‐ PE Ratio 40 30 20 10 Q1 2000 Q4 2000 Q3 2001 Q2 2002 Q1 2003 Q4 2003 Q3 2004 Q2 2005 Q1 2006 Q4 2006 Q3 2007 Q2 2008 Q1 2009 Q4 2009 0 Brewer
ies -­‐ PE Ratio 35 30 25 20 15 10 5 0 RLI Corp. vs. Insurance Price/Earnings Ratio RLI -­‐ PE Ratio Q1 2000 Q4 2000 Q3 2001 Q2 2002 Q1 2003 Q4 2003 Q3 2004 Q2 2005 Q1 2006 Q4 2006 Q3 2007 Q2 2008 Q1 2009 Q4 2009 50 Molson Coors Brewing Co. vs Breweries Price/Earnings Ratio Insura
nce -­‐ PE Ratio 68
Stewart Info. Svs. vs. Insurance Price/
Earnings Ratio 400 300 200 100 0 Stewar
t Info. Svs. -­‐ PE Ratio Insura
nce -­‐ PE Ratio 70 60 50 40 30 20 10 0 Sunrise Senior Living vs. Health Care Price/Earnings Ratio Q1 2000 Q4 2000 Q3 2001 Q2 2002 Q1 2003 Q4 2003 Q3 2004 Q2 2005 Q1 2006 Q4 2006 Q3 2007 Q2 2008 Q1 2009 Q4 2009 500 Sunrise Senior Living -­‐ PE Ratio Health Care -­‐ PE Ratio The Andersons vs. Food Producers Price/
Earnings Ratio Q1 2000 Q4 2000 Q3 2001 Q2 2002 Q1 2003 Q4 2003 Q3 2004 Q2 2005 Q1 2006 Q4 2006 Q3 2007 Q2 2008 Q1 2009 Q4 2009 The Anders
ons -­‐ PE Ratio Food Produc
ers -­‐ PE Ratio 70 60 50 40 30 20 10 0 TSS -­‐ PE Ratio Q1 2000 Q4 2000 Q3 2001 Q2 2002 Q1 2003 Q4 2003 Q3 2004 Q2 2005 Q1 2006 Q4 2006 Q3 2007 Q2 2008 Q1 2009 Q4 2009 25 20 15 10 5 0 Total System Services vs. Computer Services Price/Earnings Ratio Compu
ter Svs -­‐ PE Ratio Tyson Foods vs. Food Producers Price/
Earnings Ratio Q1 2000 Q4 2000 Q3 2001 Q2 2002 Q1 2003 Q4 2003 Q3 2004 Q2 2005 Q1 2006 Q4 2006 Q3 2007 Q2 2008 Q1 2009 Q4 2009 Tyson Foods -­‐ PE Ratio Food Produc
ers -­‐ PE Ratio 50 Wal Mart -­‐ PE Ratio 40 30 20 10 0 Q1 2000 Q4 2000 Q3 2001 Q2 2002 Q1 2003 Q4 2003 Q3 2004 Q2 2005 Q1 2006 Q4 2006 Q3 2007 Q2 2008 Q1 2009 Q4 2009 70 60 50 40 30 20 10 0 Wal Mart vs. Consumer Goods Price/
Earnings Ratio Consu
mer Goods -­‐ PE Ratio Wal Mart -­‐ PE Ratio 40 30 20 10 Q1 2000 Q4 2000 Q3 2001 Q2 2002 Q1 2003 Q4 2003 Q3 2004 Q2 2005 Q1 2006 Q4 2006 Q3 2007 Q2 2008 Q1 2009 Q4 2009 0 Consu
mer Goods -­‐ PE Ratio 40 35 30 25 20 15 10 5 0 YUM! Brands vs. Restaurants & Bars Price/
Earnings Ratio YUM! Brands -­‐ PE Ratio Q1 2000 Q4 2000 Q3 2001 Q2 2002 Q1 2003 Q4 2003 Q3 2004 Q2 2005 Q1 2006 Q4 2006 Q3 2007 Q2 2008 Q1 2009 Q4 2009 50 Wal Mart vs. Consumer Goods Price/
Earnings Ratio Restaur
ants & Bars -­‐ PE Ratio 151 151
Sources: CRSP, Compustat, RMA, DataStream
69
Q1 2000 Q4 2000 Q3 2001 Q2 2002 Q1 2003 Q4 2003 Q3 2004 Q2 2005 Q1 2006 Q4 2006 Q3 2007 Q2 2008 Q1 2009 Q4 2009 6 5 4 3 2 1 0 12 10 8 6 4 2 0 2 1.5 0.5 0 Q1 2000 Q4 2000 Q3 2001 Q2 2002 Q1 2003 Q4 2003 Q3 2004 Q2 2005 Q1 2006 Q4 2006 Q3 2007 Q2 2008 Q1 2009 Q4 2009 Q1 2000 Q4 2000 Q3 2001 Q2 2002 Q1 2003 Q4 2003 Q3 2004 Q2 2005 Q1 2006 Q4 2006 Q3 2007 Q2 2008 Q1 2009 Q4 2009 Insura
nce -­‐ DY Lubrizo
l -­‐ DY Chemic
als -­‐ DY MAA -­‐ DY Real Est Inv,Svs -­‐ DY 2.5 RLI -­‐ DY 1 Insura
nce -­‐ DY Q1 2000 Q4 2000 Q3 2001 Q2 2002 Q1 2003 Q4 2003 Q3 2004 Q2 2005 Q1 2006 Q4 2006 Q3 2007 Q2 2008 Q1 2009 Q4 2009 A.lac -­‐ DY Q1 2000 Q4 2000 Q3 2001 Q2 2002 Q1 2003 Q4 2003 Q3 2004 Q2 2005 Q1 2006 Q4 2006 Q3 2007 Q2 2008 Q1 2009 Q4 2009 Q1 2000 Q4 2000 Q3 2001 Q2 2002 Q1 2003 Q4 2003 Q3 2004 Q2 2005 Q1 2006 Q4 2006 Q3 2007 Q2 2008 Q1 2009 Q4 2009 6 5 4 3 2 1 0 Q1 2000 Q4 2000 Q3 2001 Q2 2002 Q1 2003 Q4 2003 Q3 2004 Q2 2005 Q1 2006 Q4 2006 Q3 2007 Q2 2008 Q1 2009 Q4 2009 3 Q1 2000 Q4 2000 Q3 2001 Q2 2002 Q1 2003 Q4 2003 Q3 2004 Q2 2005 Q1 2006 Q4 2006 Q3 2007 Q2 2008 Q1 2009 Q4 2009 Dividend Yield Graphs
A"lac vs. Insurance Dividend Yield 5 Cass Information Systems vs. Financial Services Dividend Yield 4 3 2 Cass Info. Sys. -­‐ DY 1 0 Financi
al Svs -­‐ DY Lubrizol vs. Chemcials Dividend Yield 4 3.5 3 2.5 2 1.5 1 0.5 0 Marriott vs. Hotels Dividend Yield Mid-­America Apartment Communities vs. Real Estate Inv. Svs. Dividend Yield RLI Corp. vs Insurance Dividend Yield 70
Marriot
t -­‐ DY 3.5 3 2.5 2 1.5 1 0.5 0 6 5 4 3 2 1 0 Hotel -­‐ Divide
nd Yield Molson Coors Brewing Co. vs. Breweries Dividend Yield Coors -­‐ DY Brewer
ies -­‐ DY Stewart Info. Svs. vs. Insurance Dividend Yield Stewar
t Info. Svs. -­‐ DY Insura
nce -­‐ DY Sunrise Senior Living vs. Health Care Dividend Yield Sunrise Senior Living -­‐ DY 2 1.5 1 Health Care -­‐ DY 0.5 Q1 2000 Q4 2000 Q3 2001 Q2 2002 Q1 2003 Q4 2003 Q3 2004 Q2 2005 Q1 2006 Q4 2006 Q3 2007 Q2 2008 Q1 2009 Q4 2009 0 3.5 3 2.5 2 1.5 1 0.5 0 The Andersons vs. Food Producers Dividend Yield The Anders
ons -­‐ DY Food Produc
ers -­‐ DY Q1 2000 Q4 2000 Q3 2001 Q2 2002 Q1 2003 Q4 2003 Q3 2004 Q2 2005 Q1 2006 Q4 2006 Q3 2007 Q2 2008 Q1 2009 Q4 2009 2.5 Tyson Foods vs. Food Producers Dividend Yield 2 1.5 TSS -­‐ DY 1 0.5 Q1 2000 Q4 2000 Q3 2001 Q2 2002 Q1 2003 Q4 2003 Q3 2004 Q2 2005 Q1 2006 Q4 2006 Q3 2007 Q2 2008 Q1 2009 Q4 2009 0 Compu
ter Svs -­‐ DY Tyson Foods -­‐ DY 3.5 3 2.5 2 1.5 1 0.5 0 Q1 2000 Q4 2000 Q3 2001 Q2 2002 Q1 2003 Q4 2003 Q3 2004 Q2 2005 Q1 2006 Q4 2006 Q3 2007 Q2 2008 Q1 2009 Q4 2009 2.5 Total Systems Services vs. Computer Services Dividend Yield Food Produc
ers -­‐ DY Wal Mart vs. Consumer Goods Dividend Yield Q1 2000 Q4 2000 Q3 2001 Q2 2002 Q1 2003 Q4 2003 Q3 2004 Q2 2005 Q1 2006 Q4 2006 Q3 2007 Q2 2008 Q1 2009 Q4 2009 Wal Mart -­‐ DY Consu
mer Goods -­‐ DY 3.5 3 2.5 2 1.5 1 0.5 0 YUM! Brands -­‐ DY Q1 2000 Q4 2000 Q3 2001 Q2 2002 Q1 2003 Q4 2003 Q3 2004 Q2 2005 Q1 2006 Q4 2006 Q3 2007 Q2 2008 Q1 2009 Q4 2009 4 3.5 3 2.5 2 1.5 1 0.5 0 YUM! Brands vs. Restaruants & Bars Dividend Yield Restau
rants & Bars -­‐ DY 152 152
Sources: CRSP, Compustat, RMA, DataStream
71
Debt-Equity Ratio Graphs
J.M. Smucker vs. Fruit/Veg Canning Debt-­
Equity Ratio 60 JM Smucke
r Debt-­‐
Equity Ratio Fruit/
Veg Canning Debt-­‐
Equity 50 40 30 20 10 Tyson vs. Food Producer Debt-­Equity Ratio 140 100 80 Food Producer Debt-­‐Equity 60 40 20 0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 0 Coors vs. Breweries Debt-­Equity Ratio 160 140 120 100 80 60 40 20 0 Lubrizol vs. Chemicals Debt-­Equity Ratio 140 120 100 Coors Debt-­‐
Equity Ratio 80 Debt-­‐Equity 40 Lubrizol Debt-­‐
Equity Ratio 60 Chemicals Debt-­‐Equity 20 0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 The Andersons vs. Grain/Bean Manufacturers Debt-­Equity Ratio 140 120 100 80 60 40 20 0 30 Tyson Debt-­‐
Equity Ratio 120 Alaska Air vs. Airlines Debt-­Equity Ratio 300 250 Ande Debt-­‐
Equity Ratio Grain/Bean Manu Debt-­‐
Equity 200 150 Alaska Debt-­‐
Equity Ratio 100 Debt-­‐Equity 50 0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 AFLAC/RLI/Stewart Info vs. Insurance Debt-­Equity Ratio Marriott vs. Hotels Debt-­Equity Ratio A.lac Debt-­‐
Equity Ratio 25 20 RLI Debt-­‐
Equity Ratio 15 10 Stewart Debt-­‐
Equity Ratio 5 0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 Insurance Debt-­‐Equity Ratio 250 200 150 Marriott Debt-­‐
Equity Ratio 100 Hotels Debt-­‐
Equity 50 0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 72
YUM! vs. Restaurants Debt-­Equity Ratio Mid-­America vs. Real Estate Invest. Debt-­
Equity Ratio 2000 250 1500 200 1000 YUM Debt-­‐
Equity Ratio 500 Restaurant Debt-­‐Equity 0 -­‐500 150 100 Debt-­‐Equity 50 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 0 1 -­‐1000 Cass vs. Business Svs. Debt-­Equity Ratio 6 5 4 3 Cass Debt-­‐
Equity Ratio 2 Debt-­‐Equity 1 0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 153 153
MAA Debt-­‐
Equity Ratio Sources: CRSP, Compustat, RMA, DataStream
73
2 3 4 5 Return on Assets (ROA) Graphs
JM Smucker vs. Fruit/Veb Can ROA 10 Tyson vs. Food Producer ROA JM Smucke
r Return on Assets (ROA) Fruit/
Veg Cannin
g ROA 8 6 4 2 0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 10 8 Tyson Return on Assets (ROA) 6 4 2 Food Producer ROA 0 -­‐2 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 -­‐4 Coors vs. Breweries ROA Lubrizol vs. Chemicals ROA 12 10 10 8 6 Coors Return on Assets (ROA) 4 ROA 8 Lubrizol Return on Assets (ROA) 6 4 Chemicals ROA 2 2 0 0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 The Andersons vs. Grain/Bean Manuf ROA 6 Alaska Air vs. Airlines ROA 10 8 5 Ande Return on Assets (ROA) 4 3 2 Grain/Bean Manu ROA 1 6 2 -­‐6 A"lac/RLI/Stewart Info vs. Insurance ROA A.lac Return on Assets (ROA) 10 RLI Return on Assets (ROA) 5 0 -­‐10 Stewart Return on Assets (ROA) -­‐15 Insurance ROA -­‐5 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 -­‐4 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 15 ROA 0 -­‐2 0 Alaska Return on Assets (ROA) 4 Marriott vs. Hotels ROA 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 2 1 0 Marriott Return on Assets (ROA) Hotels ROA 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 -­‐20 74
YUM! vs. Restaurants ROA 18 16 14 12 10 8 6 4 2 0 Mid-­America vs. Real Estate Invest. ROA 5 4 YUM Return on Assets (ROA) Restaurants ROA 2 ROA 1 0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 -­‐1 Cass vs. Business Svs. ROA 10 8 6 Cass Return on Assets (ROA) 4 ROA 2 0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 154 154
MAA Return on Assets (ROA) 3 Sources: CRSP, Compustat, RMA, DataStream
75
1 2 3 4 5 Return on Equity (ROE) Graphs
JM Smucker vs. Fruit/Veg Can ROE 25 Tyson vs. Food Producer ROE 25 20 20 15 10 5 JM Smucker Return on Equity (ROE) 15 Fruit/Veg Canning ROE 5 0 Tyson ROE 10 Food Producer ROE 0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 -­‐5 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 -­‐10 40 The Andersons vs. Grain/Bean Manuf ROE 20 Coors Return on Equity (ROE) 10 ROE 30 25 20 Ande Return on Equity (ROE) 15 10 Grain/Bean Manu ROE 5 0 0 1 3 5 7 9 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 Alaska Air vs. Airlines ROA A"lac/RLI/Stewart Info vs. Insurance ROE 10 8 6 Alaska Return on Assets (ROA) 4 2 ROA 0 -­‐2 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 -­‐4 -­‐6 40 30 20 10 0 -­‐10 -­‐20 -­‐30 -­‐40 -­‐50 -­‐60 Marriott vs. Hotels ROE A.lac Return on Equity (ROE) RLI Return on Equity (ROE) 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 Stewart Return on Equity (ROE) Insurance ROE YUM! vs. Restaurants ROE 60 600 500 50 30 Marriott Return on Equity (ROE) 20 Hotels ROE 40 10 400 YUM Return on Equity (ROE) 300 200 Restaurants ROE 100 0 0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 -­‐100 -­‐200 76
1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 Mid-­America vs. Real Estate Invest ROE 16 14 12 10 8 6 4 2 0 -­‐2 Lubrizol vs. Chemical ROE 35 30 25 20 MAA ROE 15 ROE ROE 10 Chemicals ROE 5 0 1 2 3 4 -­‐5 5 Wal-­Mart vs. Dept. Stores ROE 20 15 Wal-­‐Mart ROE ROE 5 0 45 40 35 30 25 20 15 10 5 0 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 Cass ROE ROE 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 155 155
TSS ROE ROE 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 Cass vs. Business Svs. ROE 45 40 35 30 25 20 15 10 5 0 TSS vs. Data Svs. ROE 25 10 1 2 3 4 5 6 7 8 9 10 -­‐10 Sources: CRSP, Compustat, RMA, DataStream
77
Appendix B: Mutual Funds
Timothy Plan: Morningstar Data and Graphs
78
79
Ave Maria Catholic Values: Morningstar Data and Graphs
80
81
LKCM Aquinas Growth: Morningstar Data
82
83
MMA Praxis Growth Index: Morningstar Data and Graphs
84
85
New Covenant Growth: Morningstar Data and Graphs
156 156
Morningstar
86
87
Mutual Funds vs. S&P 500 Graphs
88
Appendix C: Definition of Ratios
Total Return Index (RI)
A type of equity index that tracks both the capital gains of a group of stocks over time, and assumes that any
cash distributions, such as dividends, are reinvested back into the index. Looking at an index's total
return displays a more accurate representation of the index's performance. By assuming dividends are
reinvested, you effectively have accounted for stocks in an index that do not issue dividends and instead,
reinvest their earnings within the underlying company.
Price to Book Ratio (BP)
A ratio used to compare a stock's market value to its book value. It is calculated by dividing the current closing
price of the stock by the latest quarter's book value per share.
Also known as the "price-equity ratio".
Calculated as:
=Stock Price/(Total Assets – Intangible Assets and Liabilities)
Price/Earnings Ratio (PE)
A valuation ratio of a company's current share price compared to its per-share earnings.
Calculated as:
=Market Value per Share/Earnings per Share (EPS)
Dividend Yield
A financial ratio that shows how much a company pays out in dividends each year relative to its share price. In
the absence of any capital gains, the dividend yield is the return on investment for a stock. Dividend yield is
calculated as follows:
= Annual Dividends per Share/ Price per Share
Debt-Equity Ratio
A measure of a company's financial leverage. Debt/equity ratio is equal to long-term debt divided by common
shareholders' equity. Typically the data from the prior fiscal year is used in the calculation. Investing in
a company with a higher debt/equity ratio may be riskier, especially in times of rising interest rates, due to the
additional interest that has to be paid out for the debt.
Return on Assets (ROA)
An indicator of how profitable a company is relative to its total assets. ROA gives an idea as to how
efficient management is at using its assets to generate earnings
=Net Income/Total Assets
Return on Equity (ROE)
The amount of net income returned as a percentage of shareholders equity. Return on equity measures a
corporation's profitability by revealing how much profit a company generates with the money shareholders have
invested.
= Net Income/Shareholder's Equity157
157
Investopedia ULC, 2010 www.investopedia.com
89
Appendix D: Chick-fil-A Documents
Questions for Dan Cathy
• Please tell me a little about yourself, including, but not limited to, your business background and faith.
If so, how do you draw expressly on your faith when making tough decisions, or dealing with
dilemmas that are not black and white?
• What are the primary goals of Chick-fil-A? For you?
• Would you elaborate on the “higher calling” of Chick-fil-A? Your website says “we exist to glorify God
by being a faithful steward of all that is entrusted to us.” What does this mean to you?
• In general, what affect does Christianity have on Chick-fil-A and its employees?
• What role should Christianity occupy at a company, firm, or business? Could/should it occupy
more/less of a role at Chick-fil-A?
• What affect do you think religion has played in the success of the company? Would it be more
successful if it did not uphold Christian values? Is Chick-fil-A's success a testament to its adherence to
Christianity, a great business model, or both?
• What role does Christianity play in the decision making at Chick-fil-A, if at all? When making
business decisions, do you take into account Christian teachings, the Bible, or other influences? Do you
think that the Bible complements business practices? Is the Golden Rule the key to success?
• What is Chick-fil-A's function in the spreading, supporting, or encouraging of the Christian faith? In
what ways do you see Chick-fil-A fulfilling its responsibility as a Christian company?
• Do you apply a Christian ethical framework to your business decisions? Does Chick-fil-A as a company
try to adhere to Christian ethical values?
• While Chick-fil-A publicly displays its religiosity, such as being closed on Sundays, are there less wellknown ways in which Chick-fil-A advocates Christianity?
• If you were not a Christian, and merely a businessman with no faith convictions, what one or two
things would you do differently in regards to how you run the business?
• How do you deviate from your father in regards to his management philosophy? How do you see the
Christian character of the company changing under your leadership and into the future?
• Does the company try to attract and develop its non-Christian employees? Could you ever imagine a
senior level EVP who is, say, Jewish or atheist?
• I have recently watched Food, Inc, a documentary about the food industry. It denounces many of the
practices of modern multi-national corporations that produce food and the companies such as
McDonald’s that buy from them. Does Chick-fil-A make efforts to ethically produce its sandwiches? Is
it obligatory as a steward of God to take such considerations into mind? And if so, how do you go
about this?
90
Confidentiality/Non-Disclosure Agreement
For purposes of this Confidentiality/Non-Disclosure Agreement (this “Agreement”), “Disclosing
Party” shall mean Chick-fil-A, Inc. and/or any of its affiliated entities, 5200 Buffington Road, Atlanta,
Georgia 30349, and “Recipient” shall mean Daniel A. Steiner whose address is 800 Greentree Road, Pacific
Palisades, California 90272. Recipient hereby agrees that this Agreement will extend to all documents,
materials, communications and information (whether oral, written or otherwise) relating to the Disclosing
Party which are given or disclosed to Recipient by the Disclosing Party's employees, personnel or
representatives. The following terms shall have the following meanings when used in this Agreement:
(a)
"Confidential Information" shall mean the proprietary and confidential data or
information of the Disclosing Party, other than "Trade Secrets" (as defined below), which is of tangible or
intangible value to the Disclosing Party and is not public information or is not generally known or available to
the Disclosing Party's competitors but is known only by the Disclosing Party and its affiliates and those of
their respective employees, attorneys, independent contractors, consultants, customers or agents to whom
such data and information must be confided in order to apply it to the uses intended. In addition, the
definition of Confidential Information shall include those items specifically identified as "Trade Secrets" in
Paragraph (b), if it is judicially determined that any such items are not trade secrets, under applicable law,
and such items otherwise meet the definition of Confidential Information as contained in this Paragraph (a).
Confidential Information does not include (i) information which is now in or hereafter enters the public
domain through no action on Recipient's part in violation of the terms or conditions hereof; (ii) information
which Recipient can demonstrate was in Recipient's possession at the time of disclosure or which
subsequently becomes known to Recipient and was not acquired by Recipient directly or indirectly from the
Disclosing Party on a confidential basis; or (iii) information disclosed by the Disclosing Party to others on an
unrestricted, non-confidential basis. Provided, however, if a portion of any such Confidential Information falls
within any one of the exceptions, the remainder shall continue to be subject to the prohibitions and
restrictions set forth in this Agreement.
(b)
"Trade Secrets" shall mean information of or about the Disclosing Party including,
without limitation, technical or non-technical data, recipes, formulas, patterns, compilations, programs,
devices, methods, techniques, drawings, plans, prototypes, processes, financial data, financial plans, products
plans, or lists of actual or potential customers, clients, distributes, or licenses, that: (i) derives economic value,
actual or potential, from not being generally known to, and not being readily ascertainable by proper means
by, other persons who can obtain economic value from their disclosure or use; and (ii) is the subject of efforts
that are reasonable under the circumstances to maintain its secrecy.
(c) "Evaluation Material" shall mean all notes, reports, drawings, plans, documents and
materials of whatever nature prepared by Recipient to the extent that any such materials include or are
derived from Confidential Information or Trade Secrets.
1.
Recipient acknowledges that improper and/or unauthorized use or disclosure of Trade
Secrets, Confidential Information and/or Evaluation Material (collectively, the "Protected Information")
could cause irreparable harm to the Disclosing Party.
Accordingly, Recipient hereby agrees that the
Protected Information will be kept strictly confidential by Recipient during the term of this Agreement.
Recipient also agrees that without the prior written consent of the Disclosing Party, the Protected
Information: (i) will not be disclosed by Recipient, in whole or in part, to any person or entity in violation of
91
this Agreement; and (ii) will not be used by Recipient with the intention of adversely affecting the business
or operations of the Disclosing Party or creating new or different competition therewith.
Notwithstanding the foregoing restrictions, Disclosing Party hereby consents to Recipient using
Protected Information shared by Dan T. Cathy in the interview to take place at Disclosing Party’s corporate
headquarters on January 25, 2010 (the “Interview”) for the sole purpose of creation of Recipient’s graduate
thesis (the “Thesis”) in his studies at Princeton University and for no other purpose. Further, in the event
Recipient uses any Protected Information in the Thesis, Disclosing Party shall have editorial rights to the
Thesis, which means the Thesis is subject to the prior review and approval of Disclosing Party before being
shared with any third party, including, but not limited to, Recipient’s professor at Princeton University. In
addition, in the event Recipient uses any Protected Information in the Thesis, in no event may the Thesis be
published for circulation in any capacity (whether in hard copy, electronic form, or otherwise) without the
prior written consent of the Disclosing Party. Recipient also hereby agrees that there shall be no recording of
any kind of the Interview and that, in the event Recipient uses any Protected Information in the Thesis,
Recipient shall not use any public, shared and/or university computer system (to which third parties may
have access) in connection with the creation of the Thesis.
2.
Subject to Disclosing Party’s editing and approval rights in Section 1 above, Recipient may
only disclose Protected Information embedded in the Thesis to his professor at Princeton University.
Recipient hereby agrees that he shall be responsible for the actions, uses and disclosures of any third party in
respect of Protected Information provided to such third party by Recipient. Further, Recipient shall require
that any third party (including his professor that will receive the Thesis) that obtains the Protected
Information from Recipient acknowledge and comply with the terms of this Agreement.
3.
Recipient will promptly return to the Disclosing Party all written Protected Information,
together with all copies or extracts thereof upon the earlier of the (i) request of the Disclosing Party, or (ii)
termination of this Agreement between the parties for any reason.
4.
If Recipient becomes legally compelled to disclose any of the Protected Information,
Recipient will provide the Disclosing Party with prompt notice so that the Disclosing Party may seek a
protective order or other appropriate remedy. If such protective order or other remedy is not obtained,
Recipient will use its best efforts to furnish only that portion of the Protected Information which is legally
required and Recipient will use its best efforts to cooperate with the Disclosing Party's counsel to enable the
Disclosing Party to obtain a protective order or other reliable assurance that confidential treatment will be
accorded to the same.
5.
The Disclosing Party makes no representation or warranty as to the accuracy or
completeness of any of the Protected Information.
6.
This Agreement shall be governed in all respects, whether as to validity, construction,
capacity, performance or otherwise, by and under the laws of the State of Georgia (without giving effect to
principles of conflicts of laws which would lead to the application of the laws of another jurisdiction).
RECIPIENT HEREBY SUBMITS TO THE EXCLUSIVE JURISDICTION OF THE UNITED
STATES DISTRICT COURT FOR THE NORTHERN DISTRICT OF GEORGIA AND TO THE
STATE COURTS OF GEORGIA LOCATED IN THE CITY OF ATLANTA FOR THE PURPOSES
OF RESOLVING ANY DISPUTE ARISING UNDER OR IN CONNECTION WITH THIS
AGREEMENT AND IRREVOCABLY WAIVES, TO THE FULLEST EXTENT PERMITTED BY
LAW, ANY OBJECTION WHICH IT MAY NOW OR HEREAFTER HAVE TO THE LAYING OF
VENUE AND ANY ACTION, SUIT OR PROCEEDING ARISING OUT OF THIS AGREEMENT
OR THE TRANSACTIONS CONTEMPLATED HEREBY IN THE COURTS OF THE STATE OF
92
GEORGIA OR THE UNITED STATES OF AMERICA LOCATED IN THE CITY OF ATLANTA,
AND HEREBY FURTHER IRREVOCABLY AND UNCONDITIONALLY WAIVES AND AGREES
NOT TO PLEAD OR CLAIM IN ANY SUCH COURT THAT ANY SUCH ACTION, SUIT OR
PROCEEDING
BROUGHT
IN
ANY
SUCH
COURT
HAS
BEEN
BROUGHT
IN
AN
INCONVENIENT FORUM.
7.
The term of this Agreement shall commence on the date hereof and shall continue: (a) with
regard to each item of Protected Information constituting a Trade Secret, for as long as such item remains a
trade secret; (b) with regard to any Confidential Information and/or Evaluation Material, for a period of
three (3) years from the date the Protected Information is returned to the Disclosing Party pursuant to
paragraph 3 of this Agreement.
8.
In the event of any breach or threatened breach by Recipient of the terms hereof, in addition
to all other relief and remedies available to the Disclosing Party, the Disclosing Party shall be entitled to
injunctive and other equitable relief, and Recipient shall not plead in defense thereto that there would be an
adequate remedy at law.
9.
No failure or delay by the Disclosing Party in exercising any right, power or privilege
hereunder will operate as a waiver thereof, nor will any single or partial exercise thereof preclude any other or
further exercise thereof or the exercise of any right, power of privilege hereunder. Time is of essence. This
Agreement can only be modified or waived in writing.
Signed and agreed to this 22nd day of January 2010.
RECIPIENT:
_________________________________
Daniel A. Steiner
93
Bibliography
“Aflac, Inc. American Hero Company Summary Report.” American Values Investments. 22 Feb 2010.
Anderson, G. M. "Mr. Smith and the Preachers: The Economics of Religion in the Wealth of Nations.”
Journal of Political Economy.” 2003.
Ankerberg, John, and John Weldon. Fast facts on Mormonism. Eugene, Or: Harvest House, 2003.
Ashmos, D. P., & Duchon, D. “Spirituality at work: A conceptualization and measure.” Journal of
Management Inquiry. June 2000.
“Background.” Stewart Information Services. http://www.stewart.com/section/about
stewart_background.
Barnea, A., Rubin, A. “Corporate social responsibility as a conflict between shareholders.” Working
Paper. University of Texas at Austin. 2006.
Barnett, M., Salomon, M. “The curvilinear relationship between social responsibility and financial
performance.” Strategic Management Journal. 2006.
Barton, Bruce. The Man nobody knows: a discovery of Jesus. Indianapolis: Bobbs-Merrill, 1925.
Bellant, Russ. The Coors Connection: How Coors Family Philanthropy Undermines Democratic Pluralism.
Boston, MA: South End Press, 1991
“Bill Gates Quotes.” Brainy Quotes. http://www.brainyquote.com/quotes/quotes/b/billgates102601.html
Blanchard, Ken and S. Truett Cathy. The Generosity Factor: Discover the Joy of Giving Your Time, Talent,
and Treasure. Grand Rapids, MI: Zondervan, 2002.
Borchardt, Debra. “Sinners, Saints & Stocks: Guided by Faith.” The Street.com. 2 Feb 2009.
Braham, J. “The spiritual side: CEOs speak up about how spirituality helps their companies, employees,
customers and themselves.” Industry Week. 1 Feb 1999.
Bromiley, Philip and Shawn P. Curley. “Individual differences in risk taking.” Risk-taking Behavior.
Edited by J. Frank Yates. New York: John Wiley & Sons, 1992.
Business, Religion, and Spirituality: A New Synthesis. Edited by Oliver F. Williams. Notre Dame:
University of Notre Dame Press, 2003.
94
Carballo, M. “Religion in the world at the end of the millennium.” Gallup International Association. July
22, 2008. http://www.gallupinternational.com/ContentFiles/millenniuml 5.asp
“Cass Information: American Hero Company Summary Report.” American Values Investments. 22 Feb
2010.
“Catholic Values Investing.” Aquinas Funds. www.aquinasfunds.com
Cathy, S. Truett. It’s Easier to Succeed than to Fail. Nashville, TN: Oliver Nelson, 1989.
Cathy, S. Truett. Eat Mor Chikin: Inspire More People. Decatur, Georgia: Looking Glass Books, 2002.
Cathy, S. Truett. It’s Better to Build Boys than Mend Men. Decatur, Georgia: Looking Glass Books, 2004.
Cathy, S. Truett. It's Easier to Succeed than to Fail. Nashville: Oliver-Nelson Books, 1989.
Chernow, R. Titan: The Life of John D. Rockefeller Sr. London: Warner Books, 1999.
“Chick-fil-A Marks 42 Years of Annual Sales Growth.” Chain Leader. 2 Mar 2010.
http://www.chainleader.com/article/447394Chick_fil_A_Marks_42_Years_of_Annual_Sales_Growth.php?q=chick+fil+a
Conlin, Michelle. “Religion in the Workplace.” Business Week Magazine. 1 Nov. 1999
http://www.businessweek.com/1999/99_44/b3653001.htm
Cornwall, Marie. “The influence of three agents of religious socialization: Family, church, and peers.” The
religion and family connection: Social science perspectives. Edited by Darwin L. Thomas. Provo,
UT: Religious Studies Center, Brigham Young University, 1988.
Cornwall, Marie. “Faith development of men and women over the life span.” Aging and the family. Edited
by Stephen J. Bahr and Evan T. Peterson. Lexington, MA: Lexington Books, 1989.
“Customer Covenant.” Total Systems Services. http://www.tsys.com/About/customer_covenant.cfm
Demerath III, N. J., Peter Dobkin Hall, Terry Schmitt, and Rhys H. Williams. Sacred Companies:
Organizational Aspects of Religion and Religious Aspects of Organizations. New York: Oxford
University Press, 1998.
de Vaus, David A. “Workforce participation and sex differences in church attendance.” Review of
Religious Research. 1984.
de Vaus, David A. and Ian McAllister. “Gender differences in religion: A test of the structural
location theory.” American Sociological Review. 1987.
95
Durkin, John T. and Andrew M. Greeley. “A model of religious choice under uncertainty: On responding
rationally to the nonrational.” Rationality and Society. 1991.
East, T. J. “A grounded study on how spirituality in the workplace impacts a person's job satisfaction.”
Dissertation Abstracts International. Capella University, 2005.
Edison Media Research. 22 May 2003. www.pbs.org/wnet/religionandethics/pdfs/banner6.pdf
Enander, J. O. “Prayer groups on company time.” Industrial Distribution. Feb 2000.
Finke, Roger, and Rodney Stark. The Churching of America: Winners and Losers in our Religious
Economy. New Brunswick, NJ: Rutgers University Press, 1992.
Fisman, R., Heal, G., Nair, V. “A model of corporate philanthropy.” Working Paper, Columbia
University. 2006.
“Fund Overview.” Timothy Plan. http://www.timothyplan.com/Funds/frame-OurFunds-overview.htm
Giacalone, R. A., & Jurkiewicz, C. L. “Toward a Science of Workplace Spirituality.” Edited by R. A.
Giacalone & C. L. Jurkiewicz. Handbook of Workplace Spirituality and Organizational
Performance. Armonk, NY: M. E. Sharpe, Inc., 2003.
Giacalone, R. A., & Jurkiewicz, C. L. “Right from Wrong: The Influence of Spirituality on Perceptions of
Unethical Business Activities.” Journal of Business Ethics. Aug 2003.
Green, Robert W. Protestantism and Capitalism: The Weber Thesis and its Critics. Problems in European
Civilization. Boston: D.C. Heath and Company, 1959.
Grier, R. “The Effect of religion on economic development: a cross-national study of 63 former colonies.”
Kyklos. 1997.
Guiso, Luigi, Paola Sapienza, and Luigi Zingales. People's Opium?: Religion and Economic Attitudes.
Cambridge, MA.: National Bureau of Economic Research, 2002.
Gunther, Marc. "God & Business.” Fortune Magazine. 2001.
Hamilton, S., Joe, H., Statman, M. “Doing well while doing good? The investment performance of
socially responsible mutual funds.” Financial Analysts Journal. 1993
Hammond, Pete, R. Paul Stevens, and Todd Svanoe. The Marketplace Annotated Bibliography: A
Christian Guide to Books on Work, Business & Vocation. Downers Grove, Ill: InterVarsity Press,
2002.
96
Heal, G. “Corporate social responsibility: An economic and financial framework.” The Geneva Papers on
Risk and Insurance – Issues and Practice. 2005.
Hilary, Gilles, and Kai Wai Hui. "Does Religion Matter in Corporate Decision Making in America?"
Journal of Financial Economics. 2005.
“Home.” Yum! Brands. http://www.Yum.com/company/default.asp
“J.M. Smucker: American Hero Company Summary Report.” American Values Investments. 22 Feb
2010.
“J. Willard Marriott.” Marriott International.
http://www.marriott.com/corporateinfo/culture/heritageJWillardMarriott.mi
Iannaccone, Laurence R. “Introduction to the Economics of Religion.” Journal of Economic Literature,
1998.
“Inside AVI.” American Values Investments. http://www.americanvalues.com/
“Institutional aspects, performance, and investor behavior". Journal of Banking & Finance. 2008.
“Introduction.” Ave Maria Mutual Funds. http://www.avemariafund.com/home.htm
“Introduction.” Ave Maria Mutual Funds. http://www.avemariafund.com/home.htm.
Investopedia ULC. 2010. www.investopedia.com.
Kennedy, Michael H. “Spirituality in the workplace: An empirical study of this phenomenon among adult
graduates of a college degree completion program.” Dissertation Abstracts International. Doctoral
dissertation. Nova Southeastern University, 2002.
Laabs, J. J. “Balancing Spirituality and Work.” Personnel Journal. 1995.
“Labor force statistics from the current population survey.” Bureau of Labor Statistics. 8 Aug 2008.
http://www.bls.gov/cps/.
LeCraw, Carter. Personal Interview. 1 Mar 2010.
Lorenzen, Andy. Conversation with Author. 10 Feb 2010.
“Lubrizol: American Hero Company Summary Report.” American Values Investments. 22 Feb 2010.
Malinowski, Bronislaw. “Magic, science, and religion.” Science, Religion and Reality. Edited by Joseph
Needham. New York: Macmillan, 1925.
97
Marques, J. F. “Spirituality in the workplace: Establishing a broadly acceptable definition of this
phenomenon.” Dissertation Abstracts International. Pepperdine University, 2004.
“Mid-America Apartment Communities: American Hero Company Summary Report.” American
Values Investments. 22 Feb 2010.
Miller, Alan S. and John P. Hoffman. “Risk and Religion: An Explanation of Gender Differences in
Religiosity.” Journal for the Scientific Study of Religion. 1996.
Miller, David, Lecture, 13 Feb 2010.
Miller, David, Lecture, 13 Feb 2010.
Miller, David W. God At Work: The History and Promise of the Faith at Work Movement. Oxford: Oxford
University Press, 2007.
Miller, Lisa. “Harvard’s Crisis of Faith: Can a secular university embrace religion without sacrificing its
soul?” Newsweek. 11 Feb 2010. http://www.newsweek.com/id/233413.
Mills, C. Wright. The Sociological Imagination. Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1959
“Mission Statement.” Cass Information. www.cassinfo.com/mission.html.
Mitroff, Ian I., and Elizabeth A. Denton. A Spiritual Audit of Corporate America: A Hard Look at
Spirituality, Religion, and Values in the Workplace. Warren Bennis signature series. San
Francisco: Jossey-Bass Publishers, 1999.
Morgan, James F. "How Should Business Respond to a More Religious Workplace?" Advanced
Management Journal. 2004.
Nash, Laura L. Believers in Business. Nashville: T. Nelson, 1994.
Newport, Frank. “Questions and Answers About Americans’ Religion.” Gallup. Princeton, NJ, 24 Dec
2007. http://www.gallup.com/poll/103459/Questions-Answers-About-AmericansReligion.aspx#1
Norris, Pippa and Ronald Inglehart. Sacred and Secular: Religion and Politics Worldwide. Cambridge,
UK: Cambridge University Press, 2004.
Nur, Y. A. “Management by virtues: A comparative study of spirituality in the workplace and its impact
on selected organizational outcomes.” Dissertation Abstracts International. Doctoral dissertation,
Indiana University, 2003.
98
On Moral Business: Classical and Contemporary Resources for Ethics in Economic Life. Edited by
Max L. Stackhouse, Dennis P. McCann, and Shirley Roels. Grand Rapids: Eerdmans, 1995.
“Our Core Values.” Tyson. http://www.tyson.com/Consumer/CoreValues.aspx
Piskora, Beth. “Funds for Christian Investors.” 28 Mar 2005. Business Week.
http://www.businessweek.com/investor/content/mar2005/pi20050325_6141_pi050.htm
“Principles.” The Andersons, Inc. www.theandersons.com
Quatro, S. A. “Organizational spiritual normativity as an influence on organizational culture and
performance in Fortune 500 firms.” Dissertation Abstracts International. State University, 2002.
Rauschenbusch, Walter. “Wanted: A New Kind of Laymen.” Democrat and Chronicle. 1906
Renneboog, Luc, Jenke Ter Horst, and Chendi Zhang. "Socially responsible investments: Institutional
aspects, performance, and investor behavior.” Journal of Banking & Finance. 20008.
Risk Management Association. RMA Annual Statement Studies, 2004-2005. Financial Ratio Benchmarks.
Philadelphia, PA: Risk Management Association, 2004.
Risk Management Association. RMA Annual Statement Studies, 2009-2010. Financial Ratio Benchmarks.
Philadelphia, PA: Risk Management Association, 2009.
“RLI Corporation: American Hero Company Summary Report.” American Values Investments. 22 Feb
2010.
Salopek, J. J. “For God and Company.” Training and Development. Mar 2000.
Schneider, Benjamin, Harold W. Goldstein and D. Brent Smith. “The ASAFramework: An Update.”
Personnel Psychology. 1995.
Schwartz, Mark. "God as a Managerial Stakeholder?" Journal of Business Ethics. 2006.
“Screening Guidelines.” Timothy Plan. http://www.timothyplan.com/Funds/frame-OurFundsoverview.htm
Shorto, Russell. "Faith at Work." New York Times Magazine, 31 October 2004.
Smith, Adam. An Inquiry into the Nature and Causes of the Wealth of Nations. London: W. Strahan and
T. Cadell, 1776.
Smith, Kenneth W. Polar State Parables. New York: IUniverse Inc, 2004.
99
“Socially Responsible Investing.” New Covenant Mutual Funds. http://newcovenantfunds.com/sri.aspx.
Society for Human Resource Management & Tanenbaum Center for Interreligious Understanding.
Religion in the workplace survey. Alexandria, VA: Society for Human Resource Management,
2001.
Soderquist, Don. The Wal-Mart way: the inside story of the success of the world's largest company.
Nashville: T. Nelson, 2005.
Starcher, Keith. “Should You Hire a Workplace Chaplain?” Regent Business Review. 2003. Used by
permission by Christianity Today. http://www.christianitytoday.com/workplace/articles/issue8chaplain.html
Stark, Rodney, and William Sims Bainbridge. The Future of Religion: Secularization, Revival, and Cult
Formation. Berkeley: University of California Press, 1985.
Statman, M. “Socially responsible mutual funds.” Financial Analysts Journal. 2000.
“Stewart Information Services: American Hero Company Summary Report.” American Values
Investments. 22 Feb 2010.
Stulz, Rene M, and Rohan Williamson. "Culture, Openness, and Finance." Journal of Financial
Economics. 2003.
Sumanth, D. J. Productivity engineering and management. New York, NY: McGraw Hill, Inc., 1994.
Sumanth, D. J. Total productivity management. Boca Raton, FL: St. Lucie Press, 1998.
“Sunrise Senior Living: American Hero Company Summary Report.” American Values Investments. 22
Feb 2010.
“The Andersons, Inc.: American Hero Company Summary Report.” American Values Investments. 22 Feb
2010.
Tom, V.R. “The Role of Personality and Organizational images in the Recruiting Process.”
Organizational Behavior and Human Performance. 1971.
“Total Systems Services: American Hero Company Summary Report.” American Values Investments. 22
Feb 2010.
Tyson, John. Conversation with Author. 23 Mar 2010.
Tyson, John and David W. Miller. Lecture. 23 Mar 2010.
100
Valasek, A. Examining the Relationships of Spirituality and Religiosity to Individual Productivity in the
United States. Diss. Northcentral University, 2009.
Vroom, Victor H. “Organizational Choice: A Study of pre- and post-decision processes.” Organizational
Behavior and Human Performance. 1966
Wallach, Michael A. and Nathan Kogan. “Sex differences and judgment processes.” Journal of
Personality. 1959.
Weber, M. The Protestant Ethic and The Spirit of Capitalism. Unwin, London, 1905.
“Welcome.” Timothy Plan. http://www.timothyplan.com/
“Who We Are.” Aquinas Funds. www.aquinasfunds.com
Williams, Oliver F. Business, Religion, and Spirituality: A New Synthesis. Notre Dame (Ind.): University
of Notre Dame press, 2003.
Wong, Grace. “Investors bet on their faith.” CNNMoney.com. 23 Mar 2006.
http://www.money.cnn.com/2006/03/23/markets/religious_funds/index.htm
Worrell, R., and M. C. Appleby. "Stewardship of Natural Resources: Definition, Ethical and Practical
Aspects.” Journal of Agricultural and Environmental Ethics. 2000.
Zinnbauer, B., Pargament, K., Cole, B., Rye, M., Butter, E., Belavich, T., et al. “Religion and spirituality:
Unfuzzying the fuzzy.” Journal for the Scientific Study of Religion. Dec 1997.
Zuckerman, Marvin, Samuel Ball, and James Black. “Influences of sensation seeking, gender, risk
appraisal, and situational motivation on smoking.” Addictive Behaviors. 1990.
101