Most Helpful Customer Reviews
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7 of 7 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
OK, do you really know much about Shintoism or Sikhism? Here's some help., June 19, 2007
This book is intended as a help to businesspeople who are dealing with people from different cultures around the world and who likely hold to different religious faiths than they hold themselves. Often, and mistakenly, people assume that all religions are pretty much the same. In fact, what most Christians assume a religion to be, with its ordinances and orthodox doctrines, would not only be foreign to some religions, the very ideas would not be understood.
While this book is in no way meant to be a comprehensive examination of these faiths, it does offer a good quick reference and a place to start. In chapter one Todd Albertson lays out the problem and then takes us through a chapter each on Confucianism (China), Shintoism (Japan), Buddhism (China & India), Hinduism (India), Sikhism (India), Christianity (global), Islam (global), and Judaism (Israel, Europe, America and more), and secular postmodernism (the West).
Each chapter discusses the history of each religion, its sacred texts, selected readings, core beliefs, the branches existing in the faith, how its beliefs might influence the business behavior of its practitioners, and some references and further reading. One nice touch that the author has a quote of that faith's version of the "Golden Rule" to begin each chapter.
I found this to be quite interesting and helpful. Again, anyone needing more than a quick overview will have to dig more deeply into other materials, but this book is a great place to start. And those who know a given religion deeply will find the treatment to be superficial, but that is the point of a quick reference. It cannot get bogged down in all the detail that matters to experts.
Quite useful.
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5 of 5 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
Better than Dr. Phil!!!, June 23, 2007
I am fourth generation Mexican-American living in the San Diego area. I am also a practicing Roman Catholic. I have many friends who are not Catholic nor Latino and I generally get along with them and everybody regardless of race or religion. I have a new boss who is a recent immigrant from Asia. He is devoutly Buddhist. I have found it so difficult to work for him our values are so diferent and that plays out everday at work.
I shared this problem with some friends in a Book Club that I am member of. One of them had heard about this book, The Gods of Business, from w[...]. I was able to buy a copy, even though it says it isn't available for a few more weeks.
In the Preface, what author Albertson calls A Word to the Reader, he writes "This book will frustrate some because I don't spoon-feed the reader, as if you were unable to draw a conclusion for yourself. The sections applying religion to the marketplace are short compared to preceding sections. My reasoning is: once understanding is gained from a religion's history, core beliefs and sacred texts, the market application is often straightforward and self-explanatory. I do not decide the issues of the present day. I do try to lay out the bare bones of belief of the major religions, the basic ideas and values that many religions share towards business, and the most likely ways that people express their various faiths."
I read this statement and filed it away somewhere in my mind. By the fourth chapter, I was becoming frustrated because I wasn't being told what to think. I was expecting Dr. Phil, telling me what to think, feel, and believe about religion and business ethics. I then remembered the previous statement in the Preface that Albertson wasn't going to be doing this and was forcing me to draw my own conclusions. It made me think long and hard about what I was reading and about the situation with my boss.
I liked this a lot book because I was being treated with intellectual respect and dignity. After experiencing this, why would I want a Dr. Phil moment as this was so much better! This book helped me understand where my boss was coming from and how to deal with him better. I like this book so much that I've bought multiple copies to give away to a few co-workers and my boss!
I highly recommend.
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4 of 4 people found the following review helpful:
5.0 out of 5 stars
A 'must-have' primer, August 6, 2007
Written by international business expert Todd Albertson, MBA, Ph.D., The Gods of Business: The Intersection of Faith and the Marketplace is a very straightforward introduction to the basic guiding principles of the world's major religions (Confucianism, Shintoism, Buddhism, Hinduism, Sikhism, Christianity, Islam, Judaism, and Secular Postmodernism) and how those principles affect individual adherents, particularly in the realms of commerce and ethics. The Gods of Business spells out the a condensed yet balanced portrayal of each faith in plain terms, immediately accessible to lay readers, and is enthusiastically recommended for anyone preparing to embark upon business ventures among those of different faiths, or simply seeking to quickly grasp a better understanding of how religious diversity shapes different culture's worldviews. "Jewish ethics are summed up in the Ten Commandments and in the philosophy of 'an eye for an eye and a tooth for a tooth.' The latter sounds harsh today, but it was an enormous advance on the take-no-prisoners ethics of the societies that surrounded the Jewish people in the days of Moses. The non-Jewish principle of the time was a life for an eye, and if I cannot kill you, I will get a member of your family. This was the whole basis of feuding, which was widespread even in the West until recent history." A 'must-have' primer for anyone unfamiliar with basic tenets of world religions in today's era of globalization.
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