Abstract.
Recent years have witnessed the proliferation of “Christian” companies in the U.S. These firms declare their belief in, and active pursuit of, the successful merging of biblical principles with business activities. Economic success, hard work, and biblical values are seen as capable of existing together in harmony. While the number of such businesses appears to be growing, there has been a dearth of any scientific study of these companies. No empirical research has been conducted to determine whether these religious values and behaviors have any significant impact on a company’s performance. The present study is designed to partially fill this gap. Specifically, it seeks to determine whether there are differences in long-term performance between self-proclaimed “Christian-based” businesses and their secular counterparts. Data were collected from 312 companies. A multivariate analysis of variance (MANOVA), followed by univariate ANOVAs, found significant differences between these two groups of firms on three of the four performance variables that were analyzed. Some explanations as well as limited generalizations and implications are developed.
Similar content being viewed by others
References
W Abbott R. Monsen (1979) ArticleTitleOn the Measurement of Corporate Social Responsibility: Self report Disclosure as a Method of Measuring Social Involvement Academy of Management Journal 22 501–515
L.A.. Bernstein (1993) Financial Statement Analysis Irwin Homewood, IL
E Brigham P. Daves (2002) Intermediate Financial Management, 7th Edition South-Western Cincinnati, OH
T. Campbell SuffixJr. (1957) ArticleTitleCapitalism and Christianity Harvard Business Review 35 IssueID4 37–44
P Cochran D. Wood (1984) ArticleTitleCorporate Social Responsibility and Financial Performance Academy of Management Journal 27 42–56
D Dalton I.. Kesner (1985) ArticleTitleOrganizational Performance as an Antecedent of Inside/Outside Executive Succession: An Empirical Assessment Academy of management Journal 28 749–762
DeTocqueville A.. (1945). Democracy in America, in P. Bradley (ed.). Democracy in America, Vol. 1. Vintage Books, NY.
D Hambrick D. Lei (1985) ArticleTitleToward An Empirical Prioritization of Contingency Variables for Business Strategy Academy of Management Journal 28 763–788
D Hansen M. Mowen (1992) Management Accounting South-Western Cincinnati, OH
Heilman W. (2003). Principled Fast-Food Chain Opens in Colorado Springs. Colorado, Knight Ridder Tribune Business News. (February 27) 1
Hyatt, J.. (2003). Managing by the Good Book. Fortune Small Business. 13 (February) 20
N. Ibrahim L. Rue P. McDougall G. Greene (1991) ArticleTitleCharacteristics and Practices of “Christian-based” Companies Journal of Business Ethics 10 123–132 Occurrence Handle10.1007/BF00383615
International Christian Chamber of Commerce. (2003, retrieved from http://www.iccc. net
Keown A., Martin J., Petty J., Scott D. (2001). Foundations of Finance. Prentice-Hall, NJ.
W Kim R. Mauborgne (1999) ArticleTitleStrategy, Value Innovation, and the Knowledge Economy Sloan Management Review 40 41–53
R Kumar P. Sopariwala (1992) ArticleTitleThe Effect of Adoption of Long-Term Performance Plans on Stock Prices and Accounting Numbers Journal of Financial and Quantitative Analysis 27 561–573
‘Labor and Management Meet in Prayer’. (1978). Industry Week, (December 11): 18–19
W. McEachern (1975) Managerial Control and Performance Heath Lexington, MA
M. Michalisin D. Kline R. Smith (2000) ArticleTitleIntangible Strategic Assets and Firm Performance: A Multi-industry Study of the Resource-based View Journal of Business Strategies 17 91–103
Moffett M.. (1985). Fundamentalists Christians Strive to Apply Beliefs to the Workplace. The Wall Street Journal (December 4): 33
A. Moini (1985) ArticleTitleAn Inquiry Into Successful Exporting: An Empirical Investigation Using a Three-stage Model Journal of Small Business Management 33 9–25
J Ogden F. Jen P. O’Connor (2003) Advanced Corporate Finance: Policies and Strategies Prentice-Hall Englewood Cliffs, NJ
L Pleshko N. Soviden (2003) ArticleTitleThe Profit Effects of Product-market Growth Strategy Journal of Financial Services Marketing 7 258–266
S.D. Reid (1982) The Impact of Size on Export Behavior in Small Firms M.R. Czinkota G. Tesar (Eds) Export Management Praeger New York
S. Robbins (1983) Organization Theory: Structure, Design, and Applications Prentice-Hall Englewood Cliffs, NJ
L Rue N. Ibrahim (1998) ArticleTitleThe Relationship Between Planning Sophistication and Performance in Small Business Journal of Small Business Management 36 21–32
H Tosi L. Gomez-Mejia (1994) ArticleTitleCEO Compensation Monitoring and Firm Performance Academy of Management Journal 37 1002–1016
N Venkatraman V. Ramanujam (1986) ArticleTitleMeasurement of Business Performance in Strategy Research: A Comparison of Approaches Academy of Management Journal 30 801–814
T Wheelen J. Hunger (2004) Strategic Management and Business Policy Prentice-Hall Upper Saddle River, NJ
J Wolff T. Pett (2000) ArticleTitleInternationalization of Small Firms: An Examination of Export Competitive Patterns, Firm Size, and Export Performance Journal of Small Business Management 38 IssueID2 34–47
Author information
Authors and Affiliations
Corresponding author
Rights and permissions
About this article
Cite this article
Ibrahim, N.A., Angelidis, J.P. The Long-Term Performance of Small Businesses: Are there Differences Between “Christian-Based” Companies and their Secular Counterparts?. J Bus Ethics 58, 187–193 (2005). https://doi.org/10.1007/s10551-005-1413-8
Issue Date:
DOI: https://doi.org/10.1007/s10551-005-1413-8