Management and the Gospel

Bruno Dyck is Professor in the Department of Business Administration in the I.H. Asper School of Business at the University of Manitoba, Canada.

• PART I: INTRODUCTION Overview of this Book A Short Introduction to the Gospel of Luke Managers, Goods & Service Producing Organizations, and First-century Palestine PART II: PROBLEM RECOGNITION: HOW INTERPRETING LUKE VIA A FIRST-CENTURY MANAGEMENT LENS CHALLENGES THE CONVENTIONAL INTERPRETATIONS OF TWO KEY PARABLES A Three-dimensional First-century Lens for Understanding of Management Interpreting Luke's 'Parable of the Shrewd Manager' via a First Century Lens Interpreting Luke's 'Parable of the Ten Pounds' via a First Century Lens PART III: ACTION RESPONSE: PERFORMING A COMPREHENSIVE EXAMINATION OF PASSAGES IN LUKE RELATED TO EACH OF THE THREE-DIMENSIONS OF THE FIRST-CENTURY MANAGEMENT LENS Passages about Managing Relationships within Organizations Passages about Managing Money Passages about Managing Relationship between Organizations PART IV: NEW WAY OF SEEING: MANAGEMENT, THE KINGDOM OF GOD, SALVATION, AND THE HOLY SPIRIT The Kingdom of God is Enacted and Manifest in Organizational Settings Salvation is Facilitated when Organizations Save People from Oppression and Save People for Working in Liberating Structures and Systems Holy Spirit is Key to Salvific Kingdom of God Management PART V: INSTITUTIONAL CHANGE: A FOUR-PHASE 'HOW TO' PROCESS MODEL FOR PUTTING INTO PRACTICE MANAGEMENT PRINCIPLES FOUND IN THE GOSPEL OF LUKE A Four-phase Process Model Embedded in Luke's Journey Narrative Luke's Three 'Forward' Cycles through the Four-phase Process Model Luke's Three 'Reverse' Cycles through the Four-phase Process Model PART VI: IMPLICATIONS FOR 21ST CENTURY MANAGEMENT THEORY AND PRACTICE Managing Relationships within Organizations: Organization Structure, Motivation and Leadership Managing Money: Economics, Finance and Accounting Managing Relationships between Organizations: Strategy Concluding Thoughts References Appendix A: Background Regarding the Chiasm in Luke's Journey Narrative Appendix B: Usage of kurios [Lord] in Luke to describe God and Jesus

"In Management and the Gospel, Dyck's provocative and persuasive research reveals the world of first-century management, reinterpreting the teaching of Jesus through that lens, with implications for managers today. A serious read, calling us to ponder the possibilities and responsibilities of management today." - Walter C. Wright, Jr., Author, Relational Leadership: A Biblical Model for Leadership Service, Max De Pree Center for Leadership, USA "This revolutionary new volume is an important work that scholars seriously interested in the historical, sociological and spiritual foundations of management will not be able to ignore. Connecting this kind of systematic, scholarly book to practical issues is a major challenge for any author, but Dyck has done so in a powerful, convincing and useful way." - Tom Lawrence, Professor, Simon Fraser University, Canada "This book brings together the study of management, business ethics, and theology in a scholarly yet accessible way. It is an outstanding achievement that all of us involved in those fields need to take account of." - C.R. (Bob) Hinings, Professor Emeritus, University of Alberta, Canada "This well-documented work is a worthy addition to Lukan studies, and not least to management alternatives in the twenty-first century. Every member of an organization (oikos), from a small family unit to a large corporation, should read this book." - V. George Shillington, Author, An Introduction to the Study of Luke-Acts; Professor Emeritus, Canadian Mennonite University, Canada "Dr. Bruno Dyck has delivered a provocative and compelling alternative to traditional interpretations of Luke's relevance to work and business. Whether readers end up agreeing with Bruno's perspective or not, they will surely have benefitted from reading an engaging and well-supported critical evaluation of dominant perspectives that just might change their way of thinking and acting." - Mitchell Neubert, Chavanne Chair of Christian Ethics in Business, Baylor University, USA "In an increasingly technological and secular world, we may be tempted to think that sacred texts such as the Gospels are irrelevant to the complex world of managing organizations. Bruno Dyck's Management and the Gospel says otherwise. The book provides a compelling and convincing argument that the Gospels are central to an understanding of management that has at its core the growth and development of people. While modern management has become technically sophisticated, it has also become morally primitive. As JRR Tolkein put it 'Ours is an age of improved means to deteriorated ends.' Management and the Gospel marries spiritual and moral ends to sophisticated and technical organizational insights to give a vision of management that is desperately needed for today's organizations." - Michael J. Naughton, Coauthor, Managing as if Faith Mattered; Moss Chair in Catholic Social Thought, University of St. Thomas, USA "This book challenges us to reconsider the gospel with a view toward transforming relationships within and between organizations. Bruno Dyck applies careful attention to the biblical text and appreciation for historical context to interpret Jesus' teachings and apply them to contemporary management practice. His study signals the kingdom of God, salvation, and the Holy Spirit as central for a practical Christian theology of management." - Kent Miller, Professor, Eli Broad Graduate School of Management, Michigan State University, USA "This book is a most welcome addition to the growing scholarship on the theology and spirituality of management. Its ability to take account of both the first and the twenty-first centuries on their own terms makes it an especially valuable contribution. In spite of the rigour and depth with which Dyck covers a diverse range of scholarly material, the writing throughout is accessible, clearly argued, and highly engaging. The detailed, critical, innovative and engaging analysis of Luke's Gospel will be of interest to biblical scholars, both professional and amateur. The book will be of great relevance to scholars and managers, whether in the private, public or third sectors, who are looking for a viable, grounded alternative to individualistic, short-term, profit-seeking modern corporatism." - Sarah Drakopoulou-Dodd, Academic Director, AHEAD-ALBA Hub for Enterprise and Development, Greece "This fascinating interdisciplinary work contemplates and re-frames central themes of modern management theory through the wisdom and values of the ancient world, particularly through a critical inquiry into 'management' in the New Testament Gospel of Luke. Here emerges a persuasive argument that Max Weber's 'iron cage' view of modern rationalized society need not be so iron-clad as commonly assumed. Moreover, the book urges that a broader hermeneutic and dialog with important religious traditions can provide modern productive organizations with a reservoir of alternate values and institutional understandings." - Douglas E. Oakman, Coauthor, Palestine in the Time of Jesus: Social Structures and Social Conflicts; Pacific Lutheran University, USA "Anybody with a desire to live out God's call to them should read Management and the Gospel: Luke's Radical Message for the First and Twenty-First Centuries. Dr. Dyck takes an insightful and fresh look at Jesus' life and words. It engaged my head and challenged my heart." - Galen Lehman, President, Lehman's Old Time General Store, Kidron, Ohio, USA "I thank Bruno Dyck for this remarkable book. Just as theologian John H. Yoder proposed the Practices of the Christian community as paradigms for Christians in business and all other human organizations, so Bruno Dyck shows in a refreshing and challenging way how Jesus as presented in the Gospel of Luke offers God-given ways to incarnate God's character in business management. With this book, Dyck may well become known as one of those 'new prophets' contributing to 'the rebirth of old ideas and ideals' which Max Weber was talking about a century ago." - Werner Franz, Professor of Ethics and Bible; Dean, of the Department of Theology, Universidad Evangelica del Paraguay, Paraguay "Dyck advances the state of the art on the theology and spirituality of management by elaborating an integrative framework of New Testament theology, organizational behavior and business ethics in a scholarly, yet accessible, challenging and reader-friendly way. The book is replete with coherent and persuasive arguments on the relevance of Luke Gospel's tenets and principles to the secular world of contemporary rationalized organizations in their quest for inner meaning, purpose, new identities and above all, vision in turbulent times... Provides an impetus for critical reflection on the responsibilities of organizations in modern times of a multilevel, as well as multifaceted and persistent crisis." - History of Economic Ideas "A remarkably interesting and insightful study ... Dyck's book is a must-read for every business and management school in Anabaptist, Protestant, or Catholic-related institutions. It should also be read by Scripture scholars. He provides solid historical evidence for his claims and does not offer superficial remedies. Having begun the book with suspicions, I left it convinced that he has made an important contribution." - Direction: A Mennonite Brethren Forum "An excellent example of good Biblical integration ... Valuable for management professors interested in teaching students what Jesus might say to present-day managers." - Christian Business Academy Review