hid the results from the environmental safety group in corporate head-
quarters. The division president had been with the company for
twenty-eight years and had grown the business from $100 million to
$1.5 billion, but O’Neill fired him. ‘‘Firing people is not fun, but we
don’t do business this way. A company must live by its values.’’
And this is not a one-time incident of justice taking precedence over
economic gain. O’Neill’s philosophy of justice is carried out across all
business units and cultures. ‘‘We don’t pay bribes, even when it is legal
to do so,’’ he asserts. And his dedication to justice extends to other areas as well, even when the laws of a country permit injustice. When
ALCOA made acquisitions in Hungary, many of the buildings had as-
bestos. Even though removal of asbestos was not required by law in
Hungary, ALCOA spent the money to remove it. ‘‘We don’t treat peo-
ple by what the local law is but by what logic says is the right thing; it
shows consistency of belief and action,’’ states O’Neill.14
Two thousand years ago, another leader asserted the need to obey a
higher law—not temporary, man-made, local laws. Jesus, when asked
whether the Jews should be obeying Caesar’s laws, answered, ‘‘Render
unto Caesar that which is Caesar’s, and unto God that which is God’s.’’
(Matt. 22:21) Leaders who are concerned with justice follow their con-
sciences, which are often ‘‘higher authorities’’ when exercised to the
fullest.
The Bible advises us that one way to rectify injustice is to ‘‘lend freely
to the poor.’’ Deuteronomy 15 advises that ultimately ‘‘there should be
no poor among you’’ but that while they exist, ‘‘I command you to be
openhanded toward . . . the poor and needy in your land.’’ One bank
that has taken this to heart is South Shore Bank in Chicago, which
looks like any other bank from the outside, but distributes its assets with justice. Most banks take their deposits and convert them to credit to
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fund real estate development in downtown areas that are already over-
developed. For over twenty years, South Shore has sought to rectify
economic inequality by taking deposits and converting them into credit
for development in underserved, needy areas.
The Bible advises us that ‘‘David reigned over all Israel, doing what
was just and right for all his people.’’ (2 Sam. 8:15) Sounds simple, but
it’s not easy, whether you’re the king of Israel or a modern executive.
For example, Weyerhauser was criticized in the press when, seeking to
preserve the livelihoods of its employees, it delayed shutting several
large mills and reportedly ‘‘brooded’’ about it (as if having a social con-
science were an impediment to being a good businessperson). The same
leader who delayed these closings also instituted Martin Luther King
Day as a holiday for the company, stating, ‘‘It’s not just a holiday for
black people, it’s a holiday for all of us to think about our fundamental
principles and how to change things that aren’t right.’’15 Here’s a leader
who didn’t just want to roll logs down a river, but also wanted to help
‘‘justice roll like a river.’’
Xerox is a company whose leadership has a long tradition of commit-
ment to justice. In the racially turbulent 1960s, many companies spent
much of their time justifying their discriminatory, exclusionary hiring
and promotion policies. Xerox realized that if they were to succeed as
a company and function within the Rochester community, they had to
be a force for justice within the company and in the greater community.
Xerox’s leaders, in collaboration with the union, instituted job training
programs in the inner city (including one aimed specifically at under-
employed women), and gave technical assistance and contracts to a
minority-owned manufacturing firm.
But when CEO Peter McCullough took over, he went even further
in his pursuit of racial and economic justice. He started a sabbatical
program that gave employees paid leaves of up to a full year so they
could apply their business skills to projects that would benefit the entire community, not just Xerox. Employees in this program became legal
advocates for mine safety and gave job placement assistance to prisoners.
In addition, Xerox’s Community Involvement Program funneled vol-
unteers into the community to counsel probationers and help run
women’s shelters.
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But in all this ‘‘do-gooderism,’’ Xerox did not forget to take a good
hard look at itself and the justice and fairness of its policies. It set minority recruitment goals that exceeded federal guidelines. It also identified
‘‘pivotal jobs’’ leading to top management so that women and minori-
ties could be prepared for them and directed to them. By 1991, minori-
ties at Xerox represented 25 percent of all employees, 21 percent of all
professionals, 19 percent of officers and managers, and 21 percent of
senior executives.16
It is not true justice when one nationality or racial group is clustered
at the bottom doing the lowest levels of work while another group
disproportionately dominates the positions of power. Xerox knew this
when it instituted these programs. Pharaoh, a man blind to injustice,
paid for this blindness by losing his entire labor force on one memorable
night, and his entire army a short while after.
John Lampe was appointed CEO of Firestone during one of its most
difficult crises. A large number of the company’s tires had shredded
while being driven on Ford Explorers on the highway, resulting in 174
deaths and 700 injuries. One of Lampe’s first actions was to appear on
television to accept accountability and outline the steps that Firestone
would take to rectify the situation.
‘‘It wasn’t my ambition to be on TV, but customers want to hear
from someone who is accountable,’’ notes Lampe. First, Lampe publicly
apologized to the families who had suffered deaths or injuries. He
changed the manufacturing process at the plant that had made the tires,
and spent $50 million to upgrade the facilities. He offered extended
warranties (up to four years), free thirty-day test drives, and refunds to
any dissatisfied purchasers.
And in a rare and courageous move for a tire manufacturer (whose
income largely depends on good relationships with the auto industry,
its major consumer), Lampe also challenged the Ford Motor Company
to acknowledge its share of the responsibility for the accidents.17
Lampe’s actions and statements were congruent with the pronounce-
ments made thousands of years earlier by the prophet Jeremiah: ‘‘Woe
to him who builds his palace by unrighteousness, his upper rooms by
injustice.’’ ( Jer. 22:13) If the leaders of the auto industry had heeded
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these words a generation earlier and moved quickly to alter the unsafe
vehicles they had designed, they might have taken some of the wind
out of the sails of the prophet Ralph (Nader).
Lampe’s quick response emphasized the necessity of reacting quickly
to rectify injustice or to give just rewards to those who have earned
them. Ross Perot, head of information technology company EDS, is a
firm believer that ‘‘justice delayed is justice denied.’’ After a major victory over IBM, Perot didn’t even wait until his team had returned to
the office. ‘‘At EDS we believe in paying for excellence right on the
spot, so we rewarded them with the bonuses, the cash, the stock . . .
while they’re still sweating.’’18
Perot realizes that such acts of swift justice are highly symbolic both
for those receiving the direct rewards and to the rest of the company.
Jack Stack of Springfield Re recognizes that employees are also highly
sensitive to acts and symbols of injustice. ‘‘A good manager knows what
the guy on the shop floor absolutely can’t stand and has disdain for,’’ he
observes. ‘‘Common sense has to prevail. If I buy a factory one day and
show up in a Lamborghini the next, can I then go out and talk about
the company being at risk?’’19
That would seem an obvious injustice, but too many leaders have
committed similar ones. Too many biblical leaders attained dispropor-
tionate wealth on the backs of their own people. Micah excoriated
‘‘you who hate good, who tear the skin from my people and the flesh
from their bones.’’ (Mic. 3:1) Nehemiah bemoaned ‘‘you who are ex-
acting usury from your own countrymen.’’ (Neh. 5:7) The modern
leader would do well to ask himself, ‘‘Are my actions just and fair, not
just to the shareholders, but also to the employees and society as a
whole?’’ It’s not just a matter of morality, it’s also a matter of long-term economic success. It’s difficult to keep a workforce motivated and loyal
if they feel those at the top are taking advantage of them.
JUSTICE REWARDED
Often, those companies and institutions committed to justice are seen
as making ‘‘sacrifices’’ that compromise the well-being of their organi-
Justice and Fairness
191
zations. However, there are a number of examples of organizations that
have been able to turn just acts into ‘‘win-win’’ solutions, where they